Palm Beach Gifted Testing
The gifted classes in Palm Beach Schools begin in kindergarten and go through eighth grade. Many families have their child privately tested for the gifted classes before entering kindergarten. If you want your child to start in gifted kindergarten then testing typically takes place between January 1st through May prior to the August start of school. Gifted testing in Palm Beach County, Florida (Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Boca Raton, etc.) requires that a state licensed school psychologist or psychologist individually administers an IQ test to your child. Palm Beach gifted testing also requires academic testing in reading and math.
The IQ Test
The IQ test is designed to measure how your child solves new problems that they are presented with during testing. About half of the IQ test is talking about things and half of the IQ test is about thinking and looking at pictures. These are age appropriate pictures that young kids find enjoyable. To the child it is like playing games (but don’t call them games--they are activities). You want you child to think of the testing as like a school experience. They will find some things very easy and others will require some thought.
Common IQ tests include the WISC-IV, WPPSI-IV, RIAS, Stanford-Binet-5, and many others. These are all individually administered tests and it’s up to the psychologist to decide which test is best for your child.
The Academic Tests
The academic tests measure your child's formally taught reading and math. Preschool age students will be assessed on letter recognition, sight word recognition, and reading comprehension. Older students will also be tested on reading speed. In math your preschool child will identify numbers, number sense, and simple addition and/or subtraction. Older students are assessed on appropriate math concepts. Your child is tested based on his or her age and can work on age appropriate and higher concepts. The academic tests will test your child's academic limit to fully assess what he or she knows.Common academic tests include the Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement, Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Kaufman Tests of Educational Achievement, and many others.
Palm Beach Gifted Qualifications
In the Palm Beach gifted school system classes your child qualifies as gifted if he or she scores 130 above on the IQ test and 119 or higher on either the reading or math test. What these numbers mean is that your child should be smarter than 98% of same age kids on the IQ test and above 90% of same age kids in reading or math.
Your child must also show a 'need' for the program by having his or her current teacher complete a gifted characteristics checklist with half or more of the items showing gifted characteristics.
Gifted Cost
If you child is already enrolled, gifted testing is offered free by the Palm Beach School District school psychologists. The downfall of their gifted testing is first your child must pass a 'screening' test to see if they have a high enough IQ on a brief intelligence test. If your child passes the screening test then they are referred for a full IQ test that is administered by the school district's psychologist. This process is slow and can take months.
Thus, one advantage of private gifted testing is that your child is tested sooner rather than later. In Palm Beach gifted testing fees range from the $350 range to over $500. This fee should include the full IQ test, reading and math testing, and a complete written report. Gifted testing typically takes under two hours.
It's important to understand that no private practice psychologist can guarantee your child will be accepted into a gifted program even with a gifted range high IQ. The schools also base their decision on 'need' for the program.
Gifted Testing Private Practice Psychologists
Well know and reliable Palm Beach psychologists offering private gifted testing include:
Karen Garland-Lane (Boca) 561-213-0120
Scott Roseman (Boca) 561-869-3311
Jim Forgan, Ph.D. (Jupiter) 561-625-4125
Mary Anne Richey (Palm Beach Gardens) 561-714-4086
Dr. Mike Rizzo (Boca south) 954-385-6292
Want to Learn More
The Palm Beach Schools gifted director is Dr. Rosemary Daniels rosemary.daniels@palmbeachschools.org
