My 7 year old has an IQ of 135, although the NVFR is 99.9% on the SB5. DC is working a few years ahead and I'm asking for a two year skip. Is this too much considering the IQ scores?

What are your reasons for seeking a two-year skip?

Acceleration is a frequent topic on the forums and is not based on IQ alone.

Are you familiar with the Iowa Acceleration Scale (IAS)? It is described here on Hoagies' Gifted Education Page, and is considered the gold standard for evaluating evidence for/against a full-grade skip at a given point in time.

The IAS is in its 3rd edition (2009) and is therefore sometimes called IAS-3.

There are three parts to the IAS:
1) Manual (re-usable paperback with process description, essays, examples)
2) Form (one form is completed for each child, each time an acceleration is considered)
3) Summary and Planning Record (one summary and planning record is completed for each child, each time an acceleration is considered)

The IAS is described on the website of the Acceleration Institute and is available from Great Potential Press. If your school is not aware of the IAS, you may wish to share this information with them.

The IAS recommends tests which measure student ability, aptitude, and achievement. This list is a roundup of these tests:

Ability
Most recent Wechsler or Binet, Woodcock-Johnson... or CogAT

Aptitude
Above-level tests such as ITBS, EXPLORE, or ACT

Achievement
Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT) or Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement (WJ-ACH).

Have you read other discussion threads which list pros/cons of acceleration? This post, in a thread called Considering grade skip, contains a roundup of acceleration discussion threads, which you may wish to explore.

I wouldn't go for a double skip. Despite a high score in fluid reasoning if the IQ is only mildly gifted then that's what you're going to see and school needs all round high scores for a double skip. Maybe enrichment in the fluid reasoning areas of school (like maths and science). I'd be concerned once your child gets to middle school they'd struggle. To be honest, with such a high FR score that may have bumped up the IQ so maybe a single skip may not be ideal, either. Check out the IAS and be realistic with the answers. There's a big difference between being able to work a few years ahead and being able to literally be in a grade a few years ahead.

A lot would depend on the actual scatter within the IQ test as well as the quality of your DS' school and rather he is old/young for grade. Based on the limited information in your post, I would hesitate to skip two years. If such high NVFR only results in a full scale IQ of 135, then it means that either his verbal IQ and/or processing speed is only high average or lower. Schools typically emphasize verbal skills and require reasonable processing speed. Based on the posted age, I am assuming that you want your DS to skip 2nd and 3rd grade and jump to 4th grade. The writing and executive demands in 4th grade are significantly higher in most decent brick and mortar schools.

I'm quoting the above to draw more attention to it. This is what I'm experiencing with my son. He has FSIQ of 132 (GAI 141). His score is brought down by slow processing speed and working memory. However, he has ADHD dx so we have some wiggle room for academic accommodations.

He is in virtual charter school that offers a blended option, so I can chose his environment for each individual subject. I choose his grade level for each subject. I can also chose his level of accommodation for each subject. I did subject acceleration in grade 2 and 3. He skipped from public elementary school 1st grade to charter school 4th/5th grade for his 2nd grade year. 3rd grade year he did grade 6 with higher level supplements.

He is 9 now, would be entering 4th grade. We did formal grade skip acceleration to 7th grade. He'll be taking 2 middle school classes, 2 high school classes, and 1 will be either high school or college - awaiting instructor approval. However, he will have accommodations available for ADHD in each class. The high school classes can be done at half-pace, meaning one semester is spread over two semesters. 2 of his classes wil have no required writing, no written homework. If he gets approved for the college class, he'll have accommodation for private test room, time-and-a-half on tests, extended time on assignments, and a note-taker (that's me).

He is intellectually capable of the material, but his processing speed, working memory, and slow writing would prevent him from participating in these classes if not for the ADHD dx and parent involvement. My role is to be aware of his asynchronies and abilities so I know when to push him and when to stop, break it down, and teach a lagging skill. My role is to teach organizational skills. ("Organizational Skills Training for Kids with ADHD" <-- book is worth its weight in gold!)

For reference, his processing speed when optimally medicated is 50th percentile. Unmedicated it's approx 20th percentile.

For your son, I would recommend preparing him for a skip over a couple of years. The difference between grade 3 to 4 is significant and the difference between 5 to 6 is often troublesome. Subject acceleration might give you an opportunity to teach him the study skills separate from social skills and academic organization skills. When he can keep up with the non-intellectual / executive demand of higher level work you'll be better able to make a grade-skip decision in confidence.

All school districts are different, but you might find it easier to advocate for one grade skip now, and another one later. You can even use the success of the first skip to support further acceleration.

As to the IQ, I am no expert and can only speak anecdotally, but I think 135 would be near the minimum for a double skip. Is it do-able? Certainly, especially if the kiddo is motivated, but I'd be hesitant to do a two year skip for an IQ much lower.

Best of luck,
--S.F.

What do you mean by "working a few years ahead"?

Is your child actually doing the work of students a few grades above age-grade placement in a classroom setting? In a homeschool setting?

