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

We applied to Davidson's gifted last month for DS 7 who is headed to 4th grade in the fall and are anxiously waiting their response. My son did the WISC -IV in March and his processing speed score was very low. He has already had 2 grade skips in school is still way ahead of his peers. I am starting to run out of options again so I applied to DYS as an additional resource. I haven't calculated his GAI but I know it's higher than Fsiq... Will that be enough to get him in though? Has anyone with similar profile be successful with their application?

VCI - 140
PRI - 137
WMI - 126
PSI - 100
FSIQ - 135

It is my understanding that for purposes of applying to the Young Scholars program , the GAI is to be calculated by the professional(s) who tested your child, and the complete report is to be submitted for the application, not just the scores.

If your child does not become a DYS, there is still much support available from DITD in the form of information on the Davidson Database, summer courses, this public forum, the Educator's Guild, and the Davidson Fellowship.

Whether your child becomes a DYS or not, you may wish to visit the Davidson Database and search for "schooling options". There are many articles on this topic, one or more of which may give you some ideas for working with your school or creating a unique educational path for your child.

Hi Gamomof2,

You can calculate his GAI directly, but you need the subtest scores that went into calculating the VCI and the PRI.

I had asked the question previously on the forum here, so you might find that thread useful.

It's my understanding that a subtest sum of those 6 subtests which was 97 or higher would qualify for the first criteria for a DYS application.

Thanks George C and Indigo for responding to my inquiry. I am keeping my fingered crossed to see what they say in the next 3 days. My private psychologist that I used refused to calculate the GAI even after I asked after I got the results back. I guess it's something he doesn't do. He did give me a full report with comments that we submitted along with a full load of supporting data for the application. I agree whether we make it or not there is a ton of useful data on this site and articles here that have already been very useful to us. We have managed to navigate / work with our school and have done 2 prior grade accelerations and also have a gifted program in place. But here we are again headed to 4 the grade at 7 yrs and his ITBS and tests show he still performing 2 grades ahead of his peers. I am not looking to place him with 5th graders at 7 yrs old so I am looking for resources and support as I consider homeschooling path next year.

George C - thank you also for the reference to the thread... I just finished reading it and that was really helpful. DS subtest scores were:
VCI (similarities -15, vocabulary - 19, comprehension -16, information -18)
PRI ( block design-16, picture concepts - 15, matrix reasoning-17)

If I understand it correctly his subtest sum for 6 should be over 97 but I don't want to jinx myself due to low PSI. I am still trying to figure out what the low PSI means.

Well, if you have the full report, that should include subtest scores and you can get the GAI from that. I would think that the folks at Davidson would understand that calculation.

Many families find that the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum is a great resource.

Thank you - I will look up the gifted homeschoolers forum as well.

PSI is Processing Speed Index, a low score would tend to indicate a slow processing speed. This may be indicative of a learning disability (or not)... just something to possibly explore further.

There are several posts/threads on these forums, which discuss low PSI and low WMI.

Hi Everyone,
Thank you so much for all the wonderful info you shared... We finally got our acceptance letter today and I am happy to say that DS got in. I definitely will look into the homeschool forum and I think we have a local convention coming up here in July.