Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment NWEA test scores - should we seek private IQ test?

My son started Kindergarten this year knowing the entire curriculum. On the NWEA winter tests, he scored in the 99% percentile in math (190 Problem Solving and 178 in Measurement & Geometry; combined score 184)and in the 98th percentile in Reading (175 Reading & Phonics and 176 Vocab & Comprehension; combined score 175).

His score in Reading & Phonics actually decreased from the Fall and he didn't grow much in Measurement & Geometry. I have a feeling his scores would be even higher had he actually been exposed to more appropriate work at school and at home (He reads at home a lot and we also read together, but other than that I haven't worked with him much, feeling that he is still young and should be playing most of the time.). When I gently asked his teacher if I needed to give him more advanced phonics work at home, she said I shouldn't be "teaching to the test", but agreed that he hasn't been exposed to any new material this year in phonics or math.

His school has tried to provide "challenge" work for him to complete at home, but it has no structure or organization, and is not very challenging for him. They have assured me that there will be more differentiation next year in math for him, but I doubt it will be enough to keep his interest.

My question is: should I bother to seek out private IQ testing at this point? Are his NWEA scores even high enough to justify this? Should we ask about acceleration? Would an IQ test help us determine if this might be right for him?

I guess I should add that my son is currently happy to sit in school and practice his letters and color worksheets while the other students complete their work. He is mature, well-behaved, and focused. He will tell me that he doesn't learn anything new in school and doesn't seem bothered by it at this point.

I do think he' bright -- he was talking at nine months, walking at ten. Some of his first words were identifying the names of letters from magnets. He knew his alphabet by 18 months and all his sounds shortly after. He's been making jokes since he was two and has a pretty advanced sense of humor for a 5-year-old. He is very quick with math and passionate about it.

We live in Connecticut, and our city has few resources for gifted kids, if he is indeed considered that.

To test or not to test? Good school districts in CT for high ability kids? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Here is the link for the MAP Norms. His 184 Math (page 143) is 88% for 1st grade and his 175 reading (page 131) is 76% for 1st grade.
http://pickens.it.schoolfusion.us/m...ssionid=14d1e9266e4482d198ebc39c6e6bc9c3

With DD8 the teachers did in class differentiation until she started an accelerated cluster program at another school this year. With that approach, I ended up doing lots of after-schooling in order to keep her challenged.

With DD6 we did private achievement testing before she started K. The psych wanted to wait until she was 6 to do the IQ test but the achievement results were enough to ask the principal for subject acceleration in math and reading. This has worked out much better than in class differentiation.

You might ask the teacher if there have been other kids who have done subject and/or grade acceleration at the school. It's been a good way for DD6 to get the exposure to new material without after-schooling cutting into her play time when she gets home.

P.S. My girls were also perfectly happy to not be challenged at school. I think DD8 spent lots of time daydreaming in class until she was really asked to work this year. This is a good article that points out the problems with letting kids stay unchallenged.
http://www.portage.k12.in.us/160720...597/pdfs/April/Whatachilddoesntlearn.pdf

Thanks so much for the advice, link to RIT scale norms and the terrific article. This clarifies a lot for me. My husband and I need to speak more in depth with his teacher and principal. It sounds like he might benefit from some subject/grade acceleration, if they're open to that at our school.

I think we're going to have to start some after-schooling too. Maybe I was incorrect to think he needed to play more than have some meaningful work!