Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment WISC IV results

So the psych just called me with the preliminary results (I had sent her an e-mail asking for any info. she had b/c we are going to ATL this week to meet with schools about ds, and I wanted to know if dd would qualify for gifted services there and let the principal know if so.)

DD is 11 and in 5th grade at a private Montessori school, doing 6th grade work, shortly moving to Atlanta to a large well-regarded public school cluster, gifted program in elementary is one day pull-out, principal says there are 8-10 gifted identified kids in each class. Middle school starts in 6th grade.

FSIQ 143
Verbal Comp. 148
Perceptual Reasoning 119
Working Memory 138
Processing Speed 131

So it seems like I will need to ask for further acceleration in English, beyond the grade level gifted program right? Would love to hear any other thoughts!

I'd say she definitely is going to be capable of acceleration beyond a pullout program in a grade she will have already completed the material for. She is not only a good reasoner, she is mentally quick. Does the new district use MAP testing? If so, you might want to suggest having your DD take the MAP and placing her with her academic peers for academics, and her age peers for things like PE. Be prepared to re-evaluate her placement frequently.

The other thing that leaps out is that there's 29 points discrepancy between VCI and PRI - any evidence anywhere else in her history of visual or non-verbal challenges or LDs?

It seems so obvious when you put it that way Aculady! Hmmm..what is PRI? Is that like spatial reasoning? I have not noticed anything that seems like an LD--but what would a visual or non-verbal challenge or LD look like? Is PRI something where perfectionism would be more of an issue? Thanks for the feedback!

p.s.--a non-verbal challenge isn't ADD is it?

PRI is a visual spatial leaning test. It has a lot of pattern recognition and rotating things in space type of tests.

OK. hmmm...she is really good at puzzles, seems to do ok at math--but on the Explore she was only in the 31st% for math (but she left a bunch of questions blank). I guess if it doesn't seem to be an issue it is nothing to explore further? does she need her eyes checked or something?

Should I ask the psych for more info. about this before she writes the report?

What about asking current school to declare her a 6th grader and look to start her as a 7th grader in September. 1 year skip plus gifted program in a fancyish district might be perfect.

Her PRI is a full st deviation above normal and it is the least used subscale in school. Try Wikipedia and Pearsons for more details on PRI. Also don't leave her in the wild with only a bottle cap a safety pin and a newspaper. (( humor alert))

Get her application to DYS going, ok?
Grins

The PRI is made up of three (usually the first three) of the four following subtests:

Block Design measures the child’s ability to analyze and synthesize abstract visual stimuli. This test requires the child to view a constructed model or a picture in the stimulus book, and use red-and-white blocks to re-create the design within a specified time limit.

Picture Concepts measures abstract, categorical reasoning ability. The child is presented with two or three rows of pictures and chooses one picture from each row to form a group with a common characteristic.

Matrix Reasoning measures fluid intelligence and provides a reliable estimate of general nonverbal intelligence. This test requires the child to view an incomplete matrix and select the missing portion from 5 response options.

Picture Completion measures visual perception and organization, concentration, and visual recognition of essential details of objects. This test requires the child to view a picture and then point to or name the important part missing within a specified time limit.

Problems with tracking and/or convergence, visual processing, visual attention or visual neglect, or visual-motor coordination can impact scores here. Knowing what the subtest scores were like can often be helpful in deciding whether to first rule out a larger problem in visual or spatial processing or to attribute the discrepancy to previously-diagnosed ADD. It is worth noting that it doesn't really appear that ADD adversely impacted any other areas, even the ones, such as PSI and WMI, that are more commonly affected by this, so I think it is worth checking out further, if the full report doesn't address it.

This makes me wish we weren't moving until the summer--then I might do just that. But I think socially the transition from the tiny (14 kids in 4th/5th grade class) school to the 800 student school might make the transition to the gigantic middle school easier in the fall. I think the one year skip might be great. I wonder if the current school would declare her a 6th grader? And what do I do with her this spring? The current plan is to have the kids start school the first wek of March. don't say homeschool...haha! I guess I should also really look at the IAS?

OK--will not procrastinate or be a perfectionist about the DYS app. And I will keep that in mind about the wilderness! (actually--that explains a lot--about both of us, I think, lol!)

Thanks ya'll! This forum is truly a marvelous place.

It doesn't appear to me that ADD is an issue--but I believe there is a strong genetic tendency in the family...I can see her thinking the other parts of the test were much more interesting and tuning out on this one though. Huh.