DS8 took the OLSAT today and informed me that he didn't finish (I think the three last questions) because it found one a bit tricky. No one myself included thought to tell him that any answer is better than nothing - he wanted to get everything right. Does anyone know if this happens a lot? He needs 96th percentile for the GT program and now I'm quietly freaking out, and really needs to be in it for both social and academic reasons. His WISC iv scores are great.

Well maybe he only got three wrong then! When ds 5 took the test the instructions I gave him were that he had to answer all the questions and finish the whole test. It took him longer than all the other kids because the tester had to give him three breaks (in K they are tested individually). When they came out she looked exhausted and he looked like he was going to climb the walls. I asked the tester how he did and why he took so long and she explained that ds complained he was bored. She asked him if he wanted to stop twice but both time he said no and on the second time told her that his mommy said that the test was boring but he had to suck it up and finish it. He restated my words verbatim and I was embarrassed but it got the job done. =)

I seem to remember DD11 having this issue the first time she took it. Kids in AL take it every year with other standardized tests. The first time she took it she really overthought a lot of questions and had trouble finishing and it caused her score to be low (for her). Last year, however, she came home after taking it and said she "got it", meaning she understood what to do with the questions. She was right because her score was enough to get her into the gifted program after previously being denied services (they don't accept outside testing).

I am in no way an expert, but the OLSAT seems to be a strange animal. DD learned from experience how to take the test, I guess. IMO, that makes it a less reliable instrument.

I agree that it has a whole host of problems, but ability to learn how to take the test is something that can occur with any ability test. You can raise your IQ scores even with a lot of practice taking IQ tests although you aren't likely raising your intelligence. It isn't recommended that kids take the same tests over and over or too frequently for that very reason. The way your school system is handling it seems rife for a lot of overidentification of giftedness.

There is also a lot of unfortunate test prep going on and I imagine that tests like the OLSAT would be easier to hothouse or prep for than a more controlled test like an IQ test.

I agree. It does present problems for overidentification, although they use it in conjunction with other factors. The OLSAT is only a screener. Fortunately, it worked in our favor. Outside WISC testing gave her a 140 verbal and 136 FSIQ, but the school wouldn't accept it. There are definitely assessment problems here.

Just to be clear, I wasn't meaning to imply that your dd was "overidentified" so to speak. It just occured to me that it could have come across that way. My dd10 also tested much lower on a group test (CogAT) than the WISC-IV.

Oh, no! I didn't take it that way. Thanks, though.