Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment District has finally approved IAS testing...

March is just fine! It'll give your DD time to get to know other kids in the class and make some new friends before summer. At least that was our rationale when it was going to be either a January or March skip. A skip is a skip if it's what is needed!

An advantage to a skip in March is that the teacher has the time to pay extra attention to your daughter to make sure that she's fitting in, has the necessary supplies, and is learning the routine. At the beginning of the year the teacher is usually a bit more frazzled than he or she will be in March. And, the three months left in the year will be plenty for her to "get up to speed."

My dd#1 did the WJ-III (achievement), WISC-IV (IQ), and a self-esteem inventory all in one day at age 7. The ITBS she took at school at age 8, and I believe that it was broken up over the course of two days. The ITBS takes btwn 3-6 hrs to administer depending on the age/grade of the child.

It will be a lot of testing, but she should be able to get through it all in a week.

When my dd skipped a grade, we too used the IAS, but all of the testing had been done in years prior. They looked at those IQ & achievement scores from age 7 (second grade), the ITBS from 3rd grade, MAPS from 4th, and the Explore from 4th. She skipped 5th. It was somewhat less high-stakes for that reason b/c we knew that she had qualifying ability and achievement scores and she still would have been within a point or two of being an excellent candidate even if she bombed the Explore. Once the Explore scores came in, they bumped her into the "excellent" category. However, the pressure wasn't there for those scores to be high.

In terms of prepping, we have never done any preparing for any of these tests. I'd probably just try to make sure that she isn't stressed or feeling the high stakes pressure of this.

Hi!

Busy, busy day. I met with the Principal this morning- wanted to make sure we knew more about the testing schedule. I have to say that she has been very accommodating and will answer in detail any questions. I'm glad to have gone over this morning unexpectedly because as I enter the building, I come face to face with the school psychologist who just so happened to be waiting for dd in order to begin the WPPSI (the WISC was originally planned). This is exactly what we did not want happening without our prior knowledge. So, the Principal and I sat down to review the questions I previously sent plus some new ones I had thanks to you ladies. After about an hour, she assured me that we would have an itemized testing schedule by the afternoon. We received the document as promised. So, according to the schedule, the ITBS will be administered during the course of 4 days, Tuesday (AM & PM)-Friday (PM). The WPPSI will be given on Wednesday (AM) and the WJ-ACH on Thursday (AM). We've discussed with dd that she will be seeing some ladies at school who are going to help us figure out how she learns and give us information on how we can all help her find the best fit for her at school. We talked a little bit about how she needs to try her best and but not expected to know everything. Since she's already used to being pulled out of class for enrichment 3x per week, the distraction shouldn't be a problem.

We were skeptical, at first, of putting dd through all that testing in such a seemingly short amount of time but your assurances are helping my confidence and belief that dd will be fine. I think it'd be better not to drag this out more than needed.

I guess I should put the "car" on cruise control!

Again, thank you for your contributions. I am forever grateful!!

Good for you!


This is exemplary behavior. School life seems to be very chaotic and the fact that your Principal was able to make a promise and stick to it is a very 'above average' sign. She is making an effort!

I really think that your is too old and too advanced for the WPPSI, and I'm hoping that they will do the WISC IV instead. If not, it isn't worth fighting about, but you would get more meaningful results with WISC IV.


Great Job on 'the talk'

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Too bad the scenery in Tunnels isn't better! I feel you rolling along at a steady and reasonable speed!
Grinity

I have to say that our "conversations" here have given us so much leverage in this process. I actually sound like I know what I'm talking about!

Before bed, dd told us she's excited about meeting with the people at school. Good sign. What does still makes me nervous (well, one of the things that still makes me nervous) is that when we had our "talk" and we asked her how she felt about possibly moving into first grade, she told us she wants to stay in Kindergarten because she would miss her friend. We assured her she would still see her at school during lunch, recess, and that we'll set up playdates on off days and weekends. Dh then asked that if she got the chance to move to Hawaii (her favorite place in the world) tomorrow, would she go? Her eyes lit up and head eagerly nodded up and down. "Well," he said, "you would have to leave your friends then too, right?" I think we saw the light bulb go on at that moment. Since I know her input weighs heavily in this process, I'll be sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear what her "official" response will be when time comes to ask her opinion on this whole business.

Also in my meeting with the Principal, she told me that one of the teachers we had in mind for first grade was going to be out of school for 6 weeks due to a broken ankle. When I told dh about the teacher being MIA dd says, "what does MIA mean". I thought she was out of earshot. Before I could answer, she said, "does it mean My Injured Ankle?" All I could do was cry out laughing.

{{{HUGS}}}

I love her version of MIA, that's great. LOL

Good luck with the school and keep us posted.

Me again,

According to the Principal and teachers, testing day #1 went well. I was told she had no problems transitioning and took the testing in stride. She got pulled out for about 2 hours today (looks like that's the ETA for each day of testing this week). When I picked her up after school, she said she had a fun day and liked that she got pulled out for testing. Great! When I asked what she did, she said, "nothing."

Typical.

Day #2 today. Will keep you guys posted.

Ciao