Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Importance of right person to administer test

Hello everyone! This is my first post. I am wondering how important you think it is to have any testing done by someone familiar with and trained in testing gifted kids. Can it make a big difference in scores?

Yup. Testers not used to GT kids might stop too soon and not give you a true idea of a child's capability. They might not approach things from the right mindset and miss creative answers that are "right," but atypical.

HUGELY IMPORTANT! I cannot stress that enough. Particularly the younger they are, the more important I feel it is!

My DS was tested by the local university originally. He was just barely 5. They use ed.psych students who are in training to administer the tests. We were told repeatedly that the testers all have experience and training working with gifted children. And they were only going to charge us $75.

The tester had to stop in mid test. She said that my DS refused to answer questions, was uncooperative and had the gall to give me a written report (despite stopping the test!) telling me that he was definitely not gifted and might even need an aide in school to succeed. My DS came out of the room crying, shaken and crushed.

Long story short- my DS asked about 2 min in why there was a mirror on one wall. The tester told him there were people back there watching him. How creepy! A bit later he asked to go to the bathroom and she refused. She also had a timer out on the table, obviously timing stuff but with no explanation. The hardest part for DS was that without any explanation, she would ask him a question, stop mid answer and say "WRONG" and mark the form, then ask again. He just quit completely.

I verified all the above information with her. That was exactly how it went. She didn't really think there was anything wrong with that! Come to find out later, that while many of the testers had experience with gifted children, she was specifically training to work with college students who had ADHD.

DS later tested with a tester who knew her stuff and scored 99.5 percentile... it really does matter.

I assumed it did matter but gave up trying to find and afford someone in our area. I had him tested by a very good child pyschologist who does amazing work with counseling etc. but is not well-versed in gifted kids. We have no gifted programs in our school district and I am trying to get a handle on just what academic needs my son (8 yrs) needs. He skipped first grade last year and this year in third he is still easily maxing out at the top. Socially he is struggling however. Trying to see how much of this is due to mismatch between intellect and emotional capabilities and therefore how best to address what is going on.
Thank you for your answers. Does anyone have any suggestions for affordable testing in Western Mass/Connecticut area?

What kind of testing were you looking for?
Do you think an IQ test is going to tell you more than a gradeskip and his current level of work would tell you? I think that letting him try the school work that he would get at the end of 3rd grade would tell you more than anything about if a second skip is in order.

I know it's scary to think of skipping again when the social piece just isn't there, but I think you have just a much chance of solving the social parts by skipping as you do by keeping him where he is or putting him with agemates. I tend to think that if he has a few kids that he can compete with academically, that he has a better chance of finding kids who 'get his jokes.' Bottom line is that 'Asynchronous Development' is really hard on families.

How does he react when you enrich his work at home?

Does he have friends outside of the school setting?

How does he do in 'clubs' and 'sports' etc. How old are the kids there?

How much social interaction does he seem to need?

Has he done any 'gifted' summer programs, saturday programs, etc?

Does he have any hobbies that typically attract gifted kids? Chess? Fencing?

Does the school offer any 'friendship clubs' or social interaction help?

Has he attended any 'gifted conferences- kid programs' such as Beyond IQ which is typically in Boston in April?

Just some questions...
Welcome to the Forum!

Grinity

Thanks for your reply Grinity!

Well, unfortunately whether I wanted to or not I imagine I would have a fight on my hands to grade skip him again. It was a different school that did the first skip and it was their request not mine. I think that he could probably cover any material in math that he might miss in 4th in the next few weeks of summer. I bought a general 4th grade math book and much of it looks like third grade review with some bigger numbers. Reading etc. is at high school level. The good news is that his upcoming fourth grade teacher was a Physics major and is crazy about math and science. She is also open to talking about adapting the curriculum for him and I hope it really happens. I think she has a lot to offer him in those two areas especially and I hope she is able to recognize his capacity to learn.

He has not done any gifted programs, summer or otherwise. He does love Chess and he is into some PC games that I imagine might attract similar minded kids...like Civilization IV. These are areas where his behavior is okay. The more I watch him the more I think it is Sensory Issues which was an early diagnosis (age 3). He starts counseling in a week to help address his social issues. We do many extras at home with him as the leader on topics etc. and he really enjoys it. He tends to get on one topic and discuss not much else for days or weeks until he wears it out for himself and moves on.

I think I was looking at IQ testing as a way to learn more about what his learning needs actually are and as backup to any conversations/issues that arise in school. Although I will say that I recently read, on advice from some on here, the book "Losing Our Minds..." by Deb Ruf. It is still not a definite for me where he falls out but it was interesting to note that the IQ number seemed to be not as important and some make it out to be.

In any case, we will see how fourth grade goes (hopefully with adaptations) It is the following year I am most worried about as he changes schools and the new school is an administrative mess and I am not familiar with any of the teachers.

Now...enough about my DS. How many children do you have and how are things going for you guys? :-)

look at the state laws where you live. In some states you have the right to have the school test your child to see if he/she already knows a subject/level and if they do the school must provide them appropriate instruction based on their abilities.... other states, and you're right you would have a fight on your hands since a lot of schools don't care about whether they teach anything but only that they have bodies in school to obtain federal and state money.