Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Toying with the idea of re-testing....

Looking for some opinions here...

There's a chance (and I don't know yet if it's a good chance or a long shot... but "a chance" anyway) that we might move in the next few years, which re-opens the possibility of DS going to school. (Both because we could pick a district with him in mind and because he might like the quick social circle that school might provide if a homeschool group didn't...) So now all of a sudden I might have to pay attention to the advocacy posts.

To complicate things, the move might (might!) be international... but only to Canada, so not too "foreign" in terms of language and culture -- enough, though, that at least a semester of school might be good for settling in, as long as it wasn't completely ridiculous from an academic standpoint.

All this to say... since DS was tested as a six year old (WISC and WJ-R), would it potentially be useful to the school-to-be-named-later for us to have more recent scores? He's in DYS, and he's done talent search testing since then that is pretty consistent with that level, and he has other project type achievements that would make a nice portfolio (science fair projects, JFLL, FLL, writing samples, etc.)... so it's not like I'd be asking them to just take my word for it, but on the other hand it seems kind of silly to approach a middle school or high school with test scores from 1st grade.

And of course since I've not been paying much attention (ooh look something shiny!) I don't remember what the "ideal" age would be for testing -- he's barely-nine now and I have a vague thought in the back of my mind that we may be approaching the end of that range... AND I'm not sure what the Canada possibility adds to the mix -- they have different norms, right Dottie? Throw in the new-ish extended scoring options, and the fact that we have a tester we like here, and I'm not sure what I ought to do... jump on it now because he's aging out? wait until the last minute so the report is "fresh"? get it done now whether we really need it or not because we like the tester and the extended scoring is worth it? (he's cheap too, so the financial issues are minimal... yay!) wait to see if it's going to be Canada so we can do something particularly Canadian-appropriate?



Or of course we could do nothing and assume it all works out... that's been good so far, and by the time we actually make a move (IF we make a move) we could easily have a lot of new data in the form of ACT/SAT scores, SAT2s, maybe APs... At the high school level would that be more convincing than WISC/WJ? And as much as extended WISC scoring is a temptation, there's also the possibility of his taking a nose-dive on a second test... so there's something to be said for quitting while he's ahead, not tempting fate, etc... LOL

Quick! Someone tell me what to do!

What does your DYS consultant say? For the school's purposes, some kind of placement testing would probably be the most useful.

I suppose I should ask her, eh? LOL You know... I've not really had to use our consultant for anything so far -- she's a lovely person and we chat about curriculum every so often, but it didn't occur to me! I'll go send her an email...

My DS was 9y10 when he took the WISC and the WJ and I think his score was an underestimate. I had heard the >10 was a problem for HG kids because of ceilings so I wanted to do it before he turned 10. In retrospect, 9y10m was already too late. Even with the extended scoring, I think there just aren't very many questions at the high ends of the tests and it becomes easy to run out of questions. If a kid missed a few easy ones at the beginning, there is no way for them to make them up if the run out of questions at the high end. I think that is what happened with DS.

I think the ACT/SAT make a lot more sense. Every school knows what they mean and don't require the same amount of explanation and don't have the ceiling issues. Maybe your DS would like to take a practice test to see if it is fun.

*gasp!* Dottie says don't get more data?? LOL

Okay between 9 being potentially-too-old and schools generally impressed with the ACT/SAT... I think we can go that route.

And now that I've been sitting here clicking around a bit, it turns out that there's a series of competitive math exams sponsored by one of the Canadian universities, and I'm 99% sure DS could ace the 7th grade version at the very least... I need to look at the higher grade levels too... and I'll have to see how they can be administered down here.

I agree with Dottie.

Now here's another question - Theoretically, What kind of middle school or high school are you thinking you can find for a kid who is scoring 4s and 5s on AP tests?

I wouldn't show a school AP scores or 3 or below, and I would be really pleased and suprised to find any high school or middle school that can offer much to a kid who scores higher.

SAT, ACT and SAT II scores I would show a school if the scores were 'average or above' and expect them to find it useful.

Are you sure that this future move can't send you in the Reno direction? ((humor Alert))

Love and More Love,
Grinity

[quote=KAR1200
And now that I've been sitting here clicking around a bit, it turns out that there's a series of competitive math exams sponsored by one of the Canadian universities, and I'm 99% sure DS could ace the 7th grade version at the very least... I need to look at the higher grade levels too... and I'll have to see how they can be administered down here. [/quote]


Wow - good work! That sounds like a wonderful way to 'meet the parents' - I encourage you to travel up there and enjoy the party!

Grinity

From an advocacy standpoint I will only add that I agree achievement testing carries much more weight, at least that has been my experience.

Would DYS continue to support you if you moved abroad?

It sounds like DS has exhibited anything he would need in order to establish his extreme learning abilities/needs anywhere he goes!

Good question Actually I think I'd be more looking for a school that DS wanted to go to (possibly for primarily social reasons?), that maybe could be impressed with scores that encouraged them to either place him way ahead, or excuse him from their math curriculum to do his own work independently. Basically, if there comes a time when school sounds like a good idea, I want to be prepared in whatever way I need to be to keep it from being completely hideous. And I'm thinking test scores might be the way to go.

And I should say, just to clarify, that if there are AP scores involved they would just be AP Stats, not AP Calc... much easier, IMO! And leaving room for the more "normal" high school courses in Precalc and Trig and Calculus... we're just going off on a tangent here.... My approach has been to load up the "middle" of the curriculum with interesting tangents rather than get to the end sooner, so there's hope that a school might not run out of stuff to do with him... I just don't want them saying "you have to be this tall to take Trig"

[quote=KAR1200 My approach has been to load up the "middle" of the curriculum with interesting tangents rather than get to the end sooner, so there's hope that a school might not run out of stuff to do with him... [/quote]

Excellent! DOK for the flexability of homeschooling!

I do get that High School can be a time of wonderful extracurriculars. Good luck with the move!
Grinity