<p>I was tested for a special school program back when I was in middle school. They didn’t tell us at the time that it was an IQ test.</p>
<p>My parents didn’t tell me the result until I asked them about it a few years ago.</p>
<p>I was tested in K and “passed”, so was pulled out to learn to read when peers napped in K. </p>
<p>S was taking a placement test at age 3 when the director abruptly stopped it. H and I asked her why and she said, “In my decades of being a preschool director, your S is the first and only child who is attempting to improve this standardized test.”</p>
<p>Anytime our kids took a standardized test, they would receive the maximum score, especially in vocabulary. In middle school, both got SAT scores higher than the average to get admitted to state flagship. For the LSAT, S says he got top 5%. Over the years, D has had more trouble in math, as she thinks the problems out differently from many of us–she’s the artist.</p>
<p>my mom adminsitered IQ tests to her special ed students. she gave me the tests as well, more out of curiosity than anything else. i will never forget one question. it may have been on a different type of test, but it was to test her students</p>
<p>the question asked:</p>
<p>what is the primary reason society put people in prison?
(besides because they had done something wrong)
punishment
keep away from society
rehabilitation
to warn others</p>
<p>the answer guide said rehabilitation was the primary reason (yes hard to believe) but that was what the book said. i remember this because my mom and i talked about the different parts of society and why they might have different goals for imprisoning people</p>
<p>i was 5 at the time, but it sticks in my brain. my teachers wanted me to skip a grade, maybe two, but my mom said no, she would augment my studies at home</p>
<p>point is you can be very smart, think differently and do poorly on some of these tests. i know my younger daughter thought much more “globally” then her sister when it came to testing, while my older daughter knew what answer was expected. both averagage in the 97% in standardized testing, but had a different balance.</p>
<p>oddly they got the exact same combined SAT score, one higher in math, the other in verbal, same score in writing</p>
<p>Every student at my private school took an IQ test in 8th or 9th grade. I don’t remember exactly what my score was. As far as I know, none of our kids had an IQ test.</p>
<p>My father used to tell a funny story about his taking an IQ test in college (this was in the late 1930s). He went to see his dean about the test results. The dean wouldn’t show my father his score, although he said my father was “really doing rather well” at college, with the implication that my Dad’s IQ score wasn’t that high. My Dad ended up graduating Phi Beta Kappa and went on to Harvard for his MBA.</p>
<p>Seahorsesrock, I agree with you-- some of the answers I’ve seen seem a bit arbitrary. </p>
<p>My iq was tested a million years ago while in high school and the score was put on my transcript. It was a group test and I hit the ceiling. </p>
<p>Three of my kids have actually had their iq tested more than once because the school system here tests them and then they’ve needed it for different academic reasons. The interesting thing to me is how much the score can vary depending on the tester. The scatter is always the same and that seems like the most helpful information, barring any huge red flags. One of my kids had a very good tester the first time and a grad student the second time, years later. That kid’s score decreased by something like 12 points. My other kid also had to be retested and reported a significant drop. (These are both kids going to top schools so there weren’t deficits in education.) My third kid was tested for special ed so was always tested by the public school psychologist, who had lots of experience. Scores were remarkably consistent although testing with a private psychologist was more thorough and yielded a lot more info.</p>
<p>The Wechsler IQ test has had extended norms available for gifted children since 2008 <a href=“http://www.pearsonassessments.com/NR/rdonlyres/C1C19227-BC79-46D9-B43C-8E4A114F7E1F/0/WISCIV_TechReport_7.pdf[/url]”>http://www.pearsonassessments.com/NR/rdonlyres/C1C19227-BC79-46D9-B43C-8E4A114F7E1F/0/WISCIV_TechReport_7.pdf</a> to address the potential ceiling effects. That said, whether the person is at the 99.9 or 99.999 perfcentile may be a meaningless discrepancy for most situations. </p>
<p>The Stanford Binet,now in, IIRC, its 5th revision/edition, hasn’t used the mental/chronological age calculation in decades. The Ravens matrices is really only a screening device.</p>
<p>We has my D’s IQ tested when she was 12, this was after a long and painful process to prove to the school that she was very bright. They did some testing in grade 6 and she came top of the year. They still insisted that she wasn’t very clever, mainly as their criteria for gifted included being disruptive. She wasn’t. Her IQ came in at 162, it still made no difference to the school, so in the end we moved her from there. She is now flourishing in a private school, is sitting 12 IGCSE’s and is being recommended to try for NYU Abu Dhabi. I would really like to go back to that school and show them what happens when you listen to the parents, but that’s life and she is happy. She also has never moved up a year and has a great friendship circle.</p>
<p>I did not tell my son the results at the time (he was in 4th grade) other than to say he was average in some areas and well above average in others. When he’d say, “I’m no good at math,” I’d tell him actually his tests said he was fine in math, but he had trouble memorizing facts. Eventually after he graduated from high school the subject came up and I showed him the results. He doesn’t put much stake in them. </p>
<p>I have a good friend from high school, whom I love, whose IQ tested at 180, and always did fabulously well on tests like the SATs. (Scored higher than I did in math, though I was taking calculus and she barely passed Algebra 2, which seemed most unfair!) In any event because of her, I’ve seen that IQ tests only unevenly predict school success and her after college life, while very interesting, wouldn’t be what many people on this site would consider an appropriate career path after attending Harvard. Definintely no monetary ROI. :D</p>
