Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Newbie here, Help with RIAS info please!!

Hi all great site! I am new here and trying to find some information on the RIAS. My DD5 (Kindergarten), recently was individually given the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales by one of our school districts psychologists. Her results came back as follows:

Intelligence Index Standard Score

Composite 152
Verbal 136
Nonverbal 150


My question to you is what does this all mean? Is the Reynolds a valid test? How come the district uses this test instead of a more popular one, is it a money thing? I see that Davidson does not accept this test when determining eligibility for they DYS program. How come? Is the test junk? Finding out info on this test is few and far between. Maybe I am just not looking in the right places. The public school she is in is one of the few good schools in our district and they do offer a gifted class one day a week at the school. There is another school in the district that offers a full time gifted program which you have to enter a lottery to get into. So it is all luck if you get in.

Thank you in advance for any help you may provide,
BFC

It's not a junk test. It is considered an individual IQ test and is probably going to give you more accurate results than a group ability test like the CogAT or the OLSAT.

Those are very high scores with what looks like a strength in visual spatial and mathematical areas. The verbal score is still gifted as well. She will probably be more able than most children in school gifted programs, however, as most kids in school GT programs tend to cluster in a composite or full scale score range of 125-135, depending on the school and their specific admission standards.

If you are looking to get her into a specific program like DYS, you may have some luck with going the portfolio route. They will probably require further IQ testing on the WISC-IV or SB-5, but you may get some help with the cost of testing if they think that she is eligible.

Did the school psych give her any achievement tests that would be acceptable by DYS? That would further her chances of getting into DYS via portfolio probably if she had qualifying achievement scores. If not, I'd still give a shot with the portfolio or do further testing yourself if you want to go the non-portfolio route.

Hi BFC,
Welcome!
I looked at this website http://www3.parinc.com/products/product.aspx?Productid=RIAS

and saw:

It is individually administered, which is good, and your daugher's scores are very high, but to my mind, the test is 'test enough' to inspire me to get a full test that Davidson YSP would accept and try to see if you dealing with a 'gifted' kid or a 'GIFTED' kid.

I'm wondering why your daughter was tested in the first place? Is she 'sticking out' in some way? Happy/Unhappy in her current grade placement? Or is this just the normal way of things at your school? How do kids get placed into the gifted program? (a full day a week is potentially pretty good.)

Same question for the full time gifted program? If they are identifying so many children that they have to hold a lottery to see who goes, then I wonder if they are setting the bar so low that your DD's needs wouldn't really be addressed?

I hope someone knows about the RIAS, I don't but welcome anyway!
Grinity

http://jpa.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/25/4/334

35 minutes for the whole test?
I like the idea of shorter, but 35 minutes does seem very short.

Still, if Dottie says 'great scores' then they are great scores!

If you do go on for a WISC or SB, I would be sure to get them with someone who is very familiar with testing 'unusually gifted' kids.

Smiles,
Grinity

My daughter took the RIAS. I have seen research that it correlates well with the WISC. She scored FSIQ 140. However, on the WISC FSIQ was 123 but GAI was 140. The RIAS does not test processing speed which really lowered my daughters score on the WISC. It is a good short test, however, if you want to apply to any gifted programs outside of your school district you will need further testing with the WISC or SB.

I'm going to pipe in here as well, because our experience contradicts the study cited above and other anecdotes that suggest RIAS correlates, but tends to be higher than the WISC-IV. My DD was tested with the RIAS at school just after she turned 6.

Her VIX on the RIAS was only 118, but her NIX was over 140, which was pretty much the opposite of what I would have expected. Because of the discrepancy, to double check the NIX score, and find out whether I was in denial about possible DYS qualifications I choose to have her privately tested shortly thereafter.

Her scores on the WISC-IV were 138 and 137 with comparable processing speed and slightly lower working memory, for an FSIQ of 143 and and GAI of 144. So the NIX was close, but the VIX and the full scale scores were way off.

I will admit that I honestly have my doubts regarding the school's administration of the RIAS, so maybe we are the outlier for a completely unrelated reason.

Just a different perspective.