Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Inconsistency in testing results

I have been confused about some testing results for my DS8. As you can find out from my previous posts, my son has pretty high IQ score, 147 full scale and 157 GAI. He was also tested at North Western with similar scores. I recently had him tested at Chicago Public School gifted testing. Results came today and his gifted score is 113 out of 160, lower than the qualifying 115 cut off score. I am just a little confused now.

Can anyone shed some light, is DS gifted or not?

Hmm. That's not much information to go on. Can you provide more detail?

what test does CPS administer? We tested privately in Long Grove and it was covered by our insurance (BCBS)

Unfortunately CPS testing is the best kept secret in the city. No one knows what set was given. But the test has two parts: gifted and classical (math and reading, similar to achievement score). And it is a group test.

I wonder if you can't get the actual test details by writing a letter requesting your ds' school records? It would really help to know the name of the test, and whether or not it was an ability or an achievement test etc. to make some sense out of the results.

Re you question is your ds gifted - absolutely! He's had private testing and testing at Northwestern that both show he's gifted, so don't for one minute doubt he's gifted. There is so much that could have happened with the group testing through school - everything from having a bad day to simply being one of those kids who doesn't test well on one particular type of test.

If you want him in the program that he was testing for, I'd make an appeal in writing. Send copies of his previous testing with it and request he be considered for the program. If you can find out the name of the test he was given first, and gather some information about it that might help you understand the results, that would help too. You might also try to find out from another parent or teacher (if you can) what ability test is used in the school district's SPED department for IEP eligibility and ask that he be tested with it individually. Usually (in the school districts I'm familiar with) either the WISC or the WJ-III Test of Cognitive Abilities is used, and unless your ds has a really negative experience in some way, he's bound to test gifted using a true ability test based on his past testing. Anyway, I'm not in Chicago, so I can't help you with what will happen there, but we did successfully advocate for our ds in our school district when his CogAT score came out lower than his previous private WISC. It just took a bit of advocating and not taking "no" for an answer, and also having a kid who had qualifying scores.... sometimes you may find that school district personnel are really quick to be negative about a parent questioning a test result or being the squeaky wheel, but sometimes that's because they are used to hearing from squeaky parents who don't have kids with truly qualifying abilities... which isn't your kid - you've got the data you need to back up your advocacy

Best wishes,

polarbear

Thanks Polar Bear!
I was trying to get him into gifted school in the city, which has more challenging curriculum than regular public school. But out neighborhood schools is pretty good too. CPS is huge, 4500 kids test every year for not many spots. At least I know that he is probably not a good test taker in group setting. Now I worry that he won't be able to do well for Cogat, which will be used for gifted screening at third grade for certain pull-out programs.

Would it be possible that child's IQ declines as they grow up? He does seem to show more giftedness when he was younger...

Don't worry about the CogAT based on what I said!!! Lots of kids do very well on it, it's just the nature of the test that some gifted kids don't score as highly on it as they do on other ability tests. I remember riding home from the test with my ds and he was telling me all about it and he was very proud about how he figured out some of the answers, and when he told me some of the questions that were about things he'd never heard of before he described in great detail the logic he used to answer the question and I knew right then and there that his brain was most likely working in a different plane than the folks who wrote the test were expecting!

CogAT is also a learned ability test, not an innate ability test like the WISC etc.


IQs don't decline, (until we get really old like me lol!)... but I do think they can go underground. When our kids are *really* little and they talk to adults in particular, they sound so incredibly smart compared to other kids their age. Adults who didn't know my ds used to do a double-take when he started talking about things he liked to talk about because it was pretty obvious from the way he talked he was super-smart. He also used to have tons of questions he'd just blurt out all the time. After he went to school, he asked fewer questions out loud and he started seeming to talk more like his peers just in general - I suspect it was a combination of sitting in boring school for 6 hours a day where you can't talk much along with being surrounded by other kids and listening to them talk... he just no longer seemed to spontaneously sound all that unusual... until you talk to him one on one or until he answers a tough question in class, things like that.

I'm sorry your ds didn't get into the school you were trying to test him into! But I'm guessing you'll find alternatives that are equally as good... while at the same time none of them are perfect...

Good luck!

polarbear

He also used to have tons of questions he'd just blurt out all the time. After he went to school, he asked fewer questions out loud and he started seeming to talk more like his peers just in general - I suspect it was a combination of sitting in boring school for 6 hours a day where you can't talk much along with being surrounded by other kids and listening to them talk... he just no longer seemed to spontaneously sound all that unusual... until you talk to him one on one or until he answers a tough



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This is exactly what I am seeing in my son, who seems to be more interested in things like video games and Pokemon cards, etc. And definitely much fewer questions about anything..

Your post helps me to understand things much better. Thanks.