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    Joined: Jan 2011
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    I am SO nervous and SO confused...

    We have been asking our 8 year olds son school to test him for gifted program and he is finally being tested tomorrow. He is in the 2nd grade and is reading and conceptually at a much higher level. I know he is a smart kid and extremely gifted in some areas. He LOVES science, math and everything space. He has been absolutely amazed with anything and everything space related from the age of 3. When I say this.. he understands and reads concepts that most adults can not grasp.

    I just do not know what to expect. He is REALLY excited about this test. I am not sure if he really knows why. I think he is a bit nervous... his teacher told him today that 6 kids in his class have already been tested for the program and none of them were placed in the program. He was not sure if he should be more nervous. He is very comfortable in his knowledge and begging us to have his teacher give him more work. He finishes his work so much earlier then everyone else in his class and is told to read an AR book. That is fine and good BUT I feel like we are failing him.

    I am excited for him to be tested... BUT not because I want to be proven right. I am just hoping to finally have a better idea of what to do. It is so hard to constantly second guessing yourself and wondering if he should or should not be tested. I know that I have to advocate for him BUT it is such a fine line of being looked at as one of those parents that think there kids are so smart.

    If his scores do not put him in the gifted program that is fine. I just have no idea what to expect and how do I know what the scores mean?

    How long does it take to get the test results? I am hoping that is not 4 months like the time that we have been waiting to get him tested.

    Please help..

    By the way, we live in Orlando, FL.


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    Take a deep breath.

    It's good that the school is responding to your request for testing and that your son is excited about it.

    You may not get the results right away, but when you do, you can always come here for help with interpreting them. Hopefully, the school psychologist will provide you with some information about how to interpret the scores.

    Meanwhile, you can familiarize yourself with the different kinds of tests by reading http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/gifted_101.htm

    Hang in there! I think you're headed in the right direction smile

    Cathy

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    My 8 year old LOVES the tests also and always has. I think they are fun for him because they challenge him, but I don't know. He has never been nervous.

    I don't know how long it will take to get the results...some tests we got instant results from the psychologist, others in a week, others in a few weeks. I think the ones at school take a little bit longer to get the results because the school psychologist does several tests then writes up the reports on a certain day.

    I'm in FL, too, btw! smile

    Nan

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    Thanks...

    He has done quite well on all of the State tests that he has had every year. Scoring in the 98%-99%. It has been a long process to finally have him tested. We lived in MN for his first year of school and went to a STEM magnet school. When we relocated to Orlando 2 years ago. We moved to one school district that use to be the top in the area and were not happy with it. We moved to a new school last year and he really likes it. It is just not challenging him. Unfotrunately, we moved in Feb both years and think this is part of the resaon that this has been such a long process.

    I am not sure if I am more worried about what to do for him if he is labeled as gifted or if he does not have the test scores and I have to figure out how I am going to keep him motivated and challeneged. He is very social and he has lots of friends. BUT, he keeps telling me that he does not know anyone else like him and wishes that kids want to talk about the things that he does.

    Just emailed his teacher to thank her for helping this happen. I work in the classroom every week and hope the she will help speed a long the result process.

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    Do you have any idea what test(s) they are giving him? Not so you can prep (I wouldn't recommend that) but b/c it is good to know if it is an IQ test, a group ability test, or what. Do be aware that, if they use a group ability test, it may or may not be the best test depending on your child. Some (like Raven's progressive matrices) only look at one area of intelligence. If that happens to be your child's strength, he may do well. If not, it doesn't mean that he wouldn't do well on another test that hits on a different area of intelligence. Some rely on a child who processes quickly b/c they are timed.

    All in all, there are a lot of factors that will make a difference in his scores. If they don't qualify for the GT program, I wouldn't necessarily assume that he isn't gifted if other indicators are there.

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    This is the problem. I have not been able to find out what the test is. From what I have been able to detemine from Orange County is the following.

    ***
    Referred students are screened at the school by completing a standardized paper and pencil group intelligence test. Those students who score at a high level on the group test are scheduled for a more lengthy and in-depth evaluation by a school psychologist.

    A school psychologist administers an individualized test of intelligence to determine a student�s intellectual ability. In Florida, a student must score two standard deviations above the mean or higher in order to meet the intellectual criterion for the gifted program.

    In conjunction with the psychologist�s testing, a checklist of gifted student behavioral characteristics is completed by one or more teachers familiar with the student. All information is then reviewed by an eligibility staffing committee at the school to determine if the student has a need for the gifted program and meets eligibility criteria
    ***

    Is it actually better to have a child tested privately or throught the school?

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    In re to through the school or privately, I don't know. It sounds like the intent is to do something like the OLSAT, CogAT, Raven, etc. as a screener and then go to the WISC or SB-5 from there. Do you know how well he needs to do on the group screening test to move on?

    I think that it is really good that they move on to an actual IQ test and don't just stop at the group test. My younger dd likely would have been weeded out by the group test, though, b/c she scored well above average but not in that 98th+ range. Yet her IQ score easily hit that 98+.

    I guess that you'll just have to wait and see on the group test and decide what to do from there.

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    We are also in Fl, although further north than Orlando. Our district uses the Slosson screener and the individual test is the Reynolds (RIAS). Not sure if they use the same thing in central FL.

    For our first they did the screen and based on the results of the screen they did the RIAS. I was flabbergasted by the results of the RIAS which were only slightly above average for verbal (for my highly verbal child) and higher than I would have dreamed for perceptual, so we did private testing a couple months later using WISC that validated the perceptual score, but also showed a verbal score comparable to the perceptual and more closely aligned with the child I thought I had, though I was still somewhat surprised by the high perceptual score.

    For my second, with a big push from the classroom teacher and the gifted teacher (who had my first in class and knew my second from regular visits to school) they went right to the RIAS in early K. Those scores were much more even and closer to what I would have anticipated for my second child. As they were sufficient to provide access to the gifted program and I don't need a different test for any other purpose, I see no reason right now to do any additional testing to cross-check his RIAS scores.


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    So Florida is not consistent then. My son didn't have a group screen and was given the SB-V in K right from the start. Weird! Nan

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    Originally Posted by Prissy
    We are also in Fl, although further north than Orlando. Our district uses the Slosson screener and the individual test is the Reynolds (RIAS). Not sure if they use the same thing in central FL.
    So, if that's what your district does as well, the Slossen is one of those tests that primarily only hits on one area of intelligence: verbal. If your child is a more visual-spatial or mathy kid, it may not be the best screening tool and, like I said earlier, I wouldn't see it as the final word on his giftedness.

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