
Misleading Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test
(NNAT) Scores
By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D
Q:
My 1st grade son, Andrew, was referred for gifted services
last year by his Kindergarten teacher. The school decided to
place him in 2nd grade math during 1st grade, however, the
new principal for this year stopped that right away and had
him tested. He scored 99th percentile on the Naglieri
Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT). She also had the Metropolitan series
of tests administered during the 2nd week of first grade. My
son did not want to take the tests and complained about
missing out on what the class was doing. He scored 86th-92nd
% on the Metropolitan. The new principal used those scores
to decide that he did not need enrichment even though his
ability score was 99th %. This May, we had an independent
evaluation done at George Mason U. He scored in the 99.9th%,
a full scale IQ score of 151 on the WISC IV test.
They said this was in the very superior range and the
highest score that they have seen in recent years. We have
provided the scores to the school but do not anticipate any
response from the principal who seems completely reluctant
to provide any acceleration or enrichment. What rights do
gifted students have when requesting enrichment or some type
of acceleration (Virginia)? Andrew is a model student with
100% marks or close to it, and no behavior or social
problems. His teacher this year seems to be following the
principal's lead and adds comments such as "not soaring
above the rest of the class" even though he is working at a
4th grade math level, with no instruction, on the school's
SME computer program. He is bored at school. What can we do?
Thank you.
A: It's such a shame that the
school principal and teacher are acting is such an
unprofessional manner. Your son had obviously shown
remarkable abilities and this is proven from the test
results. As for the Metropolitan series of tests, he was
obviously not ready and unwilling to take the test; hence
the score. I can understand if the school decide to use this
score as an indicator of ability and therefore based on the
scores, may feel that your son did not need an enrichment.
However, after doing the WISC and showing the scores to the
school, it is a wonder why they refused to accept the
results. The least that they can do is to re-test him on a
different scale or monitor his progress to see if they are
making the right decision to place him in the high ability
group. When his WISC scores did not even create a doubt on
abilities and the school still preferred to use the
Metropolitan scores, this just does not sound right.
I am not aware of the state requirement for gifted education
in Virginia but as far as I know every state should have
provisions for gifted children. You may want to talk to the
principal and find out the reason for this. Principals
usually do not discriminate their students, so it may be
that the school may not be fully aware of his progress or
there may be a good reason for this – something that has not
been brought to your attention. If you still feel unfairly
treated, this matter may be brought up the district
education authorities for further investigation. In the
meantime, don't let this affect your son at all; keep giving
him the guidance and nurturance that he needs to further
excel. It is very important to keep him going to avoid a
case of burning out as you mention that he is bored at
school.
Do not give up trying to give him the best of education that
he deserves. Best wishes and I hope that your son would be
given due credit for his abilities.
[Note: For those who may be interested to find more online resources
for the NNAT Practice Test, you can check out
here.]
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Practice Test for the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability TestŪ (NNATŪ) Level D
By Mercer Publishing
Level D of the NNAT is usually given to students in third
and fourth grade. One of the tools for measuring a student's
ability to enter the gifted program is the Naglieri
Nonverbal Ability TestŪ (NNAT) published by Harcourt
Assessment, Inc. The NNAT is a culture-fair, nonverbal
measure of reasoning and problem solving abilities. This
test does not require English language skills or
mathematics, instead consisting of problems that use a
complex set of geometric shapes and designs. It is a 38
question test with four types of questions: Pattern
Completion, Analogy, Serial Reasoning and Spatial
Visualization.
This practice test contains 38 questions in the four test
areas found on the NNATŪ Level D, which is usually given to
students in third and fourth grade: Pattern Completion 6
questions Reasoning by Analogy 10 questions Serial Reasoning
8 questions Spatial Visualization 14 questions The object of
this practice test is to familiarize your child with the
types of questions they will face on test day, how the tests
are formatted, and the number of questions in each test
area..
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