Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Introduction

Hi! My name is Autumn. I have two children both boys. My oldest is just shy of seven. I am in the process of having him tested a program called SPECTRUM. After a run around by his teacher I took him to my college in April and with the urging of three professors i began the process after being told my son's first grade teacher that testing was not feasable till second grade. After I called the principal is and told them about the professors did testing begin. They only came once a week and so testing was not completed before the school year ended. They wanted to just wanted to consider the TCAP scores, but I told them no since TCAP is based more on teachers and less on students so they were doing the Intellectual or Individual Acheivement test. He came home one day pround as could be beeming from ear to ear. He told me he was told he read on a high school level. He reads ninth grade level. He did not make this up. He scored so high that the SPECTRUM sponsor forgot that she had to give him an additional test. I am new to all this and tired of getting yelled at by my mom because I am doing him a huge diservice by waiting. I do not have any test or even have met with the SPECTRUM, who are going to finish testing when school resumes. I am not thrilled about waiting so I wanted to know what I needed to do. Basically, i need guidance and support because i am at my wits end.

Hi!

I'm afraid I'm confused: what test did your son take? Is SPECTRUM the name of the test? Or the program you're trying to get him into? Is it a gifted program or something else? Who administered the test?

There are IQ tests (the WISC and the Stanford-Binet are the two most common individual IQ tests in the U.S., though there are group tests like the CogAT, too, which tend to be less reliable). In a nutshell, these try to measure reasoning ability in some form or another.

There are also achievement tests (Woodcock-Johnson or Peabody, for example). These attempt to measure academic achievement or performance.

Did your child take one or both of these sorts of tests? Or is SPECTRUM something else entirely?

I'm sorry if I'm not helping, but I'm not clear about what it is that you're asking for help with. You might take a look at this article about assessment:

http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10221.aspx

Maybe that helps a little? If not, feel free to post again.

I do not know the name of the test he took. SPECTRUM, Is the people that assess the children and I think is the gifted program. Not every school has a gifted program so we would have to move him to a different school and provide transportation. I will check the link you gave me.. I am sorry I confused you, but I am confused myself. We have, basically, been thrown to the wolves left to fend for ourselves.

I just looked at the link and it does help, and I do believe that this is what they are doing they are just dragging their heels about it.

That happens. <reassuring pat on the back>

So it seems to me the big question is what don't you know that you need to know?

I think you probably need to get your child assessed. Until you have some idea what you're dealing with, you can't know how to serve his needs. Just remember that testing is a snapshot of your child: one test on one day. It doesn't change the person he is. The tests are a tool to help you serve his needs. Nothing more. They do not define him, and they can be wrong, so if testing doesn't reflect what you see, then don't take the results as gospel.

And BTW, before you even consider uprooting your child, I'd recommend that you find out if the SPECTRUM program is worth the trouble. If he would just be getting a 30-minute pullout twice a week or something, then it might not be worth changing schools for. It might be better to push your current school for other accomodations (grade skip(s), subject acceleration, curriculum compacting, etc.).

If SPECTRUM is a self-contained GT program, then it might be great!...or it might not work for your child. Every child is different. If you have a PG child and the SPECTRUM program is for "vanilla" GT or MG kids, then the program might not work for him, and sometimes GT programs are pretty inflexible about adapting. You might have better luck--believe it or not!--at a non-GT school.

I think at this point you ought to be formulating questions to ask. It seems like you can't get answers until you know what you don't know.

I'm going to be off the computer for most of the day, but maybe that gets you started? I hope!

K-

Welcome Autumn! I would ask to get copies of all the tests so far and what tests are planned in the future. It might be too late if school is out for the summer and you just may have to wait until Fall.

good luck!
Dazey

We have an IEHP meeting on September 12

Hi Autumn! I'm new to all of this too. You might have to explain to me what an IEHP meeting is? I'm assuming that it is an Individualized Educational Plan of some kind, but the "H" has me guessing?

My state mandates that gifted kids have WEPs (written educational plans), and so everyone here has slightly different experiences. Does this mean that you have some testing results from your son? Do you know what they will offer for your son at this IEHP meeting? Do you know what you want them to offer at this meeting?

I found this link on Hoagies Gifted web site. It discusses IEPs and points out some important information on IEP meetings. I don't know if it is too general for you, or if you have any specific questions?

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/ieps.htm

The "H" was a typo it ie IEP. Yes, He was SPECTRUM testing and so I get all the results at this meeting. I have no idea what to expect at this IEP meeting, and being new to this I am not sure. I want them to offer him a program in which will challenge him to grow instead of down play his talents.

Is there any way you could get a copy of the results before the meeting so you have some time to consider them?