My 8 dd scored a VCI of 138 (99%) on the WISC IV (the other parts are not administered) at her public school testing.

Unfortunately, this was too low to qualify for the gifted program. She was extremely bored with the second grade curriculum this year. Her morning lessons were silent writing and silent reading. However, she was only allowed to read at an age appropriate AR level of 2.X. She reads the middle school books at home. Her math is a group math instruction - though her MAPS was 217. The only classroom differentiation offered at her school is some extra packets of "fun work" to be done at indoor recess.

I would like to speak with the school. While they will absolutely not budge on admission to the gifted program, I hope to figure out some compromise. Her "ding" letter indicated, based on her score, her needs are met with the regular curriculum in the classroom. (This is not a gifted or magnet school so the regular instruction does cater to the lower end.)

Does anyone have any references for or experience with scores for differentiated curriculum? I would very much appreciate any help.

Why don't you get full IQ testing privately? Although you may spend $500-1000, it could be really worth it if it gets her into the gifted program.

Just be careful, because some schools will not allow private testing to "trump" their own results. You may be out $500-1000 if the school doesn't care about the results, so you would want to ask ahead of time.

Thank you, but private testing is not allowed. I was told that a private tester could inflate the scores. Also, it is too late, there are no exceptions and decisions have been made.

I am trying to have a positive attitude (super difficult) and look for the next best alternative.

I am currently stuck with the regular classroom.

Hi Zebras, welcome! Sorry things didn't work out as hoped. Since your school does use MAP, I would recommend requesting that your DD be placed with other students with similar MAP scores. Also, I would request a teacher for next year who is good at differentiation. I would list out some of the recent books that your DD has been reading at home, and suggest that her needs are not being met with the current AR level that she is allowed to read. Ask if she can choose her own books.

If there are no kids in her grade level with her MAP levels, I would ask that she could go up a grade to a class with other students at her level. Your DD has the right to learn new material, just like the other kids at school.

ETA - is there a GT coordinator that helps with the schools, outside of the GT program? Even if that's not her/his regular job, I'd still contact that person to ask for advice. She might be able suggest good teachers for placement next year, and she might also be able to offer differentiation ideas.

Wow... I cannot fathom that a 99 percentile score would not qualify Your dd for a gifted program. Speechless.

I am confused as to why a gifted level VCI of 138doesnot qualify for the GT program? Are there any local advocates? You clearly have a DD who qualifies for Gt services who is being denied services. I have always known programs to ask for a130 VCI or higher. What was the cut off for their program? Was there other testing done? There are two excellent books on differentiating the curriculum for early elementary students. I would recommend reading them and advocating for accommodations to the curriculum for your DD. Could you contact the Gifted Specialist for your district? Two books that I recommend are " Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular Ed Classroom" and " Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom". Once you are familiar with how to differentiate, you can more effectively advocate for her needs to be met within her class. All children, not just GT learners, have the right to have their educational needs met and most teachers should be somewhat familiar with differentiating the curriculum. Curriculum compacting, Independant study agreements, Individualized reading strategies, Interest surveys, Integrated units, Most difficult first, learning contracts,
Study guide method, resident expert...... There are definitely strategies and ways to extend the curriculum to meet your DD's needs. If there is silent reading, then she should be able to work on something that interests her during that time. Now that you have a test score in the 99%, you could possibly work with her teacher on getting her needs better met in the classroom. For instance, she should be permitted to read at her level. Does the teacher know that she is reading at a middle school level? Have you talked with her teacher about her frustration at not having access to the appropriate level of work? Once the teacher is aware of her current reading level, perhaps the GT coordinator could work with the classroom teacher on gaining the appropriate materials. Also, even though she did not qualify for the GT program ( which I do not understand), does the school consider grade level acceleration? Perhaps your DD could work with the third grade reading class, etc? I am guessing that this is not an option given their reluctance to work with you on anything else thus far. I would try reading about how to differentiate the curriculum and then advocate with your DD's classroom teacher on getting her needs met. I would also suggest contacting the District or school GT Specialist for some direction now that your daughter has some GT level scores. I can imagine your frustration and am so sorry that you are going through this. Keep advocating to get her needs met!

Thank you so much.... I will check out those books. (I have tried most of the above suggestions. The GT coordinator, school, and teacher will not make any exceptions for any one student.) The teacher was aware of the books; however, dd had to test once a month to increase her AR level - and she could only go up to the next .1. So after this month she is at 2.7 or something like this... no skips allowed.

Does anyone have a reference for what should be offered to a student that scores in this range? I thought I saw something about repeating lessons and how often new material needed to be repeated for various levels, but I'm unable to find it now.

Hello Zebras.

I am also amazed that a score of 138 on the VCI does not qualifier her for some type of gifted services. I think I would question them as to what their specific cutoffs are for determining entrance to their gifted program. Most schools have a cutoff that is around 130 on the WISC-IV, I think? I have heard of some schools that require a FSIQ > 130, and will not accept individual subset scores as identification. But if that was the case, then they should have administered the complete WISC-IV to your DD. My son's school does not use the MAP test, so I'm not as familiar with it.

Also, do you know what their gifted program entails? My son's gifted program was not exactly stellar, and was comprised of a one-hour weekly pull-out class for "enrichment" (i.e. arts and craft projects) which included no new supplemental material academically. You might want to investigate what your school offers so that you know if you may need to bypass the gifted program altogether and head for subject acceleration.

