Use of the WISC-V for Gifted and Twice Exceptional Identification: Strength-Based Indexes Address Discrepant Scoring and Uninterpretable Full Scale IQs

This research evaluated the efficacy of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fifth Edition (WISC-V) for gifted identification. Our sample included 390 gifted, highly gifted, and twice-exceptional (2e) children, referred by parents for testing at seven U.S. sites. We examined de-identified scoring data to determine mean performance patterns across WISC-V indexes and investigated which robust scoring options (each summarizing four to eight subtests) were sensitive to gifted and twice exceptional strengths. We found discrepant WISC-V primary index scores (≥1.5 SD differences) in a majority of our sample, undermining interpretability of Full Scale IQ scores for gifted identification. WISC-V mean scores ranged from very superior in untimed high-g Verbal Comprehension to average in low-g Processing Speed (irrelevant to gifted identification). A similar pattern emerged in our 2008 WISC-IV study of 334 gifted children. We show that the WISC-V performs effectively within multi-dimensional gifted and 2e identification approaches provided that the Full Scale IQ is not required. Instead, we demonstrate that any of six robust, high-g scores (ancillary and expanded indexes; FSIQ) may be used to document global strength or individual strength areas, satisfy gifted identification requirements, and guide advanced programming—even for 2e children, whose correspondingly low scores warrant further evaluation for co-existing weaknesses. We recommend best practices for use of these WISC-V scoring options for ethical identification of a broad, diverse range of gifted and 2e students, many of whom would be missed by averaging discrepant scores. Our study data prompted NAGC position statements on the WISC-V and WISC-IV.