Please explain - are these "IQ" tests normed?

[Anonymous]

I posted this under the "Parents Are Not Always Honest about their Kids' Accomplishments" thread. Please enlighten me if I am off base. And to those who defend these tests, I don't mean to rain on your parade. But as an educator, I've seen a lot of "dumbing" down over the years, and I've met quite a few "educational" consultants who think they have all of the right answers for the parents of gifted and/or learning challenged children.

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This 99th percentile "test" - Is it norm referenced? If so, the tests are comparing students to each other.

For example, let's look at baby weights. Weights are collected over time. My child, at 6 months, was in the 30th percentile for weight b/c he weighed only 16 pounds. He was being compared to children - rather large ones, I might add, who weighed much more than he did and were in the 100th percentile. So he fell far below. Does that make him a "loser" by weight standards? Perhaps . . . but I'd rather have a child who won't be obese - or 40 lbs. by the time he's 3 years old.

The same goes for these "IQ" tests that are norm referenced. If a wide range of kids are tested (don't know who these kids are), they are being compared to each other. Now, amazingly, according to the posts on these boards, there are TONS of children who are incredibly gifted and who fall w/in the 99th percentile!

But if norming IS the case, what is the knowledge base that these kids possess? Could it be that the sampling used for norming consists of kids who are not THAT bright, thereby making it easier and easier to hit that 99th percentile?

You know who's bright? the testing/educational consultants laughing as they take your money and feed you what you want to hear!

[Anonymous]

The tests are normed. I'll leave it to the scientist or people who give these tests to comment on the validity of the pool used for norming.

[Anonymous]

It's normed across the entire nation, not just DC and other major cities. Cities tend to attract certain types of people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's normed across the entire nation, not just DC and other major cities. Cities tend to attract certain types of people.

And DC and its suburbs are filled w/ kids of the "best of the best." DC is the nation's capital and it attracts the first in their class, validictorian types. So it does make sense that these high achievers will do whatever they can to make sure their kids are "the best of the best." It shouldn't surprise anyone that tons of kids tested in the upper 90th percentiles.

[Anonymous]

I honestly believe that at the pre-k/K age, there tests are completely subjective. If I put a child in a room with two testers I guarantee that child will come out with two different scores. The fact that a child’s school acceptance is base on a 30-45 minute test on a day and he/she may or may not have felt like "playing" with a stranger is just plain silly.

Is my child a genius because his/her score was at the 99th percentile, NO - just an average happy kid. I think we had a generous tester.

I do not believe that you can accurately judge a child’s intelligence at this age.

[Anonymous]

Here: for $36.95 you can buy the book and get some answers.

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471288950.html

Complete coverage of the extended and revised popular cognitive assessment test for children ages 2 years, 6 months to 7 years, 3 months

Essentials of WPPSI(TM)-III Assessment offers state-of-the-art instructions for administering, scoring, and interpreting the revised and updated edition of this widely used cognitive assessment instrument for preschool children. Coverage includes insight into every revision of the WPPSI(TM)-III. Clear interpretive guidelines help WPPSI(TM)-III users navigate through the scores from fourteen subtests, seven of which are new. The authors highlight common clinical applications of the WPPSI(TM)-III, such as assessment of language disorders, giftedness, and mental retardation. In addition, the authors provide expert guidance on how to perform cross-battery analysis to link WPPSI(TM)-III results with achievement measures, such as the WIAT-II.

Like all the volumes in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series, this book is designed to help busy mental health professionals quickly acquire the knowledge and skills they need to make optimal use of a major psychological assessment instrument. Each concise chapter features numerous callout boxes highlighting key concepts, bulleted points, and extensive illustrative material, as well as "Test Yourself" questions that help you gauge and reinforce your understanding of the information covered.

Complete with new clinical studies and applications, Essentials of WPPSI(TM)-III Assessment provides comprehensive coverage of test administration, scoring, and interpretation of this widely used test battery.

[Anonymous]

26 page intro to the above book is here:

http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/50/04712889/0471288950.pdf

[Anonymous]

from above, page 14:

Standardization

The WPPSI-III was standardized on a sample of 1,700 children who were
chosen to match closely the 2000 U.S. Census data on the variables of age,
gender, geographic region, ethnicity, and parental education. The standardization
sample was divided into nine age groups, each composed of 200 children,
except for the 7-0 to 7-3 age group that was composed of 100 children.
The sample was split equally between boys and girls.

[Anonymous]

No average kid would score in the 99th percentile just because they bonded well with the tester...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly believe that at the pre-k/K age, there tests are completely subjective. If I put a child in a room with two testers I guarantee that child will come out with two different scores. The fact that a child’s school acceptance is base on a 30-45 minute test on a day and he/she may or may not have felt like "playing" with a stranger is just plain silly.

Is my child a genius because his/her score was at the 99th percentile, NO - just an average happy kid. I think we had a generous tester.

I do not believe that you can accurately judge a child’s intelligence at this age.

If the child does not particpate then the test stops and your reschedule. My child had a cold and I was worried that dc may not participate fully. I was told that if they see that to be the case, they will stop and reschedule. It's not 100% absolute predictor of a child's IQ but studies have shown that children who do well on these have a highly likelihood of having a higher IQ.

[Anonymous]

Basically the research shows that, for kids young enough to take the WPPSI, kids who score very high or very low will likely stay high or low. Maybe not the same score but in the same ballpark. There are, of course, exceptions.

This whole "my kid scored at the 99th percentile but is really normal" thing is...annoying. Lots of really brilliant kids are normal. They have good social skills, play sports, have friends, misbehave, etc., etc. They just learn very fast in school.

I would also point out that very bright kids tend to come from families with lots of very bright relatives. So it's not until you see your kid in a school setting that you start to realize that they really are pretty smart.