Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Dramatic change in I.Q. score

Update - I went ahead and had my older son re-tested with a different test (SB). His overall score was 139. His demeanor with the tester was very different too - he really enjoyed being with her.

I was impressed with the other psychologist, but I'm going to conclude that it just wasn't a good fit and my son's performance was affected.

I think it's interesting that his score varied so much. At this point I'm about 99% confident that the lower score is not reflective of his ability.

I've taken a lot of standardized tests myself and I've been around enough bright people to be confident that my son is very smart. I am also confident that my sons are not almost two standard deviations apart. One is smarter, yes. But not THAT much smarter. So I pushed and had the additional testing done. But not everyone is going to be as confident in their judgement nor have the ability to get extra testing. So it's disturbing to see so much variation. I thought these tests were more reliable.

I realize we are lucky he wasn't getting sick the day of the most recent evaluation. If his perfomance had been impaired a second time I would have concluded that the lower scores were accurate. So I would STRONGLY advise people to take care in selecting testing dates/times/environments.

It's high enough that it won't keep him out. Even if he gets through whatever subjective screening they use for kids in the 130 - 145 range he will still have to get a good number in the lottery.

But we have been told that if his brother gets in for 2010-2011, they will be more likely to view him favorably the following year.