Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Achievement test. Is retesting an option?

Hi, I am new to this forum. My 5 year old DD will start kindergarten in the fall and recently took an IQ and achievement test to evaluate her for placement in the gifted program. Her full scale IQ is 160 which we were told is 99.9 percentile. Her scores on the woodcock Johnson achievement test were also excellent but nothing quite as high as the 99.9 percentile. Her highest score was in math which was 99 percentile (135). We were hoping to enroll her in the Davidson young scholars but her achievement test scores are not quite high enough. I was wondering if it was possible to have her retest in a year or so. The tester did note that she seemed distracted and not working to her full potential during this test as it was given immediately after the IQ test and she was tired of testing. Just curious. Has anyone ever done this?

This isn't uncommon at all. There are expected achievement levels based on iq score, and it is a range. Given that your daughter's achievement scores are actually quite high, I would be surprised if she were scoring outside of the expected achievement range. You can wait and retest, or have her take a talent search test like the Explore if it is still being offered. Alternatively, you can apply with a portfolio. Best of luck!

The allowable re-test interval with achievement tests is a minimum of six months, with the same instrument. There is no wait period if it is a different instrument, such as the WJIV (if you just had the WJIII), KTEA-3, or WIAT-III.

At this age, there may be gaps in her achievement due to lack of exposure/instruction, in addition to the leaps in skill acquisition that one often sees in GT (especially young) kids. Do you need the achievement scores for anything else, in the near future? If not, there is something to be said for waiting, as the scores are likely to be more reliable and informative as she becomes older and more tolerant of test conditions.

Hi Cheer,

Welcome to the forum!

My DS7 is in an almost identical situation to your child, score-wise. Have you looked into whether the scores might indicate something else going on? For my kiddo, it indicated some dyslexia/dysgraphia issues.

Re the portfolio option: I considered submitting an application with portfolio, but my DS is highly averse to any sort of video-recorded performance, and since one of his main challenges is writing, we surely don't have any sort of written sample I could submit. So - rats! We'll just have to wait for option 2 (re-testing at some point).

On the other hand, one of the main reasons I was interested in DYS at this point was for support, ideas and resources. BUT - it appears I have already found all that on this incredible board. So, mission accomplished and we may end up never bothering to apply!

You'll find this board to be a font of amazing information and often-needed kindness and support.

Sue
P.S. As another poster said, your situation is not unusual, especially for younger 2e kids. I will say that I find it very frustrating that DYS doesn't offer support for these kids who have such vast potential and such terribly difficult struggles when they are young. I suspect a fair number of them eventually have the achievement scores they need for Davidson - but not until AFTER they have struggled through the hard years learning to manage through their 2e challenges. And that would be the time when DYS support would help the most .... But I guess they have a particular mission. And I am eternally grateful that they keep this board open to all.

Thank you for the responses! I think we will wait a year or so and re-test or hope that we have something to submit for the portfolio after a year of school. She has not really done any formal schooling yet (oops! I knew she was smart but I guess I didn't realize she was gifted...) so I think that may have something to do with the achievement test results as well. I do not see any evidence of dyslexia at this time but I have wondered about ADHD so we will see. Thanks again!