Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Should my kid be re-tested?

A few months ago my son was tested for his school's gifted program. He was given the wisc-iv and wiat-iii. The wisc-iv seems to be a lot higher than the wiat-iii scores. The school psych. didn't mention anything about the difference but I would think the scores would sort of match. Do the lower wiat-iii scores mean that he isn't learning properly? Maybe one of the tests is innacurate?
Thanks in advance for any advice

It's quite possible that over the years your son hasn't been placed in classrooms where he would have anything to learn, so that if his WISC is very high, his WIAT might reflect that he has learned less than what another kid with the same WISC who had been in classrooms that matched that theoretical child's readiness to learn level.

Another class situation where the WISC is higher than the WIAT is ADD/ADHD, presumably because the disability interferes with the child's ability to learn to their fullness of what their WISC would suggest.


Do either of these seem likely?

It also matters what the difference is - is it half a standard deviation, or 3 SD?

love and more love,
Grinity

Thanks so much Grinity!

My son does have adhd so that does seem likely And his teachers over the past few years have been mostly a terrible fit for him. K-3 (minus 2nd grade) his teachers told me over and over how frustrating he was (for them to deal with) and how much trouble he caused. We knew at that point that he was some kinda gifted but to be honest I wasn't teh best parent/teacher because I had no idea what being gifted meant or how to proceed with him. His current school/teacher looks like it's a better fit but I guess ti's still too early to tell.

He has some gaps in his math skills and prefers to not learn the method that the teacher is teaching and do things his own way (he's like this with everything) He strongly resists anything I try to teach him and insists that his way is better,easier or that my way is just straight up wrong! He's so fun to do homework with...

Oh, how do I figure out the difference in sd? The wisc-iv report says the sd is 2.67 above the mean but I can't find it on the wiat report.

Thanks Dottie! I really have no idea what I'm doing. So if his lowest score on the wiat is 98 (in math fluency) that would mean that the sd is .13 below the mean?

Remember the feeling overwhelmed thread?

I said:

It's great that he got into the gifted program, hopefully that will do the trick.
You may want to read 'Transforming the Difficult Child' by Howard Glasser and Lisa Bravo so you can be inspired to notice and praise his small steps towards flexibility, sharing his brilliance in a useful way and obedience.

Best Wishes,
Grinity

Gotcha Dottie! I just want to be sure he's not behind where he should be and heading towards where he could be, you know? He might be hanging in there now but what could happen in the next few years if he continues doing his own thing?

I am going to go to the library today Grinity. It should be interesting with 5 kids

I've seen teh GAI mentioned on here before, how could I figure that out?

Sorry if I sound scattered, trying to keep the 1 year old from beating up the cat!!

I see what you're saying. I don't know if it's worth looking at further or not. Like Grinity said, it's maybe it's because he hasn't had the best teachers in school or the most supportive parent at home (okay grinity didn't say that part, hehe). My husband is in the army and gone a lot so I have a lot to take care of with the other kids. I just don't know if it's an issue worth pushing.

Thanks for your insight! He seems happy enough in school right now so I guess the best is to wait and see how the year plays out.