Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment WISC-IV help please!

I am new here and just had my 10 year old's IQ tested. She is just finishing 4th grade. The school district we are in has absolutely no gifted services at all. We live in NY (Long Island).

Here are her results:

FSIQ 130
GAI 146 (scaled score of 97)

VCI 142 (scaled score of 51)
similarities 19 raw 39
vocabulary 14 raw 44
comprehension 18 raw 34

PRI 133 (scaled score of 46)
block design 13 raw 46
picture concepts 14 raw 22
matrix reasoning 19 raw 32

WMI 107
digit span 11(backwards exceeded forwards) raw 17
letter number sequencing 12 raw 19

PSI 97
coding 11 raw 47
symbol search 8 raw 19


The psychologist woh did the test said that she is extremely bright and could get into any school or gifted program. He also stated that my daughter is a better learner in a challenging atmosphere as evident from her testing and that his suggestion is to seek this out. I'd say 90% of the public school districts have a gifted program where we live- just not our district. My daughter is bored in school- has received a 100 (or better) on virtually every test she has taken since we moved to this district 2.5 years ago. I asked the school for help, but they are not willing to make any accomodation for her at all. We are seriously thinking of moving.

I'd like everyone's opinion about her testing and/or scores and/or opinions about what we should do now that we know her IQ, i.e. should we move? Shouldn't she have had the extended testing done? Any comments about the huge difference between the higher order scores- VCI and PRI versus the WMI and PSI?

I should also mention that we also have a 2nd grader (with autism and an FSIQ of 111, GAI 115)and a "typical" kindergardener- probably not gifted, definitely not special ed. And lastly, we were honestly less than thrilled with the school district before we had my older daughter's IQ tested.

Thank you!!!!!

I'm no help at interpreting test scores, but I am a product of LI GT programs, and my DS spent 10 years going to school there. Where are you on Long Island? It is rare to find a school district there w/o a GT program. So if you have to move, you might not have to move far, 'cause someplace nearby probably does have an established program. Or you could petition a neighboring district with GT services to take her in, allowing you to stay where you are. You could also look at Long Island School for the Gifted or The Progressive School. You wouldn't have to move for either of those, although if you live more than a certain number of miles away from either you will have to provide transportation yourself or pay for busing. Good luck!

your daughter did well. She would make the cut on most gifted programs that usually have a cutoff around 130. Her GAI just makes the cut for DYS, so that is really very strong. However from my experiences here in Long Island, the school districts don't really know/care about GAI. I hope its different for you. So you might not get a lot of reaction from them with the 130. Beyond that i can't analyze the scores too much- i'll leave that to others who know more. But the fact that she's ten eliminates the whole "too young to be accurate argument"..

about moving,I also live in Long Island and have a gifted child and a child with autism (who we now know to be 2E). We moved to HHH district to accomodate my autistic child and is "pretty good" for gifted but since my daugther is only in kindergarden the program hasn't started yet. They are absolutely unimpressed with anything i tell them about her scores, etc. from a private psychologist. I've found that the word "gifted" is a dirty word and you get absolutely no where using it. Stick to "high achieving" etc. and talk about "differentiation" instead of "gifted program".

Like me, you also have to consider accomodating both kids if you switch districts. Have you considered LISG? I think they require a 130. I've heard its a good fit for some, though my daughter spent the day there and did not go for it. ..If I had it to do over I would probably go to Sysosset, as i have a lot of info now that i did not know when i moved three years ago.

hi again
wayoutwest and i must have been posting at the same time. But i wanted to add that i really like his/her suggestiion to look into cross-contracting at another district. I know this is done for special ed. all the time. But you would probably face an uphill battle trying to get it paid for. However I know from a neighbor that hosted an exchange student there is sometimes a set "price" for kids who are not residents but attend the district. I think it sometimes kicks in with foster children also. So its been done.
irene

i have asked around about cross-districting and although it is done in some cases for special ed, they don't seem to do it for gifted ed. LISG was a thought, but my daughter will be entering 5th grade in Sept. and the psychologist was concerned that the kids are about 2 yrs. ahead there, so she would have to catch-up. She seems to do very well with challenges, but I am afraid if it seems like "too much" it may have a negative effect. AND its $15k/yr! The district we live in wouldn't even give her the IQ test, so the chance of me convincing them to pay for any kind of out of district ed is zero I'm sure.

The psychologist mentioned Northport as a strong consideration for us. We live on the south shore and I was hoping to stay on the south shore. He said Bay Shore has a good gifted and special ed program, but may not be a great fit for my typical child. He said HHH would also be a good choice, although he felt the gifted program had been better in the past.
Ugh!!! What to do?????


The psychologist also mentioned that especially in my daughter's case, her GAI was much more important than her FSIQ because of some scores being more than 1.5 standard deviations apart. He felt that her true IQ was probably closer to her GAI than the FSIQ. Not that it really matters, I suppose, since she scored well "enough".

I have to admit that I am really struggling to make a good (and quick!) decision.

hi LICAL3
The HHH program runs thru fifth grade then there is no program at middle school, though there is one that seems to be in the works. I am wondering about Northport because i've never heard it as a stand-out for gifted (not that it isn't). I love it up there, that is where i am from originally. I know they have some amazing high school programs in general, though. I've heard the same that you heard about Bay Shore.

Too bad the school won't send her out of district - but perhaps to approach the recieving school and see if they can't work something out. As for LISG being too much, I would strongly urge you to visit the classroom if they are still in session, or at least look around and see what you think. 15K is a lot of money, but might be less than the cost of moving. At least talk to the LISG and see what they think of your daughter...

BTW - it's excellent that the tester has enough experience to be able to guide you to particular districts. Worth it to ask the tester how often she or he have seen a GAI that high. Long Island isn't a normally distributed population, but her GAI may be substantially higher than the kids in LISG and local gifted programs.

Love and More Love
Grinity

Dottie - would extended norms be useful here?

I too am curious about the extended norms.

I am waiting for a call back from Bay Shore schools. I'm trying my best to hard sell my husband on West Babylon schools as a possibility-- another district that is supposed to have good "ends" (special ed and gifted), and an ok "middle of the road". I have had a conversation with a few administrators there and they have been great to talk to. Other school districts I have spoken to have not been nearly as receptive. One district in particular was down right annoyed by my asking what their gifted program encompasses...and was told directly by the superintendant "what made me think my child would even qualify?"

Grinity--you make an excellent point, I think I will contact LISG and inquire about the GAI score and what they think about my daughter. Thanks for the suggestion!

Dottie, my daughter turned 10 about 6 weeks ago. I will give LISG a call in the morning- that's a great idea. I also just had a great conversation with someone from Bay Shore schools which was really nice (and relieving!). The achievement testing was not done. Should I inquire about having it done?