Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Would you consider testing in this scenario?

I would make very sure that getting into his sister's school was not being described as an acheivement or accomplishment, and that the school itself was not being described as being "better" or somehow more desirable than the other school he might attend if his scores don't match the selection criteria for his sister's school. I'd talk to him about how testing is to help find the right educational fit, and the right educational fit is different for different people.

The school district uses IQ tests, not CoGat or any achievement measures. However, there is a whole process, starting with nomination, proceeding to a pretest, and finally going on to an individual IQ test. Fortunately for my kids, they are vocal and "showy," and I don't think nomination will be an issue. I have known kids who blew the (short) pretest and later were retested and found to be gifted, though.

He is not in K yet and won't be till fall 2013. The issue is whether to test before he even starts K.

I am 90% sure they do take private testing results, but would obviously confirm before I went ahead. I definitely would not do it just for information--only to have the assurance that he would get in.

Yes, definitely. We would not tie the testing to entry to DD's school--I think we would just say it was a test to see how he learns. However, I also suspect that the issue may be sticky no matter what. I do think DS is at least as gifted as his sister, so if he didn't test in, I would feel it was not a good gauge of his abilities. That said, he may not need the GT curriculum as she does.

I would not at this unless you are going for early k because I understand he is going for K next year. Lot can change in this one year at this age. My DD at 4 did not even start reading, I remember explaining her about phonics in June July time(dd is June birthday)
Then she progressed rapidly in a span of 6 months and we tested her 2 m before her 5 th by school and principal suggested we skip K, at her first term as first grader she was reading at M level and it worked well for DD. we just came from parent teacher conference, teacher told us she reads at 5th grade level.

So wait till he is 5. He can improve a lot if he is gifted in this year or he may take longer but in a year or 2, you will know where he is heading

One major advantage of the magnet is that if he does test well he is going to get a spot...can you imagine how you would feel if he qualified and then lost the lottery.

Even though the test underestimated your dd it isn't correct to say 'a few more wrong answers and she woulntt have made it' rather I would recommend to train yourself to think: Although these tests are far from perfect they are usually accurate and when they are off they are usually only a little off. So the odds of the test being way way off are quite small.

If that rare even does occur I don't think changing schools is going to be damaging. As time goes by you will learn more and understand things better and it might be fairly easy. Or perhaps you'll get lucky and a whole cohort of younger siblings of gifted kids will be in K with your son at the magnet and they will be lifelong friends. Or maybe you'll homeschool by then. Or maybe they will allow him to retest the year after. Or maybe dd will be miserable and need a change by then anyway. Or maybe....

Play the odds. Save wear and tear on yourself. Use the time to bring them to chess club on the weekends or just have fun.

Hope that helps and doesn't sound flip. You do have legitimate cause to worry but I sense that the cure is more costly than the disease. We adult gifties try and use our heightened sensitivities to avoid every peril and then our imaginations might make the peril seem even more perilous. This is a very hard parenting skill to learn and it takes making a few mistakes. But yes I do smell perfectionism at work here. You shouldn't have so few good options. It isn't fair. It isn't right. But your family will find a way to manage. You will.

Love and more love
Grinity

So Grinity, I think I get the spirit of what you're saying but not what you'd actually advise! The options are:

1) Don't bank on him getting him, so put him in another school entirely; if he tests in, move him (DD moved to attend the school, after all);
2) Put him in DD's school and hope for the best when testing rolls around in K;
3) Test him privately at age 5, maybe summer before he starts K,; put him in DD's school if he tests GT, or elsewhere if he does not.

This is my suggestion, because I think the cost of going through the lottery and maybe not making it in is too large. Especially when adding to the very real cost of wear and tear on you of having 2 kids at different schools when you aren't delighted with each school choice.

I checked WISC IV can't be used until age 6. I'd wait for that unless you have a local tester that is good with SB or DAS. Call the school and find out exactly what test IS being used an if it's a 'full' version or some shorter version.

WPPSI is the Weschler test for 5 year olds, and it have very little headroom for gifted kids, which your son sure sounds like. The less headroom the more likely the test is to under-report the full extent of a child's giftedness. Parent's who have kids who have taking WPPSI say that they are floored at how much it doesn't test, such a reading ability. Think about it - how are you going to find enough reading 4 year olds to get norms on reading questions?

Hope that helps,
Grinity

Thanks, Grinity--that is very useful info about the tests. It seems like WPPSI gives sort of funky results. I would be more in favor of testing if he could take the WISC.

I need to find out more about how having his sister there would influence his chances of getting in even if he did not already attend. It is not a lottery--after you have the IQ score, they look at grades, attendance, and I think a few other things, so they have some leeway.