I think that my NOT prepping DD for the school ability test, I really did her a disservice. If there is a 2e issue, or anything about the child that may cause an inaccurate result, the parent should prep in order to level playing field. Schools cannot be relied upon to do the right thing....they are just looking for data to plug into their formula or strict entrance cut-offs. I had to look closely at DD's score report to determine that she left a large number of items blank and this happened because it's a timed test and DD has slow processing speed and can be perfectionistic. She probably agonized over the answers to some of the questions and spent 5X the amount of time that she "should" have. If I had gotten her a prep test, I could have taught her how to pace herself. Another student we know who also took the test had the SAME problem. No one told us this was a timed test, so her parents told her to be careful and double check her answers. She left a lot of questions blank and scored low just like DD. The parents prepped her to take the test again the next year, and her composite score went up 30 or 35 points the second time around. I gave up on the test and took DD for private testing (WISC) which showed a very large discrepancy as well (like 30 points). If DS ends up taking the school test when he's old enough, now I know to prep him. No way am I going to let his 2e issues get in the way of doing well, and him potentially being denied services when he clearly needs them. We already have a WISC on him showing he's gifted but the district will most likely say it's too old and not done by the "right" person. Funny how they think the stupid CogAT would give them more accurate results than a WISC.
