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Posted By: dmcdad analysis of SB-5 results - 12/06/08 04:48 PM
Hello -- This is my first post here. Looks like a great forum! We just got the results from my dd7's SB-5 testing:

FSIQ: 138
NVIQ: 137
VIQ: 136

The interesting part was that she hit the ceiling on fluid reasoning (both verbal and non-verbal):

153 - 19NV / 19V Fluid Reasoning
123 - 14NV / 14V Knowledge
133 - 17NV / 15V Quantitative Reasoning
132 - 16NV / 15V Visual Spatial
126 - 13NV / 16V Working Memory

She is in a pullout gifted program (half day only, once per week) currently. Her school, unfortunately, is not very accommodating when it comes to making adjustments in the home classroom (!!). Therefore, we are looking at other options. One includes another district that has a school within a school program. They require an IQ of 140 though, so based on my dd7's FSIQ she wouldn't make the cut.

However, if I use Riverside's alternative scoring technique for giftedness to remove the Working Memory component then we get 140 and 142 NV. I'm not sure if the school will accept that, however.

My questions:

1) Is hitting the ceiling in Fluid Reasoning but only being a couple of SDs away from norm in the other areas odd?

2) Possibly wishful thinking, but I'm wondering if her Knowledge score might come up in a couple of years. She just recently started devouring adult-level books and has excellent comprehension and retention. Does it follow to reason that this increase in consumption of knowledge may bump up her score a bit in a year or so? I know the scores are technically not supposed to vary much year-to-year, but given her ceilinged Fluid Reasoning score I'm wondering if that might help pull up the Knowledge.

3) Does anyone have any thoughts on how she might do (better or worse) on the WISC given her raw scores? I know that test favors different areas, but I'm not sure which areas or how that might apply in this case. One negative is that she doesn't perform quickly when doing create/fluid problem solving. She is quick to recall information she knows (math facts) and is a very fast reader, but if you present her with a problem she doesn't know the answer to it may take her a while to answer the question... although in the end she almost always comes up with the right answer.

Thanks in advance for any input!
Posted By: dmcdad Re: analysis of SB-5 results - 12/06/08 10:45 PM
Originally Posted by gratified3
Finally, I'd suggest that you talk with the district who demands a 140 IQ. They may have a particular measure wanted or they may allow a bit of a fudge factor. I know of one school that requires a 145 on the SBV but they are not completely rigid about it. A 140 on the SBV is a really high goal and unless the district is huge, it's hard to imagine they could fill the program sticking to that cutoff.
I've got a meeting scheduled with them next week, so we'll see how that goes. They have a pullout gifted program she will qualify for, and they have a school-within-a-school program for the students that test in the top 0.5% of the district I believe. The selfish part of me hopes they are rigid so that we don't have to think about moving. smile If she does qualify, then we have some very tough decisions to make.

Originally Posted by Dottie
Did your daughter have achievement testing done at the same time? Maybe on the WJ or the WIAT? That always adds to the picture.
In kindergarten the school gave her a group CogAT (99V/97NV/99Q) and the ITBS (99 in all sections) which got her into the pullout program. Other than that and the SB-V, she hasn't had any additional testing.

We'll see how it goes. I'm thinking the next step may be having her take the WISC-IV to see what that shows.

Thanks to both of you for the great feedback!
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