We did get a change in district policy where they'll now take IQ scores but the irritation on my behalf is that dd10's GAI, at the upper 140s, was higher that dd12's and dd12's got her a GIA (general intellectual ability) id whereas they said that all they could use dd10's WISC scores for was to show a strength in verbal b/c there were no science, math, or social studies ability scores on the WISC. Their policies change from year to year.
It is, technically, a moot point b/c the district doesn't guarantee anything with a GT id. Placement in advanced classes is predicated almost entirely on achievement scores. I don't know why they even bother with the ids if they aren't going to do anything for underachieving gifted kids or 2e kids like my little one. We've just had to deal with her other issues ourselves to get her to a place where she can perform on those all important achievement tests such that they place her appropriately. Thankfully she did well enough on the math MAPS and 7th grade math pre-test at the end of 5th that she has the option for acceleration in math in 6th.
On a side note, I had a vague recall the Riverside Publishing had addressed the discrepencies often seen btwn WISC and CogAT scores somewhere and did find it by googling it. Their Cognitively Speaking Newsletter in '04 had the following questions:
One teacher of gifted students writes:
Our school psychologist frequently uses the Wechsler
Intelligence Scale for Children� (WISC�) when evaluating
students. I have administered CogAT to some of the
same students. Even if the WISC score is �very superior�
(e.g., a Full Scale Score of 133), the individual�s CogAT
scores are usually lower. In some instances, the student
previously took the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test �
(OLSAT �) or the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales,
which aligns more closely with the CogAT scores.
What is going on?
A parent asks a similar question:
What is the difference between CogAT and the WISC?
Last year my son�s Composite national percentile rank
was 88 on CogAT. This year he scored at the 99th
percentile on the WISC. Is this normal?
See their response
here. I do think that they make valid points about different tests testing different things, how correlation works, etc. What I don't think they've addressed as well is the use of the term "usually lower." I realize that most kids who test highly are supposed to test lower next time or on a different test.
However, I'd still love to see some research on correlation btwn IQ tests and group tests that only looks @ kids who have 98th percentile + scores on the WISC, SB, or one of the group tests to see if that correlation is there for that group. Especially as these test are primarily used for selection into GT programs, I think that it is important to show that a strong correlation btwn group tests and IQ test exists for gifted kids.
Which brings up an interesting side note. That Renzulli article that's come up a few times recently had a question from the author about whether high IQ and gifted were one and the same. I got the impression that he felt that perhaps not. I guess that I feel that they are. Without high IQ, you aren't gifted in an intellectually gifted sense IMHO, but maybe I am being closed minded here and I'm, of course, not drawing a strict line in the sand that distinguishes btwn numbers like 125 and 130. At some point it is close enough that errors of measurement come into play.
) Our district uses CogAT as their GATE-keeper. No outside testing accepted. Each kid is allowed only one try at the test.