The best advice we were given when my son was in 2nd grade and was not being challenged was to have the school give your child some version of an "end of the year" test or assessment for an advanced grade. If the school sees that she knows the vast majority of the 3rd grade curriculum in reading/writing/language arts (or higher grades?), then you can make a valid case to them that her needs are not being met in the regular classroom. This information is much clearer to teachers and principles than a number that they don't really understand on a test that they are not familiar with.

But if you want to make your case based on the WISC-IV score, then here are two links for tables that clearly show that gifted starts at about 130 on the WISC-IV.

Hoagies' Gifted Education Page
Hoagies GT LD Test FAQ

Hope this helps?
ebeth

Wow, given how unpredictable those scores can be at the upper extremes, I too am shocked that 138 doesn't qualify. She may truly be 138, but she's also somewhat at the ceiling of the test.

NWEA uses 95th percentile to identify as gifted. I would ask for them to reconsider based on their own data. If they do not want to do so, I would ask who has the authority to make such a decision and go from there.

http://www.nwea.org/support/article/997

Unless your school has some sort of HG/PG program, 138 is extremely high. If you cannot get them to classify her as gifted, then you'll need to work on her individual academic needs each year with each teacher.

I'm with everyone else, I'd absolutely want in writing both your dd's score and what the cut-off for admission to the GT program are. Also, I'd be inclined to see if you might get better services at a different school given what you are describing. I've generally found that kids with VCI scores in that range absolutely cannot get their academic or social needs well met with differentiation in a traditional classroom.

I am also going to join in the chorus--138 is not gifted?? Where are you located?? Are you absolutely certain that was the score and the test? Could it possibly have been 128, not 138?

My DD's verbal IQ tested in about that range and she would absolutely be wilting on the vine if made to stay strictly on grade level for reading. Your poor DD.

OP, I'm right there with everyone else in questioning why your DD would not be admitted to your district's gifted program. If you have her score in writing, then I'd be sure to obtain the official gifted program requirements (in writing) and suggest you post the highlights here so that the great experts on this board can help you continue advocating for your DD.

Not that it helps, but I sympathize with you. Our school district spends lots of time/effort/energy keeping kids out of gifted programing. I may have an idea of the kind of frustration you feel, so hugs to you.

I haven't made an error, it is a 138 - the percent listed next to it is 99%. I have the score in writing.

Thank you all for your comments - the district makes me feel like I'm unusual and "pushy" for wanting more for her. The data and comments validate our thoughts and feelings. I'm dreading another year of "I'm so bored, can't I just stay home."

I wish I could find a document by someone "famous" in educational circles that states that a 138 cannot be accomodated in the regular classroom. If anyone knows of such a document, please let me know.

Thanks again!

I do not disagree that your child should be supported as a gifted child, and I encourage you to keep advocating for services. I do want to let you know that it might not be as bad as it seems to have your child in a regular classroom, but it all depends on your child's teacher. My child with a 139 PRI on the WISC has absolutely had her needs met in the regular classroom this year. They have been met, though, by a teacher and an assistant teacher who both parent gifted children themselves. It just all depends on the willingness of the teacher to differentiate and on the personality of the child. Good luck with your efforts in getting your child serviced!

So, what is their cut-off for GT programming admission then? The only thing that would make any sense to me is if they have a program only for HG++ kids (99.5 or 99.9) and you live in an area where there are a lot of MG kids (truly a lot in the 98th percentile area) so they can actually create a true peer group for kids in the 98th and 99th percentile in the regular class.

FWIW, it still sucks if that is the case b/c 139 is the 99.5th, so she would have just missed that cut, if that's it, by one point which is well within the error of measurement.

Yeah, what Cricket2 said. Since you said this is a public school, the most logical conclusion is that you must be in a very highly educated area with a very high # of MG kids and that they cannot handle that large # of kids in the gifted program. Therefore they have limited the program to HG+ and PG kids. Does this sound right? In a way, this seems like it should be good news for your DD--she should, in theory, have lots of peers. OTOH, you say that she is being made to read on grade level, which does not sound good at all. Do you know any other parents of bright children? What are they experiencing and are they equally frustrated? I understand if you don't want to reveal your location, but knowing more about your area and the school would probably help.

I'm on the East Coast. Yes, there are probably many advanced children here. I'm trying to ferret out other parents to determine the general climate. (You don't know the ability of children so it is often best to say nothing.) I think it will be very teacher dependent next year. They also could be canceling or modifying the gifted program and that could be why she is not going to be in it. I'm wondering if they are moving it up to a higher grade level and don't wish to rile up parents for summer. Thanks for the data. I'm hoping to meet with the teacher when school starts to see if something can be arranged.

So Zebras,
What about asking for a gradeskip? I also think you should ask what the cut off is for enterance into the gifted program, but unless that program is daily and covers at least half of the school hours, it's really not going to solve your problem. If they have kids who score similarly on the MAP test in her classroom, then well that's fine, but if not, she needs to be in a classroom where the other kids are ready to learn what she is ready to learn.

Don't worry about what they think of you! Be firm and polite, and be sure to know that there is suffering going on at home. Bless those children who 'hold back' at school and act like everything is fine and save if for home. That's a great skill to have, but if she won't be the squeeky wheel, you have to out her. That's the parent's job. ((shrugs))
Love and More Love,
Grinity