Admission into a Gifted Program
By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D
Q:
My daughter just took the WPPSI-III to determine what the
best school would be for her. I'm pretty excited with the
outcome, but I wanted more data. She is 4.5 years old. Her
score was 141 with one area 147, but she was a bit off on
her fine motor skills, slowing the processing. Is this a
good solid IQ, an extraordinary IQ or average for a gifted
program? With this score we will be applying to the gifted
program.
A: The Wechsler Preschool and
Primary Scale of Intelligence-Third Edition (WPPSI-III) is
apparently a better diagnostic test that emphasizes abstract
reasoning well for selection of children into gifted
programs. For your daughter's age group, there are seven
subtests and a good mix of verbal and visual reasoning in a
child-friendly test. However, this test does have a
Processing Speed Quotient, but only one of the two subtests
from which it is calculated; this is included in the Full
Scale IQ score. It should also be known that this test is
indeed “a timed handwriting-like test”. Therefore, slower
processing speed on handwritten paper-and-pencil test should
not rule out admission to gifted programs, which is the case
for your daughter. Her scores indicate high ability in the
items measured. It is hard to determine the level of her IQ
based on the limited information given on the scores.
On admission in a gifted program, it is very likely that
many gifted children may not make it into the school's
program for the gifted. This may be due to the selection
process which may miss out some type of gifted children. In
reality, these programs are designed for high achievers who
are very motivated to do better as this group will be very
successful in such a program. If the child is not very
motivated or challenged with the kind of work offered in the
gifted program, they may in turn underachieve. Some gifted
children need very challenging and stimulating work rather
than more difficult work, which is offered is some gifted
programs.
Additionally, there is no single cut-off point to gain
admission into a gifted program. Gifted programs are usually
designed by the school and teachers themselves may not
understand giftedness well enough to allow various
exceptions to cases and may strictly follow admission
procedures. Sometimes, giftedness is considered mere
achievement rather than ability, which may and may not be
true in the case of gifted children. Gifted children come is
many different types and some may be missed out due to the
selection process. Hence, the selection has a lot to do with
what the school terms as giftedness – which is very hard
with experts in the field having varied definitions! Due to
this, a child may be identified as gifted in one school
system, but not in another. It really depends on the
abilities of the majority of students in the school and if a
child stands out and qualifies the cut-off criteria for
admission, it is likely that the child would be accepted. In
conclusion, there is no right score for a school to use as a
cut-off point into a gifted program. It usually depends on
how the school defines giftedness, abilities of the majority
of students in the school, and the school's financial
standing and resources.
Hopefully your daughter gains admission into a suitable
gifted program to maximize her potentials. Best of luck!
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