<p>Like others, I was tested as a child in order to see if I qualified for the gifted program. I’m glad that my mom told me my score because it’s been a minor comfort throughout my life. I’m “just a mom” but at least I know I’m smart!</p>
<p>Our oldest child was given a “baby IQ” test when he was a toddler because he turned two and wasn’t talking at all. I am proud to say that he scored at a four year old level when it came to building a tower of blocks and doing puzzles.</p>
<p>Turns out, he is very bright. He is studying engineering now and apparently, it’s not unusual for engineers and mathematicians to begin talking later than usual.</p>
<p>Our kids had testing for gifted programs, but I don’t think it was an IQ test.</p>
<p>I don’t want to know my IQ–I’d feel bad if it’s lower than I think, and if it’s higher, I’ll feel bad that I haven’t accomplished more.</p>
<p>Yes, for GT programs. I, like many parents who have posted, have always told my kids that IQ is just a number. I think in 4th grade, all the boys were comparing IQs and when my son asked what his number was, my response was “high enough to do well in whatever you choose to do.” Without hard work, talent and IQ will only get you so far. Having said that, I also told them that there was no excuse for not doing well in school! :)</p>
<p>Yes, and I explained his number in detail when he was a young teen. He’s level-headed and I didn’t see a reason to hide part of his picture. But I ALSO stress that hard work is more important. :)</p>
<p>We initially did it as a requirement to get into the private gifted school, and then did the SBLM (yes, it’s old!) because his friend’s mom insisted. I thank her frequently because if she hadn’t butted in, we might never have understood. It explained a lot.</p>
<p>My kids both took the OLSAT to test into their schools GATE program. I remember when I was young taking a one on one test with the school psychologist which qualified me for the MGM (mentally gifed minors program).</p>
<p>Are you talking about the 1 to 1 Stanford Binet type test or those group paper/pencil things they give in public school? </p>
<p>I had a 1 to 1 test in college. Guinea Pig for the psych students in the testing classes. My kids have never had that kind of test. What would be the point?</p>
<p>My youngest was tested so that she could take part in the gifted programs at school. It was pretty funny, because her WI elementary school kept telling us that she was “bright average” and that she was perfectly fine in a regular classroom (no gifted programs therer). The minute they heard we were moving to PA the guidance counselor decided to have her IQ tested so that we could look for gifted programs when we moved. Then the PA school wouldn’t accept those tests, perhaps thinking her IQ would drop when we moved east?</p>
<p>Older sister was finally tested in high school after years of struggles. Turns out her comprehension IQ is far higher than her performance ability tests out. But since she was a B student, the school would not further test to find out what disabilities she has. She can do high level calculus but dreads teaching geometry, and can’t spell better than a third grader.</p>
<p>All of us in the family have at one time or another. Son 3 multiple times. I know the kids scores but they do not. All our family scores are within a range of 10 points. IQ is not really something we discuss. I don’t feel positive or negative…it’s a pretty neutral thing unless you have a low IQ and it impacts your life and ability to learn.</p>
<p>Is the IQ testing more common in the US than Europe?
I grew up in Europe and none of my friends were tested. And I never heard of testing their kids either.</p>
<p>Iq testing apparently originated in France in 1904.</p>
<p>Most people on this thread said that iq tests were used for admission to gifted programs or to find more information about learning style.</p>
<p>In Europe how is it decided if a child needs extra support or challenge?</p>
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<p>However, the current Stanford Binet still does not give IQ results beyond 160, as far as I can determine; 4 standard deviations above the mean is the limit of current tests – 160 max where SD=15, higher where SD=16 or greater (I seem to recall that one test had a SD of 24). The Stanford Binet LM is still administered regularly, despite its age, because it’s the only test open-ended enough on the high end to show variations between the highly gifted. Statistical-derivation IQ tests compress the range of possible scores of those in top one tenth of one percent.</p>
<p>Because these different tests use different approaches, an IQ score without reference to the specific test is largely meaningless on the very high end.</p>
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<p>The article also notes that some individuals have been falsely excluded from gifted programs because they did not meet the cutoff threshold on the administered test. </p>
<p>[Hoagies</a>’ Gifted: Don’t Throw Away the Old Binet](<a href=“http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/dont_throw.htm]Hoagies”>Hoagies' Gifted: Don't Throw Away the Old Binet)</p>
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<p>The Ravens solely tests non-verbal abilities, notably complex pattern recognition. It is an excellent tool for determining visual-spatial abilities. It is certainly much more than a screening device, although it is not a “full range” IQ test.</p>
<p>I am very familiar with these tests, Lorem. The old SB is normed on an old population and scores are not reflective of our current normative sample. The Flynn effect comes into play. And your quote is from the SB-4. We’re now on the SB-5.</p>
<p>As I mentioned upthread, the WISC-IV has extended norms that provide those very high IQ numbers, if the difference between a 99.9999 and 99.9999999 percentile reflected as 165 or 180 (I made those up as an example) is really meaningful to anyone. In truth, at least statistically speaking, it does not.</p>
<p>And the Ravens is a test that went out of my arsenal a long time ago. The old test and norms were dreadful, IIRC. If that is the one that had a +/- SD of 24 that wouldn’t surprise me. Thats not very statistically powerful. There are plenty of much better nonverbal.visual/perceptual tasks in the testing arena.</p>