The Role of IQ Assessments in Identifying Highly Able Students

Intelligence quotient (IQ) testing is recognised as an important verifier of a student’s individual potential in a range of domains involving reasoning, processing, memory and knowledge.  It must be understood, however, that an IQ assessment remains part of the identification process; it is not to be viewed in isolation apart from other assessment data or to be seen as the only measure of student potential. While a measure of IQ must be interpreted in terms of what it does tell us about a student, it must also be recognised for what it does not measure (i.e. long-term memory, auditory and kinesthetic abilities, intrapersonal factors, sensory-motor skills, ability to attend, executive functioning).

It must also be appreciated that there are a number of tools currently being used to measure a student’s intellectual potential that do not necessarily measure a student’s academic potential. Some assessments, such as the Weschler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI), can be administered to students as young as 2 ½ years of age.  To identify a student as gifted or talented with a single indicator such as this, at such a young age, is erroneous at best and problematic at worst.

In the early years of a child’s education the capacities for learning, individual learning styles, social-emotional maturity and intrapersonal factors are very much being formed and in flux.  Determining a young child’s true intellectual potential and their ability to translate this into measurable, academic performance is influenced by a host of environmental and behavioural considerations, such as:

·         The time required to adjust from an informal to a more formal learning environment

·         Modelling and mentoring attitudes through systematic training and practice within real-life
          contexts

·         Access to opportunities and student responses based on the values and expectations of the
          learning community

·         Translating aptitude(s) into moments of measurable performance on a consistent basis

·         Interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships that influence the concept of self

As a result, the referral procedure for highly able students does not require a parent or caregiver to seek out and/or provide a psychometric assessment in order for a student to be recommended and possibly included within the Gifted and Talented Support Network (GTSN) if warranted.  The Gifted and Talented Support Teachers (GTSTs) will utilise the procedures of referral and gather sources of further information using a range of alternative assessment tools and data to determine the pathways of support applicable to the individual student.  This is particularly true of very young students.

However, as a student progresses throughout the Elementary School into the Primary Division, the requirement of a psychometric assessment by a certified educational psychologist is strongly encouraged.  This will provide the GTSTs at both the Primary and Secondary levels with further diagnostic evidence to assist them in the personalisation of a child’s learning experiences moving forward. 

It is recommended, therefore, that prior to a child’s commencement of Year 4 (after having reached 8 years of age), the following psychometric assessments are conducted if there is evidence to suggest that a student is highly able:

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th ed. (WISC-IV)

Weschsler Individual Acievement Test, 3rd ed. (WIAT-III)

For more information about either of these assessments, click on the hyperlinks above.