Spiky CAT score - might it indicate an SEN?

[MGMidget]

I have just been given the CAT scores for my son who is in year 4 and wondered if anyone could help me understand them better. These are:

Verbal - 126
Quantitative - 105
Non Verbal - 122
Spatial - 129
Overall - 121

The quantitative score is quite a bit lower than the others and I was a bit surprised by this as I had thought (perhaps wrongly) that Maths was one of his stronger subjects (he has been in the 'second' ability group out of 4 since they started grouping them and previous teacher feedback suggested he was at the high end of the second group in an exceptionally strong Maths class. So I am wondering if the low quantitative score indicates anything that needs investigating/following up? DS does have some issues with focus and general organisation at school and has been scored (through assessment questionnaires) as meeting the criteria for ADD. He is currently waiting for an assessment for ASD and can be a bit quirky. Would the spiky CAT scores be a clue to an SEN if so any idea what?

[SaltyMyDear]

A 20 point diff between verbal and non verbal would be significant, and suggest SEN. But his verbal and non verbal are fairly similar.

As far as I know quantitative doesn't signify anything.

[hmcAsWas]

What Salty saud

[hmcAsWas]

Said

[AndHoldTheBun]

I think it's the verbal to non verbal scores comparison which is important.

For example, I had more than 50 points difference between verbal and non verbal components when I was fully tested for dyslexia at university. Verbal was >150 (scored above the top of the test, which was 150, so no exact figure). My DS, also only fully tested at university, scored similarly, with a gap of 40 between the scores.

Incidentally, we both read "well" but certainly not normally, and that meant significant issues in getting the help we needed.

Your DC's results are not particularly spiky

[MGMidget]

OK, thanks, useful to know!

[MGMidget]

Thank you everyone for your answers on this so far. I wondered if there are ways that I can help my DS improve his ability in quantitative reasoning? I may need to ask in the education section too but thought there might be some knowledgeable people on the SEN thread! I'm not sure exact what quantitative reasoning covers (Maths would seem obvious but DS scores more highly on spatial reasoning and non verbal which presumably overlap with Maths topics too). I don't think it will work well to make him sit down and do boring extra maths exercises every day anyway, I'm hoping I can encourage some interests/puzzle games that might help!

[nvcontrolfreak]

The difference is relatively minor so that alone wouldn't indicate a particular SEN.

My understanding re quantitative reasoning is that it's more problem-solving focused rather than pure calculations. Check GLL website - they used to give description/examples for these tests. So word problems, equations, sequences, etc. That said, fluency in mental maths/calculations helps massively. How good is he with that? Basically, having instant recall of tables (both multiplication and division) and number bonds is a big boost in standardized testing. Algebra (without calling it that) is often an important component - e.g. missing numbers, etc.

You can look at Power of 2 to help increase fluency. Schoefield and Sims Mental Maths books, CPG - I think they are called Maths Workout? It's been a while...

With regards to problem solving, an emphasis on word problems will help (there are books on Amazon called just that). Singapore Maths is a good resource as is Galore Park's textbooks - they used to be called Junior Maths, but I think the need edition is just Maths Year 3, Maths Year 4 etc.

Primary Maths Challenge is another resource for puzzle type problems, but probably better from Year 5.

CEM maths resources - not sure if they have anything for Year 4, they are mainly used for 11+ preparation.

WHSmith has a "Challenge" series as well as problem solving.

[DoodleDoodleDo]

My DC recently had a WISC test and there was a 20 point difference between NVR and VR/working memory (NVR very high) - has anyone had this ?

[lionlaw]

Hi, just wondered if any one knows anything about a large difference between quantitative and spatial scores. My son, year 7, just got 139 in quantitative and 87 for spatial. I can see by reading the thread that this is significant in the verbal/non-