Or is it that the grade equivalent on a standardized achievement test is a few grades above the age grade?

If your child is actually doing the work of students a few grades ahead and excelling *in a classroom setting* then they are probably ready for a skip.

If your child is doing the work the work of students a few grades ahead in a homeschool setting and excelling, you're going to have to carefully evaluate whether that will actually translate into being successful with the same work in a classroom setting. For example, when homeschooling it is easy to provide a degree of scaffolding that is not available in a classroom.

If your child has test scores that place him a few grades ahead (meaning that they are in, say 3rd grade and the grade equivalent score is 5.5 or something), this does not indicate readiness for 5th grade work. It just means that the child has mastered (or more accurately--*may have* mastered) the material on the test to the same extent that an average student in that year and month has. Average students have not mastered grade level material.

I would get a copy of the Iowa Acceleration Scale Manual. You don't need to get the forms if you're using it for your own information. It lists many issues to consider when doing a skip and explains the reasoning behind the recommendations.

Also, keep in mind that it's not just about academics. Executive function and social issues play a huge role in the success of a skip. In fact our experience was that the academics *still* weren't challenging enough after a two year skip, but the EF demands and social issues were challenging. We went back to homeschooling after that year. This coming year my son will be entering high school (after doing high school/college level work at home for two years) with his age mates in the fall--his choice, purely for social reasons.

I would also not do a two year skip all at once.

Unless the school is unusually pro-skipping I wouldn't even mention a two year skip. A one year would depend on school attitude, achievement and social issues more than IQ probably.

It's a good strategy if you want a one-year skip and the school is anti-skipping. Suggest two years, settle for one.

At our anti-skipping school, you'll immediately get dismissed by administration asking for a two year skip (and they'll probably have a good laugh when you leave). Asking for a one year skip gets placated. I don't know a single case of skipping in our large (700 students) elementary.

Not all schools are the same, but unless there's a very clear history and path for a single year skip, I'd stay away from asking for a double. A double skip also has a higher chance of success taken in two steps.

That's fine if you only want a one-year skip anyway. An initial high offer makes subsequent lower offers seem more reasonable than if you had made the lower offers right away, even if they are still higher than what is deemed normal. (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring) It wouldn't always work, but I did write a strategy, not the strategy.

And it would scuttle your chances of being taken seriously about a one year skip. Worst case scenario the would do what ds9's year 2 teacher tvreatened and prove they didn't need a skip by setting them up to fail.

This is an anti-skip school.

The problem is you aren't making an offer. They don't want what you are selling.

You can take your child's age and multiply it by 1.35 to see what intellectual age your child functions at. College bound kids are generally about 2 years ahead of very average students. Engineering and other STEM bound students are often 3 years ahead.

I am a big supporter of grade acceleration, but only when the current grade has little or nothing left to offer. And that would be based on achievement, not IQ.

It depends where you live and what is offered, so I cannot say if your child should accelerate. I, personally, home school my children. But, I have found that when returning at the high school level, that there is plenty to be offered. I have found anything below high school to be futile and frustrating.

Our public schools are anti-skip too. My son who has a September birthday missed the cut off by 19 days. He was reading chapter books before kindergarten. His lowest achievement score before kindergarten was at 2nd grade level, by their own tests. His reading was at 4th grade level. He suffered through kindergarten with kids learning the alphabet. He home schools now. I wish I never sent him to kindergarten.

My son has never taken an individual IQ test but he did take CogAT in 2nd grade. IAS-3 treats the cogAT composite score as your IQ score(they suggest using the cogAT verbal score as your IQ score if composite is not available), even though the CogAT test provider emphasized that the cogAT composite is not your IQ score because of the low ceiling of 150. My son hit the ceiling of 150 on the composite as well as the verbal so I don't know if his actual IQ score might be higher.

Anyway short story long he skipped 2 grades and ended 8th grade with a 4.0 GPA. He also subject accelerated in math and science so is basically 4 years ahead in math and 3 years ahead in science compared to his age peers. Socially he adjusted quite well, made a few good friends in 8th grade even though he's physically smaller. Overall he's very happy with his grade skip and is looking forward to high school next year.

From my perspective though, I feel like I have lost 2 years with my son. Those 2 years just disappeared into thin air, I don't know where they went. So, if you are really close to your son, that's something to consider.

Also, I feel like he has lost his network of friends since Kindergarten. I know that he will build a new circle of friends when he starts high school but still, he used to be much more social. Also leadership became an issue as he's so much smaller physically compared to middle schoolers 2 years older, hopefully this will go away once he hits puberty in HS. He was a leader among his age peers in elementary. His birthday is in November so he was among the older kids in his grade level prior to the skip.

The most important thing to consider is how your son feels about it. My son really wanted to grade skip badly because he was tired of being bored in school all the time. Unless your son really, really wants it, don't do it, and even if he really really wants it, I wouldn't recommend more than 1 grade now. He can skip again later if needed. 6th grade (first year of middle school) is a good grade to skip as it usually doesn't teach much more than 5th.