My kid bombed HGC test

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: This link provides info about the normative average, which is 100.

https://www3.rps205.com/programs/PublishingImages/Pages/Renaissance-Testing-/CogAT%20Information.pdf

Thank you!
-OP

[Anonymous]

Those tests are a crapshoot...my kid tested what I would consider severely delayed...30ish percentile. Kid has been a chatterbox since 10mo, taught himself to multiply in kinder, etc. Private testing put him in the 98th percentile. I hate testing.

[Anonymous]

So do people actually think it's helpful to tell a parent concerned about a thing, just stop being concerned about that thing?
Like, what is that about exactly?
Sometimes saying nothing is better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So do people actually think it's helpful to tell a parent concerned about a thing, just stop being concerned about that thing?
Like, what is that about exactly?
Sometimes saying nothing is better.

I think PPs have given OP a lot of helpful context that will enable her to worry less about this particular issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: This link provides info about the normative average, which is 100.

https://www3.rps205.com/programs/PublishingImages/Pages/Renaissance-Testing-/CogAT%20Information.pdf

Thank you!
-OP

Great resource regarding CoGAT. Thanks.

I wish there was a link like that for the WISC test. If anyone knows of one - I'd love to see it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think the way the test (which MCPS tells us is above grade level, btw) is normed, an average score should be 100, so I'd hardly call getting above 100 "bombing" the test. Sounds like your child scored above average but possibly, because of time pressures or whatever, didn't score in the gifted range. That appeals case that gets into the nitty gritty of the scoring criteria might shed some light on how the testing population breaks down, if someone has that link. But I really wouldn't stress it, OP. School performance is waaay more important in the grand scheme of things.

Is this true? Is the HGC test an above-level test?

Yes. So many of the standardized tests have ceiling effects the HGC test is designed so that even very gifted children shouldn't expect perfect scores. It's a test to determine their capabilities. If children score at or near 100%, it's impossible to know what their limits are. This test is designed to spread the distribution of that top level out. At least that's what we were told. My kids are now in high school, but I suspect the testing still operates on the same principle.

[Anonymous]

Have two kids, one has an IQ of 150. The other I don't know, only had the older one tested to titrate out LD.

Older one rocked HGC test, younger one bombed. Both kids straight A, both top reading/math groups. Younger one smart and normal, older one brilliant, quirky and often a pain in the ass.

Younger one has a natural drive to exceed, older one not so much, everything is too easy.

Between the two, I think the younger one will be more successful on her own, the older one needs constant monitoring and pushing. 95% of her HGC peers were the same way.

What I am trying to say to you OP, is that the test measures IQ which in my opinion is important but not as important as motivation and the ability to pick up social cues.

High IQ can be a hinderance.

[Anonymous]

No, the HGC test may be correlated to IQ but it does not test it.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks to all for the very helpful context. Once I learned that 100 is considered the "norm", and didn't signal a test-taking or other problem, I stopped worrying completely.