My ds8 took the WASI as the second round of testing for the GT pullout program in our district. I'm not able to see the full results until school starts next month. He was denied entrance into the program, so I called the director who told me he scored 126 and that the minimum is 131.
Background: His second grade teacher had him teaching vocabulary to the class and he was ten chapters or more ahead of the overwhelming majority of his classmates in the districts math program and was the only child in his class who completed it. She also discussed the GT program with me several times and stated that she felt ds would have no problem qualifying. During kindergarten and first grade, he was very bored in class and until he was lucky enough to get a teacher who realized his potential and gave him extra work, he was constantly being sent home with behavioral issue notes. These notes said that he talked through class, did not raise his hand before answering, and that he colored outside of the lines. He never once received any type of disciplinary notes in second grade and he was so much happier in an environment where the teacher let him move ahead. I know that she is a once-in-a-lifetime type of teacher, and I'm so worried that without the GT program he will go back to being considered the disruptive kid in class. He taught himself multiplication in kindergarten without prompting and could read chapter books before ever going to school, so I know that he is intelligent.
My son is a very sensitive child and spoke about how worried he was every day of the two months we waited for his score. He was extremely upset when we found out the he had not qualified, though I had discussed with him that either outcome was just fine. It breaks my heart to see him so upset. The director of the program said that if I felt the test score was not accurate, that the WISC can be given next week. I said yes, but now I'm having second thoughts. Is it worth the stress my child feels while waiting for the result, especially if the result is the same?
While searching for information, I have seen that children often score lower on the WISC than they did on the WASI. There are no other options for testing in our district. If the WISC score is just going to come out lower, then I would prefer not to put him through the stress of testing. Have any of your children taken both the WASI and the WISC? What was the outcome? Any advise?
