I was tested at sixyears old and at eight years old through my school's gifted program. I have spoken with my county's (in which the elementary school is located in) k-12 gifted program coordinator and she told me that the gifted program was in its beginning stage at the time I was being tested and that I was placed into a "not gifted but possible" category. Both of my test results came back as non-gifted. Is there a possibility that my status as an English learner (began learning English at five years old) interfered with my performance on the tests?
My results are as listed below:
(Age 6)
ITBS-Math: 73%
ITBS-Reading: 28%
Cogat (Non-verbal): 96%
Cogat (Quantitative): 67%
Cogat (Verbal): 31%
(Age 8)
ITBS-Math: 96%
ITBS-Reading: 89%
Cogat (Non-verbal): 62%
Cogat (Quantitative): 58%
Cogat (Verbal): 67%
It is likely that your status as an ESL affected your scores to some extent, particularly the Reading (achievement) and Verbal (cognitive) scores. In fact, the much higher 9-year-old scores (v. the 7-year-old scores) in the Reading/Verbal categories demonstrate your increasing proficiency in English. Interestingly, your non-verbal scores on the CoGAT declined significantly while your quantitative scores on the CoGAT were fairly constant. The older you get the less impact your ESL status will have on your test scores, particularly since you started English fairly young at 5-years-old.
Generally speaking, the expectation is that young ELLs will achieve conversational proficiency (BICS-basic interpersonal communication skills) in about 3-5 years of English immersion, and academic fluency (CALP-cognitive-academic language proficiency) in about 5-7 (or even up to 7-10, in some of the more recent research) years. The timeline may be compressed in higher-cognitive individuals, those who are younger at first exposure to English, and those with a richer language environment (in any language), and may be expanded in those with limited English exposure outside of school, or underlying language or cognitive disabilities, among other things.
I understand that you are not a professionally certified in dissecting test results and that you cannot provide a definite answer (correct me if I am wrong). However, do you speculate that the scores from the age of nine most likely portrays my natural abilities? If so, does my high achievement in ITBS math and reading reflect merely my grasp upon the subjects (in comparison to that of my peers) rather than my intellectual abilities? Also, do you know of any plausible explanation as to the reason for my dramatic decrease in the Non-verbal Cogat section? Thank you for your time!