Joys, I certainly didn't mean to imply that your ds isn't gifted. He very well may be. I just don't love these group screener tests as the means of testing for giftedness. I've seen these types of tests fall three ways:
-the group test scores lines up pretty well with IQ
-the IQ score is considerably higher than the group test score (common with 2e kids and more likely with HG+ kids b/c they can also be pretty out of the box thinkers and that group tests score highly for convergent thinking)
-the IQ score is considerably lower than the group test score
The last of the three I think tends to happen when the child was either prepped a lot for the group test, retested until s/he got the desired score, or when s/he is just a good test taker/high achiever, but not gifted.
The few links that I think are helpful in considering giftedness and its assessment via group tests like the CogAT are:
http://www.riverpub.com/products/cogAt/support.htmlQ: Does CogAT measure students' innate abilities?
A: No. All abilities are developed through experience. CogAT measures students' abilities to reason with words, quantitative concepts, and nonverbal (spatial) pictures. These abilities are developed through experiences in school and outside of school.
Q: Is CogAT an IQ test? Are SAS scores IQ scores?
A: No. CogAT measures reasoning abilities. Although these abilities are central to all definitions of intelligence, the word intelligence implies much more. However, psychologists have never agreed on the definition of intelligence, so how much more should be included in an intelligence test is often debated. Further, the notion of IQ comes from an earlier set of procedures for indexing the rate of mental development. CogAT does not use these procedures. The SAS scale used on CogAT provides normalized Standard Age Scores for that fraction of the population that attends school. Although SAS scores are very helpful for professionals, nonprofessionals can confuse them with IQ scores, so they are generally not reported to parents and lay organizations. Percentile ranks and stanines are better suited for general audiences.
This one addresses questions from teachers and parents about CogAT scores coming in considerably lower than WISC scores.
http://www.riversidepublishing.com/products/cogAt/pdf/CogSpe_v59-28-11.pdfThis one gives info on what the newest version of the CogAT measures such as [bolding mine]:
All levels have three independent batteries:
Verbal, Quantitative, and Nonverbal. These batteries measure the student’s learned reasoning abilities in the three areas most closely related to success in school. Users can administer one, two, or all three batteries, depending on their needs and the needs of their students.
The examples at the end do show how divergent thinking gifted kids could score below their ability, for example: The fastest runner ___ the race, with the correct multiple choice answer presumably being "wins." I could see arguments being made for 'the fastest runner "makes" the race' or possibly other options as well, though, and not be indicative of lesser intelligence. i.e. - the race is worth watching due to the amazing fastest runner, he "made" the race.
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/tests_tell_us.htmThe most common group intelligence tests, OLSAT and CogAT, are used in districts and programs across the country. Notable gifted professionals recommend them for screening potentially gifted children. However, a small study noted a potential problem with the OLSAT and very gifted children. While the correlation between group and individual intelligence tests is quite high for average scores, in this study that correlation almost disappeared for gifted scores. This means that while an average child will score very similarly on a group IQ test and an individual IQ test, a gifted child may not score similarly at all. And the study suggests that this group test may even result in a negative correlation for some gifted children: the more gifted the child, the lower the group ability test score! ["Investigations of the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test to Predict WISC-R Full Scale IQ for Referred Children" by Anna H. Avant and Marcia R. O'Neal, University of Alabama, Nov. 1986, ED286883] Though this study is no longer available from AskERIC, it can be obtained on microfiche from most education university libraries.
A 2001 study using the OLSAT noted a problem with the OLSAT and twice exceptional (gifted and learning disabled) students. A Comparison of the WISC-III and the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test with Students Referred for Learning Disabilities, by Thomas Guilmette et. al., Providence College and Brown University School of Medicine, showed that LD kids tended to score an average of 7.5 points lower on the OLSAT than their WISC-III full scale IQ scores. This study is available in the Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, or for a few dollars from SAGE Publications on the 'net.
"The use of the OLSAT-6 in estimating overall intellectual abilities in children with suspected learning disabilities is not encouraged because it may frequently underestimate students' actual abilities, which may result in fewer appropriate referrals for further educational and intellectual abilities." "As with previous studies with gifted students, our research indicates that the OLSAT-6 appears to underestimate WISC-III FSIQ." -- Guilmette et. al., A Comparison of the WISC-III and the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test with Students Referred for Learning Disabilities
Ultimately, regardless of my personal dislike of these group tests, if your ds is gifted and there aren't actually 30+% of the kids in your district in the top 1-2% nationally in terms of ability, he may wind up needing something beyond the regular classroom.
