Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Options for IQ testing

So, I finally called around for pricing for IQ testing. I've had quotes from a couple hundred dollars just for the test and no interpretation to well over a thousand dollars for a whole work-up. The whole work-up won't be an option in this life time, so I'm leaning towards the cheapest option.

The absolute cheapest place does the WJ-III cognitive with a regular tester, not a psychologist. They do have experience with gifted kids, though. I noticed that for DYS the WJ cognitive has a higher requirement, does that make it harder to use it to get in or does that limit reflect an artificial inflation from the WJ scores? He really seemed to enjoy the WJ achievement and I liked the relaxed approach to it- he doesn't do well with pressure. But, I'm not sure if the WJ cognitive is relaxed like the achievement.

The other places cost about double the first, but I would have a choice of the WISC or SB5. They would be with a psychologist but no formal interpretations would be available.

The only other thing I'm concerned about is that according to the people I spoke with today, we won't be able to re-do the WJ achievement for 6 months to a year (the answer varied). We're missing some of the subtests we need for Broad Reading and Broad Math. One of the people said that we probably couldn't have gotten the Reading Fluency (the one we're missing for the Broad Reading and the area I'm hoping we might qualify for DYS) anyways due to age. Does anyone know what the truth is in all that?

So, is an IQ test without an interpretation better than no IQ test at all or is it a waste of money without the interpretation? I've already tried getting the schools to pay for it and their suggestion was to put him in 1st grade and hope that the new school was more accommodating and willing to test than the last- that wouldn't even begin to be worth it for "free" testing that they may or may not give! Short of winning the lottery, this really seems to be our only option, but I don't want to waste the money if it's a useless option.

One more question- what would our chances of being accepted to DYS with portfolio and the partial achievement scores? Are people actually admitted just on portfolio?

You didn't mention how old your child is...I am guessing under 5yo. If that is the case, I had both of my children assessed under 5yo to qualify for a gifted school in my area. Neither child was given the full ranges of WJ achievement scores to compose a "broad cluster" score. Apparently, there are "fluency" issues for children under 5 and the tests are normed to at least 5 years of age. That being said, I have heard of folks getting the full WJ achievement testing completed with children under 5 so I guess it depends on the psychologist. HTH and Good luck!

I believe that DYS really strongly prefers to have two test scores in the application packet. I recommend that unless your child has produced something incredible (which is rare at age five, even in PG kids) that you stick to the two tests. It is my impression that they are more likely to accept just one test if you have other "data" in the form of a product showing the same sort of advancement that they'd pick up from the achievement test. So if your child hand wrote an amazing short story, composed original music and performed it on video, etc. You might go ahead and skip the achievement.

I think portfolio admission was more common before the specter of PG fraud loomed over the gifted community. Now they feel a need to have more "hard evidence" to support admission.

I forgot to put DS's age, sorry! He's 6yrs 6mo, his achievement was done at 6yrs 5mo. When I called DYS, the woman was really nice, but it did seem that the portfolio was going to be a pain. I asked her outright if what she was getting at was that they wanted to see work he had done on his own without me coaching him and she said that was exactly it. And just like you guys said, he's 6, we're lucky to get him to write legibly much less to create masterpieces, lol.

There's one other company I've got a call in to that looks like it's only a little bit more for WISC or SB5, I have to verify that they use a psychologist for the testing. If we're spending the money and trying to get the most out of it, I'd rather go with the more widely accepted and trusted tests. I'm also going to call the university here this morning, that was a great suggestion! I'm trying not to think too hard about how unfair it is that we pay taxes, can't use the school system and they refuse to pay for his testing...that's unhelpful thinking, but still it makes a little bitter.

I think for the achievement, if the IQ shows that he's a good strong candidate, I'm inclined to just use the scores we have with a note explaining the missing subtests. If they need more, from what I've read here, they're pretty good about asking rather than just outright rejecting the application. The WIAT was going to be another $200 at least, so I think it's worth it to wait.

A few of the places I called pushed for the full work-up, but we're really just trying to find out what we're eligible for (there's a couple of schools here and then, of course, DYS). Other than DYS, I'm not looking to change his schooling right now, but it would be nice to know there are options. I'm trying not to dream too big, we don't have the test yet, even applying for anything isn't a forgone conclusion at this point. But I just keep thinking of DYS's educational support person who will help me figure out what to do with/for him and then having access to possibly local kids and parents...it makes my heart go pitter-patter, lol.

Oh, and Dottie, I'm pretty sure the interpretation is the 1 hour conference at the end. A couple of the places mentioned a summary report and talking briefly about the results. I'll make sure before we decide for sure which office we're going with, but I would definitely expect more than a sheet of unintelligible scores for what they charge!

Thus ends another epic-length post from me!

Understandable, but unfortunate. One one hand I would guess a truly PG kid would demonstrate that consistently, however, I wonder if some truly PG kids do better in a real world situation vs. testing environment. And then there are those who don't have access to testing for various reasons.

DD is one of those admitted on achievement scores and portfolio - but as Dottie said, it was a test for "older" kids (ACT) and I had quite a bit of portfolio material to choose from. Where things might have been questionable, I tried to photocopy the original "rough draft" DD had created before typing something. I also included a little cover sheet explaining what every piece was, its intent, how old she was when she completed it, etc. (Of course, I'm one of those packrat moms who saved little scraps of paper with "harder math problems, Mom, please" on them so that made it easier.)
If you have to choose which test to spend money on, I'd go for the WISC. Just my personal bias. Our local university does testing on a sliding fee scale, so you might ask about that too.
Oops, almost forgot, we have Dottie to thank for encouraging us to apply!!!

The other office called me back and I spoke with the psychologist. She specializes in testing gifted kids! She was the first person I spoke with who understood what we wanted from the testing and said that we absolutely didn't need the full work-up. She's going to administer the missing Reading Fluency for the WJ ach. and add it in for the Broad Reading, and she said that he should have no problem meeting the Broad Reading requirements (of course no promises since she's never met him). She's also going to do the WISC or SB5 (I wasn't clear on that point) with a report. She seemed amazingly knowledgeable and personable.

Even if he isn't eligible for DYS (which I'm sure is wishful thinking), I need to have the information for my sanity- I'm tired of wondering how gifted he is. So, at least we'll have some answers in the future (and a bunch more questions, I'm sure, lol).