Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Group ability tests vs. IQ tests

I don't really believe in "false positives."

I do think that what you get is a snapshot at the time. I think time of day , child's mood, child's feelings about the tester, the tester's competence all figure into how a child proceeds. I don't understand how a child could falsely score high. It would be sheer luck and guessing and fooling the tester (I am talking about individually administered tests). I do think that you can "improve" your score with knowledge of the test. I really don't think how you respond to a new structure of assessment should be a part of the test score.

My child took the SCAT with no preparation, and didn't get the score cut-off the 1st time. The second time (re-test), we went over the structure of the exam, and I answered a few questions, and he did practice questions. The next SCAT, his scores were good enough for the cut offs at 2 grade levels above the already above grade level test.