Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment DYS application question (WJ-III scores)

Hi everyone! I have yet another question. (Can I just say how grateful I am to have found this board? Everyone is so helpful, and I don't feel like a stage mother talking about my gifted kid!)


DS4 was tested in November, about a week before his 4th birthday. He was tested with the WPPSI and WJ-III. His WPPSI scores do not qualify him, although his verbal score got pretty close at 147. Rats! Anyways, I was thinking of using his achievement testing scores, but I'm not sure if they will qualify him for two reasons.

The first reason is that he was scored as a first grader because he was beyond the norms for kindergarten. After posting his scores here, it was explained to me (his mildly gifted on a good day, mother hahaha)that he was off the charts for kindergarten, so they based his scores on a first grader. How would this present as far as a DYS application piece? When looking at his scores, they aren't that impressive (relatively speaking of course!) but knowing that he was scored as a child 2 years older than he is, I would imagine they would have been qualifying scores for DYS.

Just as an FYI, his broad reading composite was 129 (97%) letter-word identification 136 (99%) reading fluency 121 (92%)

The second issue was that he did not receive a valid score for math fluency. The scores he did receive for math were calculation 122 (93%) and applied problems 97 (42%) He had never done math before, he didn't even know what a + or - was, so I wasn't expecting anything mind blowing for the math. We mostly wanted a picture of his reading ability to support an early K admission.

Does DYS require a complete test for the achievement test portion? (Forgive me if the answer is posted clearly on the requirements page and I missed it!)

It's likely he will be retested in a year or two because we will not be staying in the area we are in now, and I'm expecting to need other testing for other programs. Plus, it will have been over 24 months since the WPPSI.

Thanks to everyone here who has been so helpful and accepting!

I don't know how they will respond Amber, but if the tester will provide a written explanation about the percentages being for a 1st grader, I think DYS will be impressed. Plus, as you point out the IQ is very close. I think with some portfolio items that show what he's about might all add up to an 'yes.' I can't make any promises, but I believe it's worth it to try even if they say 'sorry, try again later.'

Did you get the early K admission?
I sure hope so!
Grinity

He did get early k admission. I'm a little nervous, but going with my gut.


I was just re-reading the qualifications for DYS, and we do not have a "full written report," only scores. It may be best for us to just retest in a couple of years, and make sure the psych gives us a full report. Perhaps then the achievement testing will be normed correctly, since the readi won't be as far out there.

Thanks Dottie!

Dottie is probably right, but if it were I, I'd call the psychologist's office and say: I can't seem to find the report only the scores, Is there a charge generated if I ask you send me a copy?

The most important thing is that you got the early enterance - good luck with it!!!!

Grinity

Well, im not sure if thats an option, we got am extremely duscounted rate on the testing because it was for the purpose of gaining admissions to a gifted school. This may be a silly question, but do they have to produce a full report for an iq test? Or are there times when only a score is recorded?


we may need additional testing to get into a school if we relocate, so I'll just cool my jets until then.

We had my son tested 2 years ago with a private psychologist when he was 6, really to learn about his intellectual potential, etc. He did really well. We got a basic report with that.
However, a year later, I learned that his scores would qualify him for our local GT program. I sent the scores and they said they had to have the "full report." That cost $200 more or so. The report, in my mind, didn't add anything to learning about him. Our GT won't accept the scores without the report. Go figure!!

Interesting! Our school was only interested in the score. I'm curious as to what the full report looks like, I must say.

Our "full report" mostly parroted back what we and our DDs school wrote on the pre-assessment paper work, had a bunch of comments about what various scores meant (ie comments like "the high PRI indicates childName will be good at visual spatial tasks"). Very little of it was truly personal observation by the psychologist of my child. I am sure that there are professionals who offer a better standard of report, but I suspect what we did see is very common. It is certainly what I would guess you would see if they are writing the report some time later for an extra fee.

That was my thinking, as it's been about 6 months since the testing took place. I'll definitely look into it more thoroughly next time, and chose a tester who will provide some insights as well as the score.