Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment RIAS Retest?

Hello,

I'm new here so forgive me if this has been previously addressed. I searched in the forum and did not find anything to help with my question.

I have a DD 7yr old twin who was just RIAS tested. I requested the school system test her as she was complaining she was bored in class. The results were somewhat surprising.

VIX (Verbal): 119
NIX (Nonverbal): 142
CIX (Composite Intelligence): 134

I'm not sure how I should interpret the results. The huge difference between verbal and nonverbal would suggest to me there is something going on with her. How reliable is the RIAS test and should I have her test privately with the WISC IV? If so, is it too early to test after the initial test done in early Feb?

Thanks in advance for your input.

I am not an expert on this but I think you will find many on the board are!

Do the results qualify your DD for a gifted program at school (if so what does that program look like) &/or differentiated work in the classroom?

She does qualify and I am waiting on program information/procedures. I'm concerned her score may be inflated due to the type of test. Here is the kicker - she is being transferred to a new school based on zoning. Not only is it a new school for her but it is a new concept school for the county (K-8) opening next fall. Granted I am sure it will be well staffed but I want to make sure I am doing what I can at home to work with her. I don't want her to fall through the cracks. My thoughts may be going down the wrong track but I was thinking additional information gained by other tests would be helpful.

Is this large difference in verbal and nonverbal common?

The school has not returned my call as of now. Having her tested privately comes at a cost.

Welcome msfauss!

I cannot speak to the difference between the VIX and the NIX, and I also couldn't find much information about that type difference online. My DD had a similar difference when tested on the RIAS, and the the psychologist didn't seem too concerned about the disparity.

However the RIAS is considered fairly reliable and is often given in FL. If you feel there is more going on you may want to consider the WISC and it is not too early to test.

The RIAS is intended as a quick assessment, cheap to deliver, since a certified tester can perform it in 20-40 minutes, as opposed to several hours with an instrument like the WISC. It generally tracks well with other instruments, but it has been known to err in two ways:

- Underestimates, due to low cut-off thresholds. A subject needs only to miss two consecutive questions for that section to be ended and scored.

- Overestimates among the gifted population, possibly due to the same phenomenon.

Therefore, it's possible that the VIX was an underestimate, the NIX was an overestimate, and the CIX is right about on target, if that makes any sense.

I would not rely on the RIAS as a diagnostic tool. If you're concerned that there might be some kind of learning disability or vision issue (and yes, a 1.5 SD spread between VIX and NIX is highly correlated with those), then I would suggest you start with a more thorough evaluation.

Our son was tested with the RIAS at age 6 through the school system (in FL). We've found the results to pretty meaningless in terms of advocacy, so we're planning to have him tested again with the WISC and also do achievement testing. Given the issues with under/over estimates that Dude described, we'd like to have a clearer picture of his abilities, strengths, and challenges before we do any more advocacy with the school system.

VIX > NIX is a profile that may be associated later in life with delinquency so I would also want to learn more. Having said that, at 6, it could just be asynchronous development.

My kids have both had the RIAS and we found the results to be very consistent with more substantial testing. It was helpful as a first start. The psychologist said it was hard to draw many conclusions from the subtests and that more testing would be better if there were any concerns. I was impressed at how consistent the scores were, so I felt the RIAS was useful for knowing more testing would be helpful, but the more substantial tests give much more helpful information about the specific areas in the subtests.

My daughter retested using the RIAS.It was like you said,miss the first questions and game over,they don't proceed any further.Her teachers said she was robbed on the first test because of that.She is smart but was shy then and would never answer them.

The RIAS is intended to be a screener, and results should be interpreted that way. It's also advertised for reevaluations, when a comprehensive assessment has already been done, and an evaluator just wants to check that no drastic changes have occurred (like head trauma or the like). Please do not leap to any conclusions about emotional disturbance based on it.

If you want to retest, you may do so any time you think your child is ready for it, as there are no reported test-retest validity problems with the RIAS and other tests, like the WISC.

My personal experience with tracking the history of my students and how their RIAS scores have compared to other tests is that it has a more marked regression to the mean than other tests.