Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment WISC/ KTEA psychologist comments

Hi,

My dd's (10 year old in 5th grade) school psychologist administered WISC and KTEA a couple of weeks back to see if she qualifies district criteria for grade acceleration( District Criterai- SS 140+ in WISC and SS 130+ in all subsections of KTEA) .

We got the report last week and dd got 136 vci, 141 pri and 148 full scale in WISC.

In KTEA 2 (scores reported for grade norms of the grade accelerating into) she scored 142 reading(99.7%), 156 in math (>99.9 %) and 147 in writing (99.7%).

She also has the DYS qualifying explore scores in both 4th and 5th grades.

In the comments for WISC, I noticed the psychologist mentioned that dd is demonstrating above average to superior intellectual abilities. I looked in wikipedia and her scores place her in superior to very superior range. The report does not include processing speed and Working memory index. Just the verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning and full scale scores but they did tested her in all the four domains. The comments for KTEA is that her scores are in upper extremes.

Should I talk to the school psychologist about the WISC comments on the report before applying for dys?

I also have other supporting documents (she was placed in the top in a state level competition and she also is in honors music class of the school district).

Thank you!

More details - She goes to a public school (Montessori elementary program). She will be going to Traditional middle school starting 6th grade. After taking Middle school math placement test, the middle school staff were concerned if her needs are going to be met by general ed curriculum. Since she was strong academically across the board, a whole grade acceleration was recommended( It was mentioned as such in the Background / referal for WISC and KTEA testing)

With the scores she got, she was placed in 7th grade instead of 6th in middle school.

Thank you

Welcome! From the information provided, it seems your daughter easily met the district's criteria. You mention the criteria was for acceleration (not for a gifted program). Has your daughter been in the school's gifted program up to this point? If so, what has that consisted of and how has that been working? When considering grade acceleration, is the school district also utilizing the Iowa Acceleration Scale (IAS)? There are many factors to consider when determining the likelihood of success and a good "fit" for grade acceleration.

You mention that processing speed and working memory are not included in the report. These may be important in understanding your daughter's strengths/weaknesses.

Some may say the child may benefit most from a parental discussion of these items with the school rather than discussing whether the scores range from "above average to superior" as noted by the psychologist or range from "superior to very superior" as interpreted from a Wikipedia page.

It's possible that the report was a standard report with changes for your child. Because report writers have to write so many reports, they often include standard sections modified for each child (e.g., including specific scores, describing particularly important impressions, etc.). I'm not disparaging the reports; it is just the reality of writing many reports.

My son had developmental delays (now advanced) and I have found all sorts of little gems (e.g., saying he was on a playground when he was indoors and saying he was tested after lunch when he was tested in the morning).

I wouldn't read much into it; the scores are more important. Definitely ask if it bothers you, but those terms are technical terms for particular scores (not personal impressions) and the scores themselves matter more. It was probably at least partially an error, although your daughter may have had above average for scores that weren't reported (like working memory).

I agree that is it worth knowing the working memory and processing speed scores.

The processing and WM would have had to be very respectable to bring the FSIQ to that score given that we know the VCI and PRI.

IM (admittedly amateur) O, you do not have any cause for concern around WM and PSI.

Thank you so much for all the responses!

Yes, DD was in a high ability learner program since Kindergarten. (They give COGAT in 2nd/ 3rd grades.. She did not score very well in cogat though. I believe her 3rd grade scores were 122v,125q and 130nv. Still qualified her the district hal program)

She took explore test in 4th and 5th grades and had DYS qualifying scores. She is very strong in math. In Middle school math placement test she did extremely well and the middle school staff had concerns about the general education math curriculum meeting her needs even after she was placed in Pre Algebra( that is the max a 6th grader can take). Since she is academically strong across the board, the elementary and middle school staff decided to administer WISC and KTEA to see if she be accelerated by a whole grade instead of just in math. She qualified and they recommended 7th garde placement.


Since the school pyschologist admistered the test (and it is free), the report they gave us was very brief. Not like a 5 page sample wisc report I saw online. I believe private psychologists give more detailed information of the scores etc.
My question is can I still apply for Davidson young scholars program with the brief report? The qualification criteria page said it had to be a full report.

Thank you!

Yes - The school did use Iowa Acceleration Scales. DD is tall for her age even though she is the youngest. She also gets along well with older kids.(She is in a public school Montessori program)

My husband and I, the middle school principal, elementary hal coordinator and dd's class teacher had a meeting and discussed about the options we have. They recommended that she can be challenged adequately only with a grade acceleratiomn, and I do not have any concerns about dd's processing speed/ Working memory index. I'm comfortable with the acceleration itself.

My question is regarding the DYS application (how detailed of a report do they need). Sorry if I'm repeating myself. I'm new to all of this.

Thanks again

The school has something called high ability learner program, and dd is in it since kg. It is a pull out program they have once in a week , may be for an hr. They do activities like NXT Engineering robotics, building bridges with popsicles, visual spatial stuff etc. Kids also get higher lexile books for reading. It is good, but not very challenging.

You need to send Davidson the report you have. I'm pretty sure they will take it, brief or not. They just don't want you to decide that you don't like the comments in the report and just send the scores, or to send some scores and not others when you have had multiple tests administed. At worst, they may ask to talk to the psychologist who administered it.