Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment RIAS score

How accurate is this test? I just got the results for the test
my son took at his school. They said he scored 160 (test ceiling).

He also took the WISC, however those results aren't in yet. The day he took the WISC he was getting sick and as a result he was overtired so I am not sure how well he did.

Are the results of these two tests usually comparable?

Also, what "level" of giftedness would this place him in?

I am personally against acceleration for my son, but am I doing an injustice to him by rejecting this option?

RIAS has a high correlation with the WISC - it is less dependent on social comprehension, visual-motor coordination, and motor output than the WISC

160 is extraordinarily gifted.

When you say you are against acceleration for your son, what do you mean? And, if it's not too personal a question, what is your reasoning?

My son was tested on the RIAS and did very well, but scored better on the WISC...I think that was partly the difference in levels of training for the two differing testers...
I wish they would have told me the actual number for the RIAS but they just gave us % and said we weren't allowed to have more, if he hit the ceiling, I'd say its pretty darn good though!As aculady asked, what exactly are you against when you say acceleration, if you don't mind? Do you think the normal classrooms, or whatever gifted program your son may have is working, and teachers are working with him...if so then it may not be necessary. We found we had to accelerate because no matter the accomodations, it just wasn't enough, and sadly still isn't enough after the skip. It really depends on the child, and the support they have at school!

Thank you very much for the welcome and the information. It i svery much appreciated.

We should have the WISC as well as the achievement score testing results from UF at the end of next week at the latest. The day of that testing, he wasn't himself. He was acting silly and not focused, at least during the interview with the psychologist. The test administrators told me he did well during the testing, but I am only cautiously optimistic with these results. Then again, he is only barely six years old, so he is definately allowed to act silly, I just wish he would have picked a different day

We have known he is gifted for some time mainly due to his personality and that he definately stands out from other kids. This in itself has been a challenge though. He is finally developing some imagination though, thankfully. He is a realist.

His teacher in Kindergarten has been pushing for him to get tested trhough the school all year. When it didnt look like it was going to happen, I called the University to schedule a testing date. The school did finally come through this summer, which is where the RIAS scores coem from. The school psychologist was not available to speak with, but her secretary told me simple that he scored a 160, and they would be in touch with further information.

In reference to acceleration, I am mostly lost and confused. His Kindergarten teacher said he would do fine skipping first grade. As it was, last year he woul dgo to second grade for the first part of the day for language arts and then return to Kindergarten for the afternoon. He gets along much beter with kids a few years older. I am mostly concerned with the social aspect through. He is highly emotional. Will the kids make fun of him for crying? He is TINY. He just reached 38 pounds. He also just turned 6 two weeks ago. As it is he would be the youngest child in the first grade class. His handwriting is aful. He also has some anxiety and still chews on pencils, his shirt, or whatever is available to stick in his mouth. We are working on breaking the habit, but it is taking time.

I just dont want to make the wrong decision. We are switching schools this year, so if we were goign to accelerate, this would be the time to do so.

I am hoping the achievement test and the WISC scores come back sooner than expected and maybe they will help us decide what is best.

My son (age 6) also took the RIAS a month ago. He got >160 on the total, 143 on verbal, and "177" (>160) on nonverbal. The tester said he got all the way to the end of the nonverbal part, which is normed for adults up to age 90 or so. He had also gotten a 99.1% on the Ravens test, which is like a nonverbal, spatial test.
For us, we are not pursuing further testing since these scores should qualify him for our G/T program.
Supposedly the RIAS gives higher scores than the WISC, etc. although the literature I have read said they are the same, not higher.

Welcome jt,

Put us in the group with triplejmom, where the WISC scores were higher than RIAS. I also agree that may have had something to do with the testers, as the reason we had the WISC done was because the RIAS appeared obviously off and not representative of our child.

I'm curious about the testing you referenced at UF? Gainesville? Do you know if the testing was conducted by students or was there some other tester? I will caution that I've heard from several folks, including some on this board, whose children were tested by students not familiar with HG+, who felt strongly that the results were not representative of their child. If your WISC and achievement scores don't correlate with the RIAS, you may have the opposite problem with inexperienced testers.

