Here are a few random thoughts -
However, her school offers GT pull out for kids 85% and above on ability and achievement. Which of her tests take precedence here? The county will use her IQ/achievement from this summer instead of the Cogats to qualify her. I�m just wondering if I should even worry about getting her ID�ed as GT? There are so many kids in her classroom working ahead of her.
She'll qualify for the program, so which tests take precedence (for this program) is irrelevant - she can get in. The real question from my perspective is - what does the program offer? Is it something she'd benefit from or is it just extra work?
Re other kids in her classroom working ahead of her, you can't guess their relative IQ/ability status based on that, and in many ways, that's irrelevant to. It is at least an indication that the teacher in this particular classroom is challenging the children, which is a good thing, but that's about the most you can really infer from what *other* children are doing. I'd focus on your child's needs and forget those other kids
Here are a few random thoughts -
The county won�t even consider her SB5 since it�s more than 2 yrs old. They believe kids �level out� by 3rd grade. They also believe that IQ changes and anything older than 2 yrs is irrelevant. The WISC scores should be enough as long as her teacher rates her high enough on the GT rating scale.
It's not unusual for a test older than 2-3 years to not be considered. Our 2E ds who needs accommodations in school and on testing has had to have re-testing every three years and will have to retest again prior to taking the SAT etc for college entry. Our district's G/T magnet school also re-tests achievement and ability as kids progress through school to re-qualify the children, and I've known children who were admitted in kindergarten and later sent elsewhere because the earlier scores didn't hold up and their teachers felt they were not properly placed in the program. Two of my children have been through IQ testing at 5 and again in 2nd grade; for my ds the results were very similar, but my dd's scores went from being MG at 5 to being completely flat-line "average" at 7. I have no idea which is the "correct" representation of her true IQ but from networking around a bit I believe that part of the discrepancy may be due to the difference in psychologists and potentially over-inflated scores in the early testing.
How do I know when she�s doing her �best� or when she�s just not interested in trying her �best?�
I wouldn't assume she's "not trying her best" - I agree with aculady that the 2 SD difference in processing speed and the other scores is something to look into and may be a sign of a hidden LD or other challenge. You also mentioned that she's a slow processor - I think that I'd focus, just for right now, on better understanding what's behind the score discrepancies in case that's impacting her in the classroom. If she's not achieving because she's just not driven to be a high achiever, that's something you either have to decide you're ok with or you're going to drive her harder via external motivation - but if she's not achieving as highly as she could because of an undiagnosed LD or other challenge - that's something that would help her tremendously to understand.
Best wishes,
polarbear
