Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment IOWA Acceleration Scale

Does anyone have any experience with this? I searched for threads on it, but mostly it's just mentioned, not actually discussed.

Apparently that is what they use to determine whether a child can subject or whole skip to 1st grade. And while I haven't thrown it out there yet, officially for DS5 (waiting to hear back from the teacher), I want to be prepared.

I would like to know what your/your DC's experience was with it (I can google what the test itself is).

thanks!

It's used by the parents and school administration to determine appropriateness of grade acceleration. It does not have anything to do with subject acceleration, I don't believe. (Please correct me, someone, if I'm wrong about that.)

It is not a test that the child takes; it is a series of questions that the adults answer. It takes into account things like the age of any siblings and social development, but weights everything in such a way that these considerations are not taken too seriously. It is a well-respected tool.

We didn't use it because we opted for homeschooling instead of grade-skipping, so I can't offer any personal experience. But it is a useful tool, provided the school answers honestly and doesn't try to skew the results unfairly. This does happen sometimes, sadly.

We used it to help decide whether our son should skip kindergarten. It was very helpful as it makes you look at many variables. The scale should be completed by the "team" at school, including parents, teachers, principal, etc. I understand there is a newly revised version of the scale. The manual can be purchased fairly cheaply and you don't have to have the official forms for scoring. There are samples of the form in the manual and you can just work off those. At least with the older version we used it was that way.

The IAS can be used at any time during a child's education to determine if acceleration would be an appropriate option, not just for skipping K. In fact, it can be used every time you think a grade or subject acceleration might be warranted. I would highly recommend it as a tool if you are trying to advocate for skipping or wondering if it's right for your child. But ultimately that choice to accelerate is highly unique to each child.

Kriston, it's something the school will be administering, and the results will either allow DS5 to whole grade skip, subject acceleration or not at all.

I understand what the test is, and what it's purpose is, but I was looking more for actual experiences that y'all may have had.

doodlebug, the school district here uses it as a basis for their early entrance to 1st grade "rule", which apparently they have, yet keep secret. all kids are tested in 1st grade, but none are in K for acceleration or what they call "early entrance" into 1st.

I'm going to look for a copy of the manual this afternoon. Thanks!

We used the IAS unofficially as well, to advocate for a midyear skip from K to 1st.

I thought it was useful for our family to see a list of all the factors that may affect the outcome of acceleration (including things like the attitudes of school personnel...)

I'm cheered by the fact that the school uses it officially, frankly. Most people I know who used it did so on their own, bringing it to the school instead of vice-versa. I would take that as a good sign!

The public school used if for my DS6 to skip him from K (this past school year) to 2nd grade (this fall). I never actually got to see the results--just that he got a score of "good" and it supported what we already knew--DS6 needed acceleration. I was supposed to get a write up of the results but unfortunately that did not happen before school ended. We are also not sending DS6 back to public school this year so I will most likely never see the actual scoring that was done.

crisc, just for your records you can request a copy of your DS's file from the school. There could be other useful information in there.

We used it, in conjunction with the district's gifted coordinator and the school's principal. Overall, I liked it. Honestly, it was nice to have something so concrete.
You answer the questions, tally the points and then there are recommendations based on those points for whole grade acceleration.

60-80 pts -excellent candidate for whole grade acceleration, acceleration is recommended
46-59 pts -good candidate for whole grade acceleration, acceleration is recommended
35-45 pts -marginal candidate for whole grade acceleration, No clear recommendation . . . consider curricular alternatives
34 or fewer points - whole grade acceleration not recommended. Consider single subject acceleration, mentoring, enrichment or other alternatives


The form is broken into the following categories:
I. General Information
II. Critical Items
III. School History
IV. Assessment of Ability (results of any IQ tests are used to come up with a IAS score): 2-6 points awarded
V. Assessment of Aptitude (results of any aptitude tests are used to come up with a IAS score): up to 8 points awarded
VI. Assessment of Achievement (results of any achievement tests are used to come up with a IAS score): up to 8 points awarded
VII. School and Academic Factors: up to 22 points awarded
VIII. Developmental Factors: up to 9 points awarded
IX. Interpersonal Skills: up to 16 points awarded
X. Attitude and Support (from both family and school): up to 11 points awarded

My biggest struggle was answering some of those �touchy-feely� questions in sections VII-IX. I had trouble determining the most appropriate answer to describe DS- i.e. is the information they want compared to his age-peers, his intellectual-peers, gifted kids (in general), all kids (in general)??

I�d be happy to give you more details about each section is you desire. The form is not a secret so you should have time to review it before meeting with the school.

Thanks sittin pretty - I think that *I* am DS's biggest obstacle - not that I don't think he can easily fit in and do great in 1st grade, but that he's my baby. He IS ONLY 5, etc...

But even if they didn't whole grade accelerate him at this point, we could at least have an idea of where we think he is compared to where the school does, and where his peers are, which in all actuality, we don't know - ya know?

First I am having a conversation with his teacher at some point, so it may not even be something I bring up right away. My ONLY concern is them asking DS if he wants to skip kindergarten in a way in which makes him say no right away without hesitation.