Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Ruf levels vs. IQ scores

Just out of curiousity, those of you who looked at Ruf levels before doing any testing with your child....was what you suspected from the Ruf levels consistent with IQ scores or were there big differences? In what ways?

Mine were right on. I am still trying to decide if we spend the xtra $ and go to her, There was an issue about my son's scores being lower than his potential so not sure. Good luck to you!

I pegged my daughter at level 3, maybe level 4, before we had her tested. Her FSIQ on WISC-IV was 157. So looking just at IQ you might think she was level 5, but I don't see it. She probably falls under the "but not Level Five even with these scores" category. I still think maybe she's a level 3 who's a really good test taker.

...or you suffer from a solid case of GT denial!

Interesting. I haven't gotten my DS's results back yet, but I have him pegged at a 4.5, LOL. A solid 4 with a little 5 sprinkled in. Now as I wait anxiously for results I am telling myself that I am nuts. Not sure why I am second guessing myself but I would assume I am not alone.

I don't think I'm in denial. (But maybe I'm in denial about my denial ) Going over the list on this link:

http://www.educationaloptions.com/resources/resources_levels_giftedness.php

I went through for level 3,4 and 5 marked how many were yes, no or unknown (I admit, for some of these things, it never occurred to me to keep track). Here's what I came up with:

Level 3: Y-20, N-7, U-4
Level 4: Y-16, N-8, U-2
Level 5: Y-5, N-23, U-2

So that's why I say she's level 3, maybe 4. I guess a lot of it would depend on how many you think a child needs to have to be classified for a particular level.

I think you have to take those lists that dr. Ruf provides with a grain of salt. Our homeschool GT co-op will allow admittance if you are doing work 3 years beyond grade level. Dr. Ruf works with a very particular clientele that tends to see GT evidence very early. It has a lot to do with speed of learning and intensity and not necessarily everything about what a kid knows. I consider my kid level 4ish even though he didn't hit the reading milestones on that list. He did hit all the math ones (some in level 5 too). And he could conceptually understand and explain the plumbing and heating systems in our house. He also conceptually understood a lot of science and advanced very quickly in piano after he started. By the end of kindergarten, he had caught up with many kids that read much earlier than him. Preschoolers can be widely varying in their interests. So if the lists work for you child, great! But maybe your child did something else equally intense that isn't on that particular skill list.

So I will agree with Kriston and say you are in denial! You must have a very smart cookie to get those scores!

I think it also depends on how you answer the questions. I solidly put my DS at a level 3. But his scores reflect more like a 4. I gave the list to my mom and she put him solidly at a level 4 with some level 5 tendencies. Her assessment was considerably closer to where his scores actually fall.

For example:
Many �read� numerous sight words between 15 and 20 months.

I considered this to be actual sight words on a page. She considered this to be business logos, business signs, "Stop" etc.

Or:
Most printed letters, numbers, words, and their names between 2� and 3� years.

My DS was writing well by 3, then suddenly stopped and refused to write again until 5... I discounted this one for him completely and dropped him to a Level 1 for it. My mom again reminded me that he *was* writing before his high tendencies for perfectionism kept him from being comfortable.

Great point CA mom! Sometimes preschoolers will do something once, or even never demonstrate an ability to do something they can do. I swear my kid could read a bit and just wouldn't. He did read signs, etc. Not every HG-PG preschooler is cooperative and demonstrative. I think those lists are very much open to interpretation.

LOL, I would imagine that those in denial are in denial about being in denial. But I do see your point about levels. It would be hard to say how many constitute a level. I looked back at the link and DS has met all the ones for 4. Although I am not sure if he could follow directions at 4 months, who would ask 4 month olds to do stuff? LOL. Otherwise all were met. And as for level 5, he probably has met about half of them, or maybe a little more. I was pretty good at keeping track of things after he was a year old because I knew something was up...but still I wasn't THAT specific. When he was like 18 months I remember reading the stories of level 4 kids thinking "holy cow, no way will he be doing that" and then he did all the stuff...sometimes significantly earlier than the kids in the book did. That was quite alarming and eye opening.