Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources 5 Levels of Gifted by Ruf

Dr. Ruf,

Thank you for answering the questions about your re-titled book. The information on scores of old vs newer tests is very helpful.
I'm glad you've stopped by. welcome!

Wow! A "celebrity" in our midst! Have you seen the Intel commercial about their "rock stars" featuring the guy who invented the USB? I sorta feel the same way.

Dr. Ruf- It is a phenomenal book and really helped my fam understand the human element of all the numbers that we had been trying to digest. THANK YOU!!

Since I started us off on the shameless gushing , I'd like to redirect attention to SPG's question:


There! Now I feel less guilty.

Love it!

What a treat to log in and find that Dr. Ruf has posted! Just want to say I, too, am one of the parents that scratched their heads when it came to my then infant and why she was so different. It was thanks to this board and their recommendation of your book that made me open my eyes. I have said it many times, but reading your book was like reading about my DD. She is a poster child for all the bullet points to watch for in a younger child. I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to clarify the title change and for being such a pillar in the gifted community.

Okay, a 140 on the SB5 will generally translate to at least a 165 to 170 on the SBLM (and other tests even older with a similar scale). It depends on which subtests the child is strong or weak at. High fluid reasoning and vocabulary boost your score more than other subtests on the SBLM. A 150 is extremely, extremely rare on the SB5 (or WISC-IV) and would generally translate into over 200 on the SBLM. Think of it this way, between IQs of about 85 to 115, the old test and the new tests (and this includes the school-given CogAT and OLSAT) pretty much overlap. Scores mean about the same. As you move away from the middle of 100 IQ, past the first standard deviation (85 or 115) each point means more difference in ability compared to the old SBLM. This means that the difference in ability between IQs of 95 to 105 really is about 10 points. But, the difference between IQs of 105 and 115 is much larger, more significant. Each 10 points on this scale is a larger difference in actual ability. The difference between a child with a 135 or a 145 is huge! The 135 child could finish typical elementary school in two or fewer years while the 145+ child could finish in less than half a year if given the chance. The reason is that the 145 child has a brain that was able to absorb more from his or her environment both before and after entering school -- so they already are almost done with anything that would be presented in elementary school.

I'd better get back to my regular work now, but I recommend curious readers go to my website where I have tons of free information available. I'm pretty sure I've written all of this down somewhere before. The point is that the standardized tests keep being normed and rewritten to reflect the times, what the current crop of kids would know about. The score ranges remain the same and mean the same. Yes, there is some "float" as a test ages, but that is primarily because lots of people find out what's on them and turn the problems and activities into "thinking skills" practice. Thus, more kids are already familiar with -- and good at -- the test items and score higher. Whew! Too much information.

Sincerely,
Deborah Ruf

Not at all...I like information!

Thank you.

Yes, very interesting!

Dr. Ruf - What is your website?

Dr. Ruf ... thank you so much for that informative post. How does the GAI on the WISCIV factor into what you're saying? Could you replace the IQ numbers you quoted w/ GAI as long as there were no LDs causing the disparity?