Can we talk about IQ testing? - Page 2

[FreeRangeMama]

It may be a funding issue. Our homeschool facilitator actually recommended that we don't test or grade skip even though we could because funding changes for the higher grade levels. The gifted program also would give us less funding and more involvement from the school board. We want as much funding with as little involvement as possible and our facilitator is great so she advised us to just continue as we are.

We can work on what we choose even though we are registered as grade 3 and maximize what we get. If we had a facilitator or school board that focused only on the financials they may want us to go a different route as it would reduce our funding significantly. Could it be similar in your area?

I never really saw a point to testing. Sometimes it is just SO obvious that you are dealing with a gifted kid that it seems rather pointless to go through the process. If you were dealing with a child who was struggling and you were trying to get to the bottom of why it may be a different scenario.

[kate42]

We had to have DD tested in order for her to be placed in the gifted program. She's in public school, so it was free.

[Roar]

This thread raises lots of different issues.

First, regarding the decision to test. My hesitations in your situation would be that she's four which is on the young end for accurate results. If there is no pressing concern and they will only test once for free I'd rather have that done at six years old. I also would try to speak in more detail to them about what kind of testing they'd like to do and how the information might help your daughter. If the administrator can't answer your questions I would ask to speak to the psychologist who does the testing.

For me personally, the concerns about evening out and labeling as less pressing. Of course you don't need to take out a billboard and post her results. It is information that you can decide what to do with. I would not present testing to a child as "we are trying to find out how smart you are" but instead as "we are trying to find out more about how you learn to help us plan for school." Adults may have a lot of baggage about IQ tests, but the reality younger kids tend to find it to be fun games and puzzles. If you feel like this is really destiny and a big number that will bother you that's something else.

We homeschool and we found testing to be helpful. It helped us better understand the way our child was learning and helped us make some decisions regarding acceleration and it helped us rule out some concerns about particular learning problems. Much of this we likely would have figured out but testing was a faster, less frustrating way for us to get to that information. Also, it made it possible for our child to participate in some opportunities, such as Davidson, that have been helpful to him socially and academically. I wouldn't at all say it was do or die, but it was worth it for him. A lot of how helpful testing will be is also dependent on how good the person doing the testing is and how good of a job they do explaining the results to you. The composite number is the part many folks fixate on, and it is really one of the less important bits of information.

As far as evening out....Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. A few people said that to us in the younger years. They recognize now how really absurd it was.

It all depends on the kid but I will say for kids on the milder end of giftedness I agree that once the focus of the classroom shifts from basic reading instructions that's probably helpful to kids who are early readers. But, really for kids who are more out there it may continue to be a very significant difference.

[itsmyturn]

Why does everyone keeping saying that the OP's DD is four?

She says it "started" when she was 4 and if you look at her signature line her Dd is 6.

just sayin'

As for even-ing out: I can see how the reading gap seems less around grade 3, but for Math this is never the case.

[cdahlgrd]

The other thing to think about: What if she doesn't cooperate?

My oldest refuses to take the test the way it is intended. When asked to pick 2 out of 3 that go together, he would tell long stories about why ALL 3 went together.

So, what happens if the results aren't accurate?

(Sorry to missread her age!)

[ollyoxenfree]

I've tried to resist adding to the side-track, but it's too tempting. Since the OP raised the issue in the first place, I'm hoping she's interested.

Originally Posted by whatsnextmom

I didn't say that gifted ability evens out. What I said was that gifted learners become less different as they age. It's not them dropping down, it's their peers becoming more able to work alongside them.

Originally Posted by Tjej

I think there is a big difference between "even-ing out" and the abatement of difficulty of accommodation.

Tjej

Good point - definitions are important. I'm not sure what the OP meant by the term "even out". I guess when I posted that it is a myth that gifted children "even out", I should have explained what I meant by that. When other people have told me that children will even out, they expect that the gifted learner will slow or stop acquiring or maturing their cognitive skills and abilities - in other words, become more stupid - while their neurotypical classmates will accelerate their abilities - in other words, become smarter. I have never seen that happen. I do not think gifted students become less gifted as they age. I maintain that it is myth.

I do not think gifted students become less different as they age - at least not in cognitive ability. I think some learn to integrate well into a regular classroom with other students. It involves a whole bunch of other skills involving emotional maturity and personality development.

Originally Posted by Roar

As far as evening out....Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. A few people said that to us in the younger years. They recognize now how really absurd it was.

Thanks for the laugh! You really made me chuckle too.

Originally Posted by itsmyturn

As for even-ing out: I can see how the reading gap seems less around grade 3, but for Math this is never the case.

Interesting - the discussion has been about reading, and all along I've been thinking "But what about math and science?". My 17 y.o. DS has spent an excruciating year in a regular math class, bored to tears while his teacher instructs to the lowest common denominator. I don't see any even-ing out happening in these classes.

There have been some interesting threads in the past that discuss in-class accommodations and teaching gifted students alongside regular students. I'm not saying it isn't possible - just that it shouldn't be confused for some kind of neurocognitive change in either the gifted students or the regular students that could be called an "even-ing out" phenomenon.

[emmaegbert]

Originally Posted by Linda on the move

Kids who get the message that their value as a person is linked to how smart they are tend to think that EVERYTHING is supposed to come easily to them, shy away from things that are difficult for them, and have more social problems. But this doesn't really have much to do with the IQ test, it's what you do with the information that matters.

ITA. The problem isn't the test or the label, but the way that it is taken up and used by adults in how they structure the expectations of the child. I can understand the impulse of not wanting to know some number value, b/c you don't want it to affect the way you look at your own child. I kind of felt the same way when I recently had my son tested (for school admission purposes). But in the end, I decided to look at the test as one way to think through what my son needs from a school and how he learns. Certainly not to define him as a person!

I went to a very selective gifted school and while I think my *parents* were pretty good about not putting too much emphasis on my worth being tied to being smart, the school certainly did. And I saw the pressure on some of my peers- in retrospect I can recognize it even more. I personally still struggle with the fear of doing poorly at things, with the fear of being "found out" as not quite as smart as I make myself out to be... and it wasn't until I was in my 20s that I eased up on myself a little and was willing to go outside my comfort zone and try stuff I am not that good at (like dance or physical things). I do not think this is a non-issue, but again, I don't think it necessarily will come as a result of having been tested and IDed as gifted.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by emmaegbert

I went to a very selective gifted school and while I think my *parents* were pretty good about not putting too much emphasis on my worth being tied to being smart, the school certainly did. And I saw the pressure on some of my peers- in retrospect I can recognize it even more. I personally still struggle with the fear of doing poorly at things, with the fear of being "found out" as not quite as smart as I make myself out to be...

It's all so common for gifted kids/adults.

It's the one oddly easy thing about having a SN child and a gifted child, we just can't go there. We can't even get close to there. Because it is such a potential mine field, my gifted DD (who is also athelic, talented, and beautiful) has an amazingly grounded sense of self.

I think it would be harder to have managed this with an only child who was gifted or with all children who were gifted.

[eepster]

Since it's being offered for free, I would take them up on it. Your DD may qualify for things like Davison's young scholars programs or MENSA for children that you need test results for.

[joensally]

Icequeen, from all you've posted about your dd in the past, I would not be surprised if your dd tests pg and doesn't even out (and I agree with the many posters who say this isn't so in the HG+). I wonder if your learning coordinator wants scores to work from for planning purposes and/or possible funding. I would ask. We've tested and I don't think it particularly informed or influenced either kids' self-concept. They know they're different related to their interests and learning styles/speeds, but they don't view themselves or their worlds through some overwhelming gifted lense.