I'll try to help

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Home : 2003 : October : 7

I'll try to help
By Dawn

I'm currently taking a graduate class on identification of gifted students so this is fresh in my mind.

Most jurisdictions do not use only one criteria, like an IQ test. This used to be done, but has been discarded as
too arbitrary, and too likely to overlook some facets of giftedness.
Most areas use a matrix of several scores. In our county, the various items on the matrix are 1)ability test score; 2)creativity test score; 3)inventory of gifted behaviors completed by teacher; 4)ditto completed by parent or guardian; 5)grades; 6)creative writing prompt; 7)reading comprehension test; and 8)interview

consisting of 4 short questions.

All of these are placed on a matrix and added up, so that a low score in one or two should not keep a gifted child out of the program.

I don't know what to tell you about the personal side of your son's life. I certainly hope that the school personnel aren't letting factors like that influence educational decisions. I think that you should be able to contact the person/people in charge of the gifted program and ask what criteria are used. It should not be a secret; after all you are just looking for the best educational options for your grandson.

I hope this helped. Good luck.