Educational Psychologist report - what does it mean? (Bucks)

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Mumsy333
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2010 12:14 pm

Educational Psychologist report - what does it mean? (Bucks)

Post by Mumsy333 »

My DD scored 116/120 respectively in her 11+.
Support from school HT is 2:2
Predicted SATS Level 5 in Maths, English and Science.
School do not have any other assessment information for her, but having spoken to the class teacher, I was advised DD's reading age was 13y9m (highest in the class) and spelling age was 14y (maximum possible score). However, as these scores were not standardised and in the absence of any other standardised testing, we decided to get some tests done by an Educational Psychologist.
We don't have any real mitigating circumstances, but I have sent a PM to the appeals box to give some background.

The results are as follows, some appear to be pretty good and others less so, but to be honest I'm not entirely sure what they mean - any advice most welcome! Do they indicate high academic ability?

WIAT-II
Reading 127 96th percentile
Mathematical reasoning 133 99th percentile
Written language 133 99th percentile

WISC-IV
Verbal comprehension 128 97th percentile
Perceptual reasoning 110 75th percentile
Working memory 104 61st percentile
Processing speed 112 79th percentile
Full Scale IQ 119 90th percentile
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Educational Psychologist report - what does it all mean?

Post by Etienne »

Do they indicate high academic ability?
Yes, I would say there's enough there to suggest high ability. The WIAT-II scores are uniformly excellent, as is verbal comprehension in WISC-IV,

You raise several other issues in the appeals box, but I hesitate to discuss them on the forum without your agreement. If there are any questions you wish to put here, the way in which you phrase them would give us an indication of just how much detail you are comfortable with.
Etienne
Mumsy333
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2010 12:14 pm

Re: Educational Psychologist report - what does it all mean?

Post by Mumsy333 »

Thanks Etienne for your comments.

Whilst we have no real extenuating circumstances, we feel the following ought to be considered:

DD has spent time out of the British education system during which time she attended a local school in another country and learnt a new language. She has continued the language and is currently working towards a GCSE which she should be sitting in the next 12-18 months. We have a letter from her language teacher confirming this and her old school books showing the level of work in another language.

DD is multilingual and speaks 3 languages fluently. I am aware there is research to suggest that bilingual children take longer to develop the higher levels of the language until later compared to monolingual children, is this worth mentioning, and does the Ed Psych report go against this as her verbal reasoning score was very high?

Also, will this ability in languages be considered as high academic ability? And is it worth mentioning that the grammar school she is applying to has specialist language status and would be better positioned to cater to her needs than the other local alternative that has a very low language take up and whose recent OFSTED report highlights that the teaching of languages is key area for development?

Finally, the day before the second test paper we had asked DD not to circle question numbers on the answer sheet (she used to do this with questions she found difficult to remind her to go back to them), so she had to develop a different technique to which she was accustomed. The reason we told her this at such a late stage is because it was bought to our attention via the results of a mock 11+ test received in the post the day before the second test. It's not a big thing, but is it worth mentioning? We have confirmation from the LA to say, she circled question numbers on the first paper but not on the second, and we have the comments from the mock 11+ results.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Educational Psychologist report - what does it all mean?

Post by Etienne »

Mumsy333 wrote:DD is multilingual and speaks 3 languages fluently. I am aware there is research to suggest that bilingual children take longer to develop the higher levels of the language until later compared to monolingual children, is this worth mentioning, and does the Ed Psych report go against this as her verbal reasoning score was very high?
I suggest you avoid this argument because of the verbal comprehension score, her level 5 prediction, the very high reading and spelling ages, and her WIAT-II reading and written language results.
Also, will this ability in languages be considered as high academic ability?
To some extent perhaps, depending on the evidence. (If she had already taken GCSE and achieved a high grade in a short period of time, it would have been more compelling.)
Just briefly mention her languages as "background information".
And is it worth mentioning that the grammar school she is applying to has specialist language status and would be better positioned to cater to her needs than the other local alternative that has a very low language take up and whose recent OFSTED report highlights that the teaching of languages is key area for development?
You're getting into specific schools here, and that wouldn't be considered relevant at a Bucks selection appeal where the only issue is whether the child should be deemed qualified.
Finally, the day before the second test paper we had asked DD not to circle question numbers on the answer sheet (she used to do this with questions she found difficult to remind her to go back to them), so she had to develop a different technique to which she was accustomed. The reason we told her this at such a late stage is because it was bought to our attention via the results of a mock 11+ test received in the post the day before the second test. It's not a big thing, but is it worth mentioning? We have confirmation from the LA to say, she circled question numbers on the first paper but not on the second, and we have the comments from the mock 11+ results.
If you've had a letter from the LA about this, you may well find a copy of it in the appeal papers, so you could certainly mention a last-minute suggestion before the second paper. Best not to talk about mock 11+ tests, however ........

With 120, you really don't need much in the way of extenuating circumstances, so don't go out of your way to raise them - or they will start to sound like 'excuses'. The best approach in your case would be simply to answer concisely any questions the panel put to you.

The academic evidence should speak for itself.
Etienne
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