Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Experiences w/Davidson Young Scholars Program?

Congrats!!!

Hi guys - I have a portfolio question. My 6-year old son was assessed as PG but dyslexic and dysgraphic. His WISC scores are well above the qualification criteria, but his achievement scores are below (math was 99 percentile, but not 99.9). So we will have to do a portfolio if he is to have shot at DYS.

He has a series of books he created about super cars that are pretty cool. Unfortunately, (from a portfolio point of view), since he basically won't write, his Dad and I scribed for him when he created them. We scribed word-for-word, and you can tell that from some of the funny word usage and sentence structure. But since we scribed, are they disqualified as work samples?

Thanks for any thoughts you can offer.

Sue

It seems to me that making videos of your son may be a better option for his portfolio rather than submitting written work. Maybe video him verbally reciting the stories. I had the same issue finding material for my son because he has not really created anything tangible we can use. Another option would be to wait and have him do the achievement test again to see if he scores higher since he was close. Good luck!

Hi, I am in Southern California- does anyone have any recommendations for how I can get a qualifying achievement test locally? I called regarding EXPLORE a couple of months ago (I know they are phasing it out and replacing with ACT) but I would have to fly to Reno to have him take it. Are there any other lower cost alternatives for me? His GAI on the WISC IV qualifies, I just need to try and get achievement scores -

Belin Blank used to offer testing arrangements on an individual basis (like set up a test administration for you, in your city). Not sure if they still do with EXPLORE being phased out but you could call and ask.

Hi LAF, Oh, flying to take the EXPLORE sounds expensive! Belin-Blank was my thought, as well. OR, could you find a tester in your area that could give one of the achievement tests for low-$? DS6 was too young for EXPLORE (DD9 took that), so we had him take the WIAT instead (since your DS is older, perhaps have him take the WJ?). It really was not that bad expense-wise (and well-worth it to get a read on where he was at).

Also, keep in mind that it appears that the EXPLORE criteria for DYS were recently raised.

Dr. David Palmer is in OC ( Laguna Beach) and will do a WJIII for around $400-450. Not exactly cheap but he is excellent and is listed on Hoagies. He has some experience with 2e as well.

Actually $400-$450 is a pretty good deal. I paid $500 for the WIAT in northern California and that was a discounted rate.

Might have posted this in the wrong thread yesterday. Sorry about that....:-)

I am wondering if I have to scan the full IQ testing report, which includes everything from how my son acted during testing, background, recommendations etc and is very long. OR do I just submit the page with the actual WISC results? We have qualifying WISC and WJ-III results.

When we applied, they stated specifically that they wanted the full report.