Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment IQ test administration - did parents observe?

Both of my kids have been screened at school, just two sections of the WISC IV and the NNAT2. The WISC IV screening when they were 5 and the NNAT2 when they were 6.

I was not permitted to be present, nor was there any discussion of results, apart from a description of which two sections of the WISC IV were used.

I agree that it would be hard to improve a kid's score. Yes I heard the questions but I only heard my DS's answer to them and they weren't things like what is 5+5 where there is clearly a correct answer that could be taught and memorized. In most cases I don't know what would have scored points and impressed the tester and what would have been average or below average. Many of the tests also had something visual involved which I didn't see and even if I did would have a hard time reproducing.

The tests are also done in such a way that the tester keeps asking progressively harder things until they get a few wrong. Having sat in on testing for my 6 year old wouldn't likely help me coach him when he retakes it in a few years.

I agree. A parent can never prep their child for most of the things in an IQ test - and age (and complexity of questions are related to age), geographical location, cultural references, hitting the ceiling etc factor in when a child is tested. So, a parent of a PG child who hits the ceiling on a subtest would never hear all the questions in that subtest if they were present. Similarly, if my 7 year old was tested, my 6 year old neighbor would not have the same set of quesions. And they also ask questions about ethics, morality etc (things like what does truth mean to you? - there is no way to know which topic the questioner would choose).

IQ testing consists of a battery of tests. Psychologists do not always ask the same quesions - they cover several areas of testing. One question that comes to mind was that my son was given a picture of intersecting geometric figures and asked to count how many polygons he could see. In the previous test taken 2 years ago, he was given a similar question using a different group of interesecting geometric figures - but they were a lot simpler than in this recent test. I know because he came out excited that he remembered doing similar things a couple of years ago. (I am not violating the integrity of the IQ test here, because the Critical Thinking Company puts out a workbook they say is useful for review before IQ testing with the exact same concepts and any parent can buy it for under $10).
And the answer to such questions really depends on the perception of the child at that instant - for example, if there were 10 intersecting triangles in the picture (this is not an IQ test question, I am making it up), then there could be 15, 20 or 30 triangles that can be counted by the child based on how he is viewing that picture. There is no way to coach a child to come up with the correct number for such a question. What I am trying to say is that an IQ test does not contain a set of questions for which the answers can be memorized and reproduced. The questions are problems that need to be solved by the child using his thinking skills and attention to detail.

So, if a parent wanted to prep a child for the tests, there are a ton of ways to do it - NY has prep schools for this purpose charging thousands of dollars. But, none of them might work. They might provide a level of familiarity to the child, but the child is on his own during the test.
A parent cannot sit in on a test and then leak the test for other kids to do well or use it to coach their own child to get 99+percentile. It is almost impossible.

Disclaimer: I did not sit in on my child's test and I would not - even if I got the chance - because he is excitable and I might prove to be a big distraction to him. The tester had another person present in the room (a third party observer).

While I wasn't present at the official test I did hear parts of the wppsi 4 they did for the morning study. Most of it wouldn't have helped but I think I could have coached the vocab section pretty well. I don't think that would help a lot tbh though unless the child did equally/almost as well in the other sections. It would look suspicious if they were on the 99th percentile for one test and around the 70th for everything else.

I don't think it's that uncommon to be on the 99th percentile for one test and lower for everything else, puffin, especially when you're talking about a 2e kid.

The test that I think you could most easily "prep" for based on observation is probably Information. For example, there was a question about who a particular historical personage was that my DD got right (probably because she happened to have received a picture book about him/her as a gift from a family friend a few months before the test). I agree that Vocabulary could also be problematic. (I'm trying to speak in general terms here so I am not guilty of revealing test questions.)

I was not in the room when testing was conducted at by the gifted and talented department of the nearby university. I was, however, only about 10 feet outside the room, which had clear glass near the bottom (so I could see a bit of what was going on, but my child couldn't see me). I know him well enough to know that my presence would Not Have Been Helpful. lol. He would have been trying to get me react instead of paying attention.

He had pretty frequent breaks at which I saw him, offered snacks, etc.

I was not present for all of the testing for my ds8 at the time; it went ok, but post-discussion with the dr. did seem to indicate some odd interpretations on the dr's part as to what is meant by the 'modern child' in normal speech . For instance, my son used the word 'Like' at the beginning of an answer or two, which the dr. then marked as wrong -- as though my son was making a comparison between two things instead of just using 'like' for a pause in speech, ex: saying, 'yeah, like, this is the answer'. Odd to me anyway.
I did overhear some of my dd4's testing (just 1 test, didn't take too long at all). I was surprised by a couple of questions towards the end (geometry ), and surprised she got them correct, but otherwise things lined up as expected.

In a way it makes sense the more complex the questions and test, the more room for interpretation. I think for the younger test there were LOTS of pictures and pointing (no room for interpretation issues).

I was shooed out of the entire building for DD's test (WISC IV, at 6.5, at Ed Psych's office). She did it in 2 x 2-hour blocks a few days apart, and loved it. She wants to do it again
I was shown a couple of examples of puzzles and drawings she did, but definitely not every question and answer.
I wouldn't have wanted to sit in or observe - too nerve-wracking! And DD would have looked to me for reactions/encouragement and I would have been too tempted to butt in to "clarify" things, both for DD and the Ed Psych. DD is quietly confident and excited to try interesting new things, so she was good without me

Did not even think to be present for any such testing, but just assumed it had to be without any influence from the family (completely independent), especially since the school seemed more likely to view parents as pushy rather than perceptive. To this day, no one from the school has ever said anything close to good catch, or thank you for bringing it to our attention, or thank you for advocating for the student. Also, I would not want anyone to be able to say or give even the perception of impropriety. As it was, the school never offered to have us or mentioned it was a possibility, so we got the indication we were not invited. Honestly, if it were not for the best interests of our child, some of the school personnel were the last people I would ever choose to join this topic discussion. It feels like a touchy, sensitive, not popular and maybe politically incorrect topic. Glad to hear that so many parents felt comfortable being there or nearby because it may have made the student feel more comfortable which is such a nice approach and probably the way it should be. Thanks for sharing.

Wesupportgifted, it sounds like your testing was administered by the school. I would not expect to be present for that, either. Many of us (including me) had IQ testing done by an independent psychiatrist or neuropsych.