Hi! My DS took the WJ a few weeks ago, and I just got his scores. The report lists him as 2nd grade, but he is in first grade. Would this change the scores?

I think so, yes.

The good news is that the WJ tests use a mathematical model that you can plug the scores into and then extrapolate based on age/grade that is entered.

When DD was tested we got two outputs AE (age equivalent) and GE (grade equivalent). It ought to be a simple matter to get the tester to rerun the numbers using a different grade.

I am no expert on testing but i do know this from first hand experience - we got this done to support the case for our DD's skip from 2nd to 4th. We were able to get the numbers produced as though she was entering 4th grade ( tested mid way through 2nd) based on her raw scores. So it works 'forwards' and I would expect it to work 'backwards' too.

Good luck.

Thank you! I'll see if she's willing to re run it as a first grader.

Ask her to re-run it using age norms, for the most accurate picture of his performance without compensating for any prior grade skips. That's the preferred way to derive norm-referenced scores for gifted kids, unless you are deliberately looking for out-of-level testing. In the latter case, (say, if you need to demonstrate that a student in a proposed grade skip is achieving at the 95+%ile of the receiving grade), the scores should be run based on grade norms, using the destination grade level.

I'm a school psych, so testing is kind of my thing.

Thank you! The report does say his scores are compared with "peers his age" so I'm assuming that means she ran them using the age norms. Thanks for your help!