Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Struggling with when to test

Looks like your last post crossed with mine/was hung up in moderation, but just in case...

Your DS must be six to take the WISC at all, as that is the beginning of the age norms. Extended norms for the WISC are expected out later this year, which should address the ceiling issue for the WISC.

The WPPSI does not have extended norms, and may have ceiling issues for GT kiddos. To minimize those effects, in general you would want to test sooner, rather than later. (Its age range is 2-6 to 7-7, with two brackets: 2-6 to 3-11, and 4-0 to 7-7.) Since your DC is just under a year into the second WPPSI age range, the ceiling effects may not be as severe as expected. (He's in the beginning half of the age range.)

Thanks AEH. I did reply to your post and others yesterday, but am stuck in moderation. Maybe this one will get through.

We had severe ceiling effects on the WPPSI IV just a few months after he turned 4...so at close to 5, yikes! Our ceiling effects were not just in areas that we might have expected based on his behavior, but also in totally unexpected areas. We were quite shocked.

Wow, that is very good to know, thank you.

Hello Andes!

Welcome to the board. You've gotten a lot of great advice already. I'm chiming in because we're in Canada, too, and have just completed the process of getting DD tested. She completed the WISC V and the WIAT III at 6.5 and qualified for placement in an enclosed gifted class. Both tests were administered by a board Psych. We will tour the school that offers the enclosed classes in the spring and have been given the same info as you have - students are not accelerated, rather they explore topics in greater depth.

Having DD tested at 6.5 has worked well for us because she'd been placed in a grade one class with a teacher who is familiar with inquiry based learning. DD is still following the grade one curriculum but she is allowed to initiate and work on her own related projects. The teacher also assessed her reading at the beginning of the year and she is allowed to read chapter books/bring her own books to school. DD is beyond the grade one curriculum but we were okay with waiting because they are/were actively trying to accommodate her.(It's not been perfect, we've had our issues, with reading particularly, but I do see them trying)

If DD had shown any signs of anxiety, or had said she didn't enjoy going to school I would have pushed for testing earlier.

Does your board require any other type of documentation for identification? Our testing was administered by the school board but before that DD did the CCAT and her kindergarten teacher had to complete a gifted rating scale. If they are required by your board it could delay receiving a formal ID. However, I'm not sure if they are needed if testing is done privately.

Good luck with your decision.

Thank you very much for weighing in! I can definitely see some benefits in trying out a mainstream class before determining whether something different is needed. Unfortunately for us, we aren't in the public system now, so when DS transitions in first grade, I'm really hoping to have him in the right placement from the beginning to minimize transitions. To add to that, we are seeing issues with frustration/boredom in his very relaxed, half day, differentiated program now, so I do think the right setting will be important for him.

I'm pretty sure our board (Halton) requires only the WISC or WPPSI test, but that's a good issue for me to double check. From what I understand, the additional screens are for within the system to minimize spending on full cognitive testing. Based on everything I've read so far, I think we are going to hold out to test with the WISC at age 6. I'd like us to have the most current info available before making a school choice.

Thanks again!

Hi Andes - sent you a PM

I'm not in your school board but I am in the same province. Here's what I came up with for HDSB -

http://www.hdsb.ca/Downloads/SpecialEducationPlan.pdf

Specifically appendix K has gifted programming info. I read through it a couple of times and I can't tell if they have different criteria for grade 1 entry than grade 4 but maybe you can make sense of it. I would highly recommend getting in touch with your local ABC association. I see that they have an ABC member that is part of the HDSB SEAC (Special Education Advisory Committee). They should know more details about how to apply, criteria and timelines. PM me if you need help finding contact info for the above.

Thank you; I appreciate your input!