[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-507946-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-507946-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","myths-about-testing-for-gifted-education-programs-explaining-seattle-school-district-assessment-appeal-changes","Myths about Testing for Gifted Education Programs - Explaining Seattle School District Assessment Appeal Changes","","A message explains changes in the Seattle School District’s procedures for appealing placement decisions for Highly Capable Programs made by independent licensed psychologists. It compares qualifying score thresholds for tests administered by district examiners versus independent psychologists and argues the policy lacks psychometric rationale. It further addresses myths about independent testing, including validity of group-administered tests and the claim that psychologists simply reflect parents’ wishes, emphasizing test usefulness, confounding variables, and ethical obligations.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/","Exam",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/myths-about-testing-for-gifted-education-programs-explaining-seattle-school-district-assessment-appeal-changes/507946/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/myths-about-testing-for-gifted-education-programs-explaining-seattle-school-district-assessment-appeal-changes/507946.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Aria Callaghan","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-10","2026-10-05",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":33},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What changed in Seattle School District procedures for appealing Highly Capable qualifications in 2017?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"In late October or early November 2017, the district amended appeal procedures, including higher qualifying score requirements for tests administered by independent licensed psychologists compared with district examiners.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"Why does the document argue that group-administered tests may be less valid than individually administered tests?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"It explains that psychological and educational tests predict outcomes, and prediction can be harmed by confounding variables such as distractions, examiner differences, and unequal understanding or responding; group formats increase opportunities for interaction-based confounds.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"How does the document respond to the claim that independent psychologists are paid by parents to boost scores?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"It states fees are based on providing valid administration and interpretation, not on altering outcomes, and argues that falsifying results would harm students and could lead to license revocation and legal action.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},507946,1791940419,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,94,99,104,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":92,"slug":93},70,"exam",{"id":95,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":100,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":33,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":33,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":26,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":95,"preview_page_count":4},962084926284,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Fredric Provenzano, Ph.D., NCSP  \nPrivate Practice in Psychology  \n5506 33rd Ave. NE, Suite D Seattle, WA 98105  \nFredric Provenzano, Ph.D. , NCSP, Psychologist, WA lic. \\# PY00001022 Lauren Christophersen, Office Coordinator  \nPhone: 206/361-2343  \nFax: 206/361-0353  \n[www.drfredprovenzano.com](www.drfredprovenzano.com)  \nMyths about Testing for Gifted Education Programs  \nA message about the changes in Seattle School District’s evaluation of assessments performed by independent licensed psychologists used in appealing decisions for placement in Highly Capable Programs.  \nIn late October or early November of 2017, the Seattle School District amended their procedures for appealing qualification decisions for the district’s Highly Capable programs. One of the changes involves setting much higher qualifying scores on tests administered by independent psychologists versus qualifying scores on tests administered by district examiners. Those rules indicate that students can continue to qualify for the Highly Capable Cohort with scores at or above the 98th percentile on a test of cognitive abilities and 95th percentile on tests of reading and math achievement if they are administered by school district examiners, but the bar for test scores administered by independent psychologists is at or above the 99.6th percentile for all three domains: cognitive abilities, reading, and math.  \nWhile the Seattle School District has the authority to establish the admissions qualifications for their programs, I cannot identify a rationale for this policy that has any basis in psychometric principles or applications. In discussing this policy with my colleagues, they voice similar perplexity about the logical basis for this policy revision. My colleague Amy Summers, Ph.D., has crafted a considered and scholarly review of several of the issues related to this policy revision. Ido not need to re-create the wheel (especially as I don’t think I could do it as well!), so let me refer you to her review at [www.dramysummers.com](www.dramysummers.com. Extending her)[. Extending her](www.dramysummers.com. Extending her) format, I will just add a couple of points to her list of myths \\#1-4 regarding the practice of independent testing by licensed psychologists.  \nMyth \\#5: Group-administered tests are just as valid as individually administered tests.  \nWhen you measure children’s height, you know exactly how tall they are. This is a direct measure. Most psychological and educational tests are not direct measures; their usefulness comes from their ability to predict other behaviors such as success in accelerated and enriched programs. To do this effectively, the tests need to control other variables that might interfere with the predictive value of the tests. Other variables might include testing conditions that distract the students ’ concentration in the test or inhibit their responding; the training and experience of the examiner; and, the ability to ensure that all students taking the test have equal opportunity to understand and respond to the questions.  \nIn tests that are administered in a group format (such as the CogAT), the potential and probability for confounding variables increases because the students interact and impact each other. For example, a number of parents have told me that their children (especially compassionate younger children) have told them on exiting the CogAT testing that they didn’t answer all of the questions because they wanted to give other students a chance to answer. In addition, the group format means that the examiners have to divide their attention between the students and so they have less opportunity to observe and address the validity of the test administration in regard to each of the students.  \nMyth \\#6: Independent psychologists are paid by the parents, and so just say what the parents want to hear.  \nThis idea has been asserted by a number of educational professionals who should know better, including at least o","cbCaidA4cnosO267","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaidA4cnosO267","pdf",162590,"English","# Myths about Testing for Gifted Education Programs\n## Overview of Seattle School District appeal procedure changes\n## Myth #5: Validity of group-administered tests\n## Myth #6: Independent psychologists are paid by parents to say what they want\n## Error types in decision-making (Type 1 errors)","[{\"question\":\"What changed in Seattle School District procedures for appealing Highly Capable qualifications in 2017?\",\"answer\":\"In late October or early November 2017, the district amended appeal procedures, including higher qualifying score requirements for tests administered by independent licensed psychologists compared with district examiners.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the document argue that group-administered tests may be less valid than individually administered tests?\",\"answer\":\"It explains that psychological and educational tests predict outcomes, and prediction can be harmed by confounding variables such as distractions, examiner differences, and unequal understanding or responding; group formats increase opportunities for interaction-based confounds.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the document respond to the claim that independent psychologists are paid by parents to boost scores?\",\"answer\":\"It states fees are based on providing valid administration and interpretation, not on altering outcomes, and argues that falsifying results would harm students and could lead to license revocation and legal action.\"}]","Myths about Testing for Gifted Education Programs - Explaining Seattle School District Assessment Appeal Changes | PDF",1791202752]