Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Got scores, hoping for feedback

DS6 is probably AD/HD and I was told that those issues contributed to a probable score reduction. Tester said he was definitely gifted. Hmm.

WISC IV:

Verbal Comprehension 126
Perceptual Reasoning 125
Working Memory 99
Processing Speed 94
FSIQ 118

VCI:
Similarities 14
Vocab 15
Comprehension 14
(Information) 12 She said he was burned out by this point
(Word Reasoning) 16

PRI:
Block Design 16
Picture Concepts 12
Matrix Reasoning 14
(Picture Completion) 14

WMI:
Digit Span 11
Letter-Number Sequencing 9
(Arithmetic) 9

PSI:
Coding 9
Cancellation 9

WIAT II:

Composite Math 109
Composite Oral Lang 114

Word Reading 114
Numerical Operations 110
Math Reasoning 109
Spelling 125
Listening Comprehension 117
Oral Expression 108


Can anyone give me a GAI? General thoughts and feedback?

Here's the link to the technical report that describes how to calculate the GAI

http://www.ksde.org/Portals/0/Special%20Education%20Services/gifted/WISCIVTechReport4.pdf

You add up

Similarities 14
Vocab 15
Comprehension 14
Block Design 16
Picture Concepts 12
Matrix Reasoning 14

=85

Then, using the table, a sum of scaled scores of 85 corresponds to a GAI of 129.

Did she do any substitutions when she calculated the composite scores? I can't tell because I don't have a score table, but Dottie might...

Thanks. FSIQ=118; GAI=129. Poor guy. Ha Ha.

Go here to get the WISC-IV Technical Report #4 on GAI: WISC-IV Technical Reports.

I recommend reading this if you want to know what GAI means. All you have to do in this case is sum the six subtest scores that produce VCI and PRI, in your case 14+15+14+16+12+14=85. Then look in Table 1 to discover that is a GAI of 129 (97th percentile). No magic.

For those who want to figure out the effect of extended norms, take a look at TR#7 at the same location. Other reports explain more about WISC-IV and its theoretical foundations. The more I read, the less credence I put in any of the numbers outside the middle of the range.

Regards,
Jon

Thank you! Yes, cancellation was substituted for symbol search.

So, hmm, the WISC folks say that for his age, a FSIQ/GAI discrepancy of 6 points is statistically significant and he has 11.

Hi, GTC - those scores are nicely solid gt (mg I think but still gt, right?) And further, he is *only* 6. Retesting a bit older might be the way to go - when the adhd might be better under control or shown as more of an age related high-energy thing (seems to be what's up with our ds8).
I think block design at '16' could indicate that he got every single one right, but took his time. Did the tester say anything about that (points off during for going over limit, I think highest speed+fully complete on that one is 19, but Dottie, others can correct me if wrong).
This is an interesting read:
http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/About_GDC/whoaregiftd.htm

and I have another link of interest, but can't find it now, I will post back.

Well, that's all good news. I don't know if you remember our story. DS6 is the one who is in public K and having a hard time of it. (O.k., I just realized that meets the description of a lot of people here.) He was at montessori for the past two years and was doing multiplication last year. (He liked math.) They recommended a grade skip to first. The new school refused categorically because they are age-based. Well, it's March and his school is still teaching him 0-5. He is confounded, bored and feels like the kids in his class are too young for him and he prefers to play with older kids.

The tester thought that he would not do well in GT or a total grade skip because of his two weak areas. She said that we have to work on them first and then, figure out his educational plan. I feel sorry for him because I know how bored he is and in my heart, I believe that if he was put to the test, he'd rise to the occasion and strengthen his WMI and PSI naturally, if that makes sense. I mean, public school has taught him to be lazy and decreased his attention span markedly (with transitions every 3 minutes). All I know is that the child I first sent to preschool had an attention span of 20 minutes. The system has slowly whittled that down every year and now, he's average. As I work with him at home, I can see that same attention span expanding every day. Plus, working with him at home obviously teaches him more because I work at his actual ability level.

I think what troubles me the most is this idea that everything's no big deal because he's young. I mean, in our culture, do we not constantly talk about the importance of our early experiences? How important it is to bond, to play baby games, breastfeed. Who decided that our early education is a throwaway that can be corrected later? I don't believe that it can be. Not completely anyway.

Anyway, back to the scores. What exactly does his ability-achievement gap mean?

Well, I'm looking at this as three separate issues. We have the possible/likely AD/HD, the scores and the boy. Yes, he likely has AD/HD. I hesitate with the label because he hasn't had a differential diagnosis workup, not because I'm in AD/HD denial. I want to be sure that we give him the proper treatment and I'm not satisfied with "probably" AD/HD, although we are going to begin a new non-medical treatment program this week. So, I am attending to whatever is going on that's affecting his WMI and PSI and I view that as a priority.

Then we have the scores. I realize that FSIQ 118 is not stellar but I'm looking at his GAI 129 as a better reflection of his intelligence. The GAI is recommended if there is a 20 point diff between VCI and WMI, right? I don't remember where I'm getting that number. But, I do think that's a statistically significant gap there according to the WISC folks. Also, his teachers and the tester think he's gifted.

Then, we have the boy. He is boooooorrreeddd! Truth be told, I'm acting like it's limited to math, but it's the whole curriculum. I'm not hung up on grade skipping, although I strongly believe it would help. I'm hung up on making things better for him and not waiting for them to magically get better. Maybe the national curriculum is just a joke for everyone and most people are o.k. with that. I don't know. I'm just at a point where I'm trying to figure out what I should do for his educational plan for the remainder of the year and for next year, too.