Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Best testing options for high science ability?

Hi all. I started working on a Davidsons application for my DS(then 5) and even posted here a couple time a few month ago but life got in the way and everything was put on hold. Well, DS(now 6) started kindy late last fall so I am back to working on it and this time I am in a state that provides testing for gifted kids(PA). This is great since testing just wasn't an option on our own. I haven't spoken with the district but I would like to get an idea of what we need before I do.

I have to admit, this is a fairly new area for me. I want to make sure that any testing we do has a purpose and gives an accurate picture of my son. My concern is that he is super asyncronous. With language his vocab is 4th grade and comp is pretty close but he is not reading independantly yet. I think this is mainly lack of interest, a bit of perfectionism, and that he has been too busy with other stuff. His cyber school has a good phonics program and that is marking lots of progrss in this area. He starts his 1st grade material in a week or two. In math, he is working at 1-3rd grade levels depending on the topic. He does particularly well with fractions(3rd) but memorization activities lag behind (eg: money). Those area's I can manage, but his science knowledge and understanding is incredible. I don't even have a firm idea of where he is with this. DS tends to have pockets of interest that go very deep. I checked out What Your Third Grader Needs to Know and DS has mastered around 90% of the astronomy and over 70% of the anatomy. This has me guessing that he is at least working upper elementary or middle school in this area. But then again this is a very crude guess. This is a child that understands plate techtonics and the debate about whether Charon is a moon of Pluto or another dwarf planet. I get questions not only about what water is made of but when was the first water. (and the answer of there has always been water on Earth, for the past 4.5 billion years was not enough!) Last night it was questions about the heart not working properly followed by a dicussion of pacemakers. (Oy!)

In an effort to understand my son better and maybe have a more complete application for Davidson's, it may be time to test. (I am not sure I'm ready, but that is beside the point.) Since science is such a huge area of interest for DS, I need for any testing that we do to capture his abilities in this area. To me there is no point to testing if it won't do that. I have read about the different IQ and acheivement test but I have no idea about what will give the clearest picture of DS. I am hoping that those of you far more experienced that I have some insight to share. Any thoughts?

Thanks, Heather

I'm not sure if this will help but our library has state test prep practice books for 6th Grade for science, social studies and a few more. Taking one of those practice tests might show his ability. I do think your example alone would be excellent for the application.

You will need one qualifying test score to be in DYS. I would suggest go for the IQ first and see what happens.

I am not an expert in testing at all, but my DS10 sounds a lot like your son - at least as far as interests. He has always stood out for science knowledge and interest and had an amazing amount of knowledge before he started K. Now - by fourth grade, for some reason he also stands out a lot with verbal things - poetry and these analogy competitions that his school does. That would not have seemed likely to me at all when he was younger. Anyway, when he was tested he did well on the WISC - it does not give a science score, but I think the verbal catagories are helped a lot by a solid knowledge of science at that age (vocabulary and word reasoning are helped a lot by knowledge of things that are unusual for your age). There is also an optional subcategory called information that would capture some of that. My son did not do as well on the achievement testing - (he did okay, but not DYS levels and definetly lower than his WISC) however, we were doing that as part of an ADHD eval (which he also has). I think there was a catagory on that testing for science and social studies knowledge where he scored really high though. His lower scores were math (too many careless errors and low speed since he was not interested in memorizing the basic facts) and writing (continues to be a major issue for him).

By the way, I have a second son (DS8) who has qualifying scores for DYS. I sent his application in last month and have not heard. My older son is highly gifted but doesn't quite have the scores for DYS. Also, his strongest things at this point - science and verbal - are things that can be managed well in a full time GT classroom, which is where he goes now.

Good luck!

I am not an expert on testing either and I have no reference to offer for my opinion. My impression as to which testing might better demonstrate science aptitude is more in the realm of perceptual, abstract and non-verbal reasoning and/or logic rather than information or even verbal reasoning. Aside from measuring a capacity for �connecting the dots� these areas somewhat capture the ability to see 2nd, 3rd, or greater order of effects. We probably all agree that strong logic ability is indicative of systematical and ordered thinking which, of course, is necessary to confirm or disprove initial perceptions.

Science knowledge could be directly accessed through above level achievement testing for that subject. If I was in your place, I would ask to go way up, based your descriptions of your son�s interests. Lower level elementary tests may completely miss his areas of expertise.

In addition to IQ subtests;

�The (Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal) requires the application of some important abilities in critical thinking, including inference, deduction, interpretation, and evaluation.�

I doubt this is an appropriate test for most six year olds. My son (12 at the time) took it as part of a battery of tests for a high math ability enrichment program. The other tests were more math specific. I also read that it is given by some employers as part of the evaluation process for new hires.

MAP testing offers a science component. It's a computer adaptive test and keeps going up until DC misses so many questions. Something like the Explore test seems to offer more critical thinking...does the data support the hypothesis....does this new data support the hypothesis, etc.