Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment School says no to evaluation...next step?

School says individual testing is not warranted for dd6, that they will wait until group CogAt in fall. I am very skeptical of CogAt. Even with dd12, CogAt scores were significantly below WISC, and her achievement (successful skip, still high As in all honors classes) shows WISC is accurate. Plus the many anecdotes here re: CogAt vs. WISC. Now to decide when to test. Should we do the WISC prior to fall? Wait and see? Should I go ahead and tell them now that I think CogAt is a dumb tool (not in those words!) Argh. The money we would have used for testing is now going to fix the water line. But...maybe we should have the info. before fall. Help!

There are advantages to both waiting and seeing how it plays out for her, and going ahead and having her tested prior to entry.

If you suspect she's advanced and would like her to be in the appropriate grade for her abilities, I'd suggest having her tested--if it won't be a hardship. That way, even if they insist on giving her the CoGat in the fall, you'll have more information.