Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment What do you tell your DC before IQ testing?

DD8 is about to have a Wechsler-variety test, performed by the school psychologist, as a final step for her school's gifted program. She is a very extroverted and verbal kid, who might have a tendency towards being rather chatty (perhaps even off-topic ;)). She did well on the CogAT (99% Composite). Her MAP tests are >99% Reading, 99% Math. She has never taken an IQ test before, but needs >130 to get into the program.

Any advice on what, if anything, to tell her before she goes into testing? What do you tell your children about what they are going to be doing?

Also, gosh - I'm trying to take a deep breath here - I am so worried about her just having an off day. She has been such a trooper through all of this testing so far. Does anyone have any children with similar scores who had good results on a Wechsler-type test? It sounds like it is hard to really predict how she will do on this one test and I do feel as though she needs the extra challenge of the program.

Thank you for any thoughts or advice!

Can't say my DD has similar scores (her CogAT scores were terrible), but she is the same age. Luckily she did much better on the WISC than the CogAT. If your DD's scores follow my DD's pattern of doing much better on the WISC, she will get a perfect WISC score. LOL. DD's WISC GAI (nonverbal and verbal scores) was 33 points higher than her CogAT composite. What I told her mostly had to do with what I knew might be issues. For instance, she doesn't need to be shy or give one word answers. The psych told me that she was not the slightest bit shy or quiet and was overly verbose at times so maybe that was counterproductive! I don't know. I also told her that for any section that is timed, to work as fast as she could and don't worry about being sloppy. This may be a bad thing to say to some kids but not to my DD who is incredibly slow. She still bombed the coding section and when the psych showed it to me it showed perfectionistic handwriting . If I hadn't said anything then how much lower would her score have been!
I didn't tell her much about "why" we were having this testing done and luckily she didn't ask. I'm not sure what I would have said. I think if it's in a school setting, your DD won't think much of it because pull-outs for assessments happen all the time in school. Good luck! So stressful--since I was right there in the waiting room I was on the edge of my seat. Esp. since I could hear some of the questions!

Thanks, blackcat - it sounded like your DD received the scores she needed on the WISC, right? If so, I am very happy for you and your DD!!!

Oh, and a follow-up question (if anyone knows): are children "younger in the grade" at a disadvantage on a on a WASI or is it age-normed? DD is young for her grade. Although she has usually done well without age-norming (most tests have been grade-normed), she did have higher CogAT subtest percentiles when age-normed vs. grade-normed (although the composite % was the same).

Only if they accept the GAI...otherwise she needs to get a higher reading score in January. The last time she took it she answered all the vocabulary questions the opposite of how she was supposed to, so she should have been picking synonyms and chose the antonyms or vice versa. So her scores for reading comprehension jumped way up since the last test but vocabulary went down 300 points! So frustrating!

I'm guessing the WASI is age-normed since that is how the WISC is.

Aimee Yermish's article on Hoagies is great to read before an IQ test: http://www.hoagiesgifted.com/test_prep.htm

Our DS was younger when he took his first IQ test, and we just told him that this was a fun test that would help us see how his mind worked, which would then help us decide where he should go to school. We told him to make sure to cooperate and answer all the questions, even if they seemed really, really easy and even if they seemed silly, since the more interesting questions would only come along if he answered the easy ones. (This was mostly a caution because at the time he was refusing to do things he thought were too easy.)

I think most GT kids think IQ tests are fun. Hopefully yours will too! Try to get her a good night's sleep and a good breakfast ahead of time. Send easy to eat snacks along.

When DS at almost seven did his testing, we told him he'd be doing some fun puzzles. And if he payed close attention to the instructions and did his best, it would help make sure he got more interesting work at school.

We told my son it was a game, but he was only 5. If she doesn't know what it's for, it would be best not to tell her. If she knows she needs a certain score it could make her nervous. Just tell her it's important she try her best. I think we told my son to try to see what "challenge level" he could get to. Also planning something like going for frozen yogurt after "the game" was also good for us. He took the scat this year at age 6 and I think that went less well because he knew it was to qualify for something.

Our DD was six when she took the CoGAT and then took the WISC a few months later. She did well on both, but had higher scores on the WISC. She loved taking both tests! She thought it was fun. However, she didn't do as well on the timed portions because she told the psychologist how they could have written the test differently, and preferred to talk!

Good luck!

Thank you, everyone! Your advice and experiences are helpful.

Blackcat - WOW, saw your other thread. That is a really high GAI! Yes, the process can be stressful (for parents, too).

Thank you for that article, St. Pauli Girl. It brings up some interesting thoughts...I really hope DD doesn't get silly. I have to be careful about describing this as a game. DD has a creative/silly side that might get carried away if I say too much about "games." I'll have to think before I say anything. Since she likes to talk, this could really get her off-topic. I also do not want to say too much and make her nervous.

Is it common test administration practice to allow parents to wait in an area where test questions may be overheard? Have others had this experience?