We are trying to find the right school for our son. (Whom I adore!-- total sweetheart.) He's about 4.5, an only child, and is just on the cut off (depending on the school) for K. He's been attending a preschool 3 days a week.

One school we are considering for next year, which bills itself as exclusively for gifted kids, required testing. So, he took the WPPSI-IV, administered by a psychologist consultant affiliated with the school. I understand that they are looking for a score of 130 or higher (although they say they will consider a student who is close.) But, we got two composite numbers back, an FSIQ and GAI, and I am now not sure which one they consider.

So, on to the results: FSIQ 129, GAI of 139. Quote from the report: "X's highest scores were obtained on Block Design and Matrix Reasoning, on which he obtained the highest possible scaled scores." But, there were some areas that were not exceptional, and in fact, one is low, really low-- his picture memory was only 16th percentile.

I'm not familiar with these tests, but the difference between FSIQ and GAI seems to be quite large. So, what does this mean for my kid? We want the right fit for him. If he will flounder in a program designed exclusively for gifted students, that's no good. Is this GAI score just a number trick to convince us to send him to their school? Our other option is another fantastic private school that can tailor their program to each kid's strengths and weaknesses, and turns out fine kids, too. While they may not be exclusively for gifted kids, they seem to be able to handle them with success. I am not desperate to get him into the "gifted" school. I want the right school for him.

Thanks in advance for your thoughtful input.

Welcome!

The GAI is a reasoning composite, that is supposed to be a "purer" measure of thinking and problem solving ability. The FSIQ includes other cognitive skills that are often important in learning, but are more closely associated with efficiency and output. On this instrument, those efficiency skills consist of working memory (represented by the picture memory score) and speed. The GAI is less-heavily weighted for memory and speed. So the moderately-sized difference between the FSIQ and GAI suggests that his actual thinking skills are better represented by the GAI, and that he may have less success with rote memory or attention tasks. Another critical point is that he is very young; small children can score poorly on tests for many reasons other than native ability, including fatigue, fluctuating attention, lack of familiarity with formal testing activities, or just their own idiosyncratic small child ways of interpreting instructions and situations.

So the lower picture memory and resulting FSIQ scores may or may not be "real", and if they are, may mean any one or combination of a number of things. But the GAI is definitely not a scam. It's a real thing, and often preferentially recommended as the composite score to be emphasized in GT decision-making.

I will also note that he did exceptionally well on a visual spatial task and an abstract reasoning task, which generally bodes well for his mathematical thinking. And yes, you should feel comfortable interpreting his results as indicating giftedness, especially in the non-language areas.

Whether one school or the other is the right placement for him is less-dependent on his numbers, and more dependent on the fit between his interests and finer-grained learning style, and the expectations of the school. Some so-called GT schools, IMO, expect excessive amounts of written work production (aka, busywork), which is best suited to children with high cognitive proficiency (efficiency skills) and advanced fine-motor than to deep, reflective thinkers. You will need to explore the temperaments of the respective schools a bit, and analyze how they fit with what you know of your child as a learner.

And, as many here can attest, keep in mind that your child's educational and placement needs may (likely will) change from year to year, so next year's perfect solution may be limited to next year.

Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it. I have read several of your other posts, and I can tell that a) you are extremely knowledgeable on the subject, and b) that time and time again you graciously shared your knowledge with many on this site. I, for one, am truly grateful. I am sure you understand that stress and fear that comes with raising a child, and your efforts to help others is commendable and really do help others.

Now, where do we go to get a crystal ball? I still need to figure out this school choice.