Gifted Schooling

[Ralyks]

Originally Posted by Lerd

When I went to the mensa website, it said only kids over 14 years old. Am I missing something? Maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

Only people 14 and up can take the Mensa admission test, but kids under 14 can join by submitting prior evidence of IQ in the top 2% on the Otis Lennon, Stanford Binet, COGAT, and certain other accepted tests.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Ralyks

Not really. IQ tests,properly administered one-on-one by a psychologist, tend to be accurate after age 6. There is very little fluctuation after that point. IQ tests don’t test for knowledge (reading skills, math skills, etc.) but for quickness of thinking, so coaching in math and reading can’t possibly prepare you for one.

However, the criteria many school districts in north Texas use for admission to gifted elementary school programs do not include an individual IQ test of this nature. Instead, criteria typically includes a combination of teacher recommendations and observation, reading and math achievement tests (for which astudent most certainly can be coached) and group cognitive ability tests (which are a type of IQ test but somewhat less accurate than individual IQ tests and even occasionally negatively correlated at the high IQ extremes). It is quite possible many of the students in these gifted programs are simply of above average IQ (115-128 range), high achievers, and teacher pleasers, and that some gifted children (with IQs of 140+) are overlooked and never referred for testing as they day dream out the window all school day or annoy the teacher by talking back to her and correcting her when she’s wrong.

If a student is truly profoundly gifted (which would mean a full scale IQ of at least 152 on the WISC), I would strongly recommend a private gifted school or home school. No offense against schools that serve average children well, but I do not think any of the public elementary or middle schools in north Texas can provide a sufficient education to a profoundly gifted student. Even as a parent of non-gifted but above-average students, I have been disappointed that the education is nowhere as near "top-notch" as I had been led to believe. In elementary school, it is very much an "every kid on the same page of the same book every day" system. Kids are not really tracked and grouped according to level in elementary school, as they were where I used to live.

I disagree almost fully. And please don't quote 3rd party passages without attribution.

[Transplanted99]

Originally Posted by Transplanted99

Might need to know more than just IQ. What grade is your child in? What other scores have they been receiving (Lexile, NNAT, CogAT, etc.)?

That type of info might help any folks here who have children with similar background, or who have professional experience, to guide you on which program or school might be best fitting.

IQ is only one factor in your decision making, and, as mentioned by another poster, it has its limitations.

The other thing is what are you willing to spend, or are you willing/able to move? Suggestions for programs that don't fit your constraints, won't help.

Also, if you have not explored this already, the following link has several resources to check out...you might find some part of what you are looking for there.
Web Resources for Parents « Texas Association for the Gifted & Talented

Originally Posted by Lerd

He's in kindergarten currently, so I'm not worried about grades.

Sorry. Missed this part....hopefully the link provides some productive avenues to explore.

[Lerd]

So sorry for going MIA for a short while. My son just got his MAP testing back, and he's top 1% across the board. He also got every single grade level assessment question correct, both math and language arts. She said without a doubt he'll be entered in the PACE program as soon as they allow it after December testing, but that doesn't seem soon enough. We're thinking about getting him CATs testing as well as one-on-one psychologist testing in order to apply out to private schools and get an updated IQ. Does this sound like a good idea?

[Lerd]

Originally Posted by Ralyks

Only people 14 and up can take the Mensa admission test, but kids under 14 can join by submitting prior evidence of IQ in the top 2% on the Otis Lennon, Stanford Binet, COGAT, and certain other accepted tests.

Thank you for this. Will get on this.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Yes, get him privately tested and try the private route if you can afford it.