We had DS8 tested in July, with the most reputable tester in the area, who came up with a full scale iq of 154 with a local version of the WISC
I was also wondering what you meant by "local" version of the WISC? Are you outside the US?
And what were the credentials of the "most reputable tester" Please know I'm not questioning that he/she is the most reputable, just asking what the credentials are because I would want to use them in responding to the school psych's comments. We have had school staff scoff at and question outside testing results, but a calm, firm, brief reply asking "So you are questioning the opinion of a board-certified (fill-in-the-blank)?" is usually all it takes to end the school's question and let the conversation move forward.
Because DS was leery of changing classrooms we compromised on ssa in maths and this worked fine for a couple weeks until the school decided they needed further testing by the school psychologist.
Who was involved in the decision to go with SSA in math vs a full grade skip? I am guessing there had to be a team meeting - was the school psych there? Teachers? Who else? And then... what was the reason the school gave you for deciding to do more testing? Was there an issue with the SSA?
Turned out he'd come up with 115 on the CFT
What test is the CFT?
try out another ability test more geared towards verbal kids, the name of which I forget but which is norms for 4 to 6 graders and came up with 117 if DS were a fourth grader and 107 if he were a fifth grader, so rough estimate for a third grader 127. (I forgot to mention at this point DS was entered early and should have been in second.)
Do you know the name of this test? I would request the results normed for age rather than grade, if that's possible.
Well, he couldn't speak as to how the previous tester had come up with her results though the test she used was vulnerable to suggestions
Did he say the WISC was vulnerable to suggestions? I can see that it might be *if* used in a way that's not legit... which really points more at the tester than the test. When you said the tester had the best reputation in your area - where did you learn about the tester and the reputation? The reason I ask this is - it's clear your school psych has some doubts - they could be just horribly cynical unfounded doubts... or they could be doubts based on what the school psych has seen or heard from this tester with other students. That's probably *not* the case, but it's something worth considering just to be aware that it might be out there - and we were warned about this in our school district when our ds was going into K and we were looking into private testing. What we were told was that there were some psychs who would give inflated scores, and the school district gave less weight to results from those psychs, so the school district, while not telling us who we shouldn't see, told us very clearly that there were psychs in our town who they did not trust to give a credible score. Soooo... it might be worth thinking through... where did you hear about the psych's reputation etc. just so you can anticipate whether or not that's at the root of the school psych's skepticism.
but of course the CFT was about fluid intelligence and the other tests majorly skewed towards aquired knowledge - so rather smart but not gifted but with extremely well practiced knowledge.
When you look at all the data you have put together, if you have a high score on the WISC combined with several high scores on achievement tests, the outlier would be the lower score on the CFT, right? Sooooo... I would question the outlier rather than the preponderance of data. It's clear your ds was having a challenging week when tested, so you've got reason to suspect distraction plus "outlier" data point.. therefore don't let the school psych focus on that score.
I also think it might be helpful to focus on achievement in the classroom and the things your ds is asking for there when talking to the school. If he had average ability scores across the board but was achieving two years ahead in math and begging for more, would the lower ability scores be a legitimate reason to *not* offer him the challenge that he wants in math? NO (at least that's my opinion lol). When advocating, I've found there is less questioning brought to the table by the school when we focus on actual achievement in terms of where the child is at vs curriculum etc and achievement on standardized tests. Bringing in the data point of IQ more often than not either results in glazed-over looks from school staff who are more interested in achievement and don't necessarily agree that high ability leads to high need for different/etc work.
I am SO confused now. A discrepancy of 40 points - and the only explanation he could come up with, apart from DS being occasionally rushed or distracted, was that the tester who was 30 tears of experience and a reputation to lose, might have wanted to do me a favor or have no idea how to do her job
I think those are two potentially reasonable explanations, with distraction being the most likely reason. I wouldn't expect the school psych to come up with any more or other reasons.. but I would try to do everything I could as a parent to understand the results - get full copies of the testing report, look at subtest scores, research what the test is and how the subtests are administered etc. That might shed a bit more light... otoh... even if it does seem to show something, unless it obviously correlates to something you've seen in real life, this will probably always be a test set that you won't trust because your ds *was* distracted (at least in general) that week. Plus I think, from what you've written, the school psych acknowledged that your ds was distracted during the testing.
What is the school suggesting now as a result of the testing? Are they trying to move him out of the SSA or denying that he needs a grade skip? In either case, I'd summarize the conversation with the school psych, add your thoughts re the testing (nothing subjective, just what happened - distraction, what the tests measure etc. I think you should be able to word this all positively with a note re the distraction as the most likely cause of the outlier ability test. Include recent examples of your ds' academic achievement. Then send all of this in to the school principal and cc the school "team" via email or letter. The things I outlined above would be your supportive data - start the email with a request that whatever it you'd like to se happen... happens. Then review all the test resuls and work evidence.
Best wishes,
polarbear
