Decision to Derogate

I missed the cutoff date by seven days. Had I been born seven days earlier, I would have started kindergarten. But because of seven days, I would have to wait a whole year later to start school. This was a terrible thing, or so my mother thought, and quickly signed me up to take the statewide early kindergarten entrance assessment. Although I was only 4 years old, I very much remember sitting in the room and taking a Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-sort-of-test. It consisted of various performance tasks, including a verbal comprehension section, a perceptual reasoning section, working memory section, and a processing speed section. However, I was not given my IQ score at the end of it, rather a mark out of 100. I needed a 90 to be derogated. I received an 88. Although I was young, I still remember feeling disappointed in myself, as if I let my parents down.

Why I was even told the score, I will never understand. There are many reasons a child should be tested, as there are many reasons a child should not be. And regardless of the reason, I don’t think there is any for which a child should know their score. Although it may not have affected the way my parents looked at me, for many families it does affect how the parents look at and treat their child afterwards. Regardless of whether your child scored very low or very high, many parents may start to look at their child as that number rather than everything their child is.

I think the decision to derogate your child and to be tested for an IQ score should be looked over and considered very carefully. Not all tests give an accurate and stable image of your child, especially when they are given to very young children. Maybe your child scores an above average IQ and you decide to have your child start kindergarten early, but maybe they’ll have social and emotional issues later on in school being one of the youngest kids in the class.

There are many things a test cannot tell you about your child. Just as not getting a 90 on my kindergarten assessment didn’t mean I wasn’t a bright young girl who very much enjoyed learning. This is why we need to be careful with assessments and tests. They don’t always give you the whole picture. At the end of the day, subjecting your child to an IQ test or deciding to derogate them should be done for the good of the child and for no other reason. Because praising your child for being gifted can just as easily have the same negative effects as telling your child they aren’t smart enough.

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