If you don't get any assistance from UF, I can PM you with contact info for the psych who did our testing in Gainesville and she may be helpful with local info and guidance. I know of at least one other poster from this board who is local to you, who might be able to provide you local specific information. We are nearby, but not exactly local. Although we have close ties in town, our personal experience is a different school system.

I understand your concerns with the emotional and social concerns. My DD (now 9) had similar issues - highly emotional, intense OEs and struggled with those through K and 1st. Not the same size issues, although those are becoming more pronounced now. We skipped 2nd and she is now getting ready to enter 5th. Last year, we still had problems with meltdowns and frustration, but I've come to realize this is how she is. She's been this way since she was an infant and she will be this way when she is a teenager. She will have those issues regardless of how old she is when she goes through any particular grade.

I will say that having the opportunity to learn at something a little closer to her readiness level in the accelerated grade mellowed the OEs, at least for a little while. The first 2-3 months when she accelerated into 3rd grade were the best educational experience she's had. On the other hand, you mentioned that your school is already doing some subject accleration - that may be a better way to handle it if he can learn at or near his level in some subjects while also having opportunities to work on the handwriting and other stuff in a first grade class.

We did the full grade skip because there was really no other option and we decided the cost of not doing the skip was worse than the cost of doing it. That evaluation is different for everyone.

Good luck!

Hi Jtjt - welcome! I am going to second kcab's recommendation of filling out the Iowa Acceleration Scale form, as it considers many different factors in determining whether a child will be a good candidate for acceleration (full grade or single subject). Each section of the IAS gets a score, and the total of all the different sections determines whether a child is a good candidate. The social part is just one section.

As for full grade skip versus single grade skip, with some kids with really high scores like yours, sometimes it gets more and more difficult for the teachers to differentiate. Most of the time, pace continues to be an issue for these kids, and it's easier for the higher grade teacher to differentiate one or two grades up than it is for the lower grade teacher to differentiate 2 to 3 grades up.

Our experience is that our son went to K with agemates, and had differentiation including 2nd grade math. He then skipped 1st grade, and due to miscommunication, DS didn't start with 3rd grade math, but rather started over on 2nd grade math he had already done (so make sure you get lots of expectations in writing!) Like your DS, our son's handwriting was terrible. He had not wanted to learn to write before K, and he came out of K knowing how to write, but very poorly. In addition to the wrong math after the skip, we found that the pace was too slow for our DS across the board, and we took an opportunity to send him to a school for HG kids, where the fit was great. His handwriting is still awful, but the school takes kids where they are and don't put a lot of focus on the weakness. DS's writing continues to improve, but I will imagine he will still be the worst in his class. I don't think that would have changed even if he weren't a year younger.

Your son's K teacher knows how the kids are in your district, so I would take her word for it when she says that your DS would do fine skipping 1st. Many 1st graders are still learning to read, and some people find that it's a really hard year for GT kids because they do a lot of waiting.

Are you switching schools within the same district? If yes, I would recommend documenting all the acceleration that the recent school provided for your DS (going up to higher grades for certain subjects, etc.), because in my experience there is sometimes a great lack of communication during a school change, even in district.

If you can afford to get a consult on your DS's scores, a professional's advice as to your DS's schooling can be very helpful. But rememember that whatever you decide, it is not the end of the world if it doesn't work out 100%. School situations can be changed.

I received a call with partial results for his testing at UF. They are faxing the full scores and report to me.

On the WISC IV his verbal was 148 and non verbal was 149 and full scale was 147

On the Woodcock Johnson his total was 139 with reading at 153 math at 146 and language at 140

With these lower scores should I still consider a grade skip?

Does this mean that a more accurate representation of his IQ is 147?

Thank you all so much!!!

Sorry one more thing

On the Hoagies site there is a chart that lists scores for different tests and what "level" of giftedness a child is based on their test scores. It lists a full scale score of 145-152 on the WISC as still being EG. Is this fairly accurate?

There are so many different definitions of EG, PG, MG, etc. Debra Ruf lists levels in the low to mid 120s as MG on some of her charts. I'm not sure if that can be answered off of #s alone, honestly.