Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment scores from percentiles

First, I need to vent about waiting soooo long for DD's pysch-ed assessment report (assessment was Apr 14/10). Finally, receive it today and all scores are reported as percentiles only. In addition, there are only a few subtest scores (again, percentiles only). Psychologist told us initially that she would not give us an actual 'IQ' score but I did not realize that we would not get any scores at all.

She had the WISC-IV administered and I would be okay with percentiles if there was not such a HUGE spread between VCI/PRI and her WMI (65% difference). She has ADHD and we know that this is probably a factor. With this in mind, can the FSIQ be interepreted as accurate? No GAI was reported. After testing the psychologist insinuated that DD was in the EG/PG range but I can't understand that based on her scores (again, numbers might help!). Maybe we misunderstood, I mean, gosh, it was SOOO LONG AGO!

Thank you for reading my vent. I feel much better after getting it out. So here are my questions:

Can the FSIQ be interepreted as accurate with a huge spread between VCI/PRI and WMI?

Where can I find corresponding scores to the percentiles?

No, the FSIQ probably isn't the best indicator of her ability if the WMI index is that much lower than the VCI/PRI indices. As far as getting #s out of those percentiles, I'd bet that Dottie would be your best bet but she'd probably only be able to do so if you have percentiles for each of the subtests within each index. If not, we can probably ballpark the #s for you (i.e. -- if you're getting a 98th percentile score for an index, you can safely assume that the number is between 130 and 132, for instance).

Can you ask the psych for the recording forms or more info than that which she gave you? I'd be frustrated too especially if I paid for that!

That's ridiculous!! So sorry.

Can you just ask them for the scores? Don't you have some kind of right to them?

Val

My son's test lists some of his scales as 99% (Superior) and some of his scales as 99.9% (Very Superior)
I agree that Full Scale is meaningless in this situation, and the tester should actually provide you with scaled scores and raw scores so that if this tester won't calculate GAI you can find someone who will.
If Verbal or Performance is listed as 99.9, download that Davidson YSP application and start filling it out.
Was achievement testing done?

UnBelieVable that the scoring took so long!
Grimity

Thanks Dottie. This is what was reported:

FSIQ - 98%
VCI - >99%
PRI - >99%
WMI - 34%
PSI - 88%

It really is not going to change anything to have the actual numbers. But knowing what I know now... there is a lot of difference above the 99th%. These scores are a huge eye opener as to why school is such a struggle for her. I guess knowing what part of that stratosphere she is in may not matter to some, but I really feel that information is power. How can I advocate fully for my child if I cannot fully understand her abilities and needs?

Yeah, I'm thinking off the FSIQ that she might have a somewhat similar set of #s to my dd10's first testing. In my dd's case, her FSIQ came out at the 98th as well with the VCI in the 99.7th, the PRI in the 99th and the WMI/PSI around the 50th. Your dd's WMI was lower than mine but PSI was higher. If I were going to throw my wild guess into the ring, I'd put the GAI around the upper 140s which is where my dd's fell. Dottie will likely be more precise, though .

eta: I'm seeing that Dottie already got there before I posted!

You guys rock!! Thanks so much!

Knowing a ball park GAI helps a lot. It is more in keeping with where we think she is and I actually feel a bit relieved that it is not as high as we were told it might be. Gosh, I hope that doesn't sound bad to say that out loud. But with ADHD, anxiety, crippling perfectionism and a lower working memory speed... I can't even think what it would be like for her to be EG/PG. And she never fit any of the descriptions that I read for EG/PG kids. I am happy that my 'mommy' sense was right. Thanks again!

That sounds a lot like my dd10 as well -- ADD, anxiety... There are times where the kiddo seems brilliant and there have been times where I'm not sure she is gifted at all.

Depending on how you define EG, though, you could put your dd in that category. DYS calls scores in the upper 140s PG although I guess that that can make more sense if the achievement and other indicators are there (which they would need to be for DYS).

Boy, you said it!

I'm missing something here, GAI of 145 to 150 is PG by Davidson YSP standards, although it's true that Davidson PG is about the most lenient version of PG I've seen.

Was your daughter well -medicated during the testing?

It's true that a PGlet with anxiety and ADHD and active perfectionism probably needs less advanced classes than a PGlet without all the other stuff going on, at least until a whole new curriculum can be designed to take into account the strengths and weaknesses of this sort of kid.

It is definitely ok to wish that your DD wasn't so unusually gifted, given her challenges, however it's best to keep in mind that she is about as high up as the tests can measure in her strength areas, and when she does learn to manage her challenge areas, the strengths will be there and more obvious than ever.

I think that your mommy sense is still right, and that she is PG. It just plain looks different on 2Enick.

Hugs and More Hugs,
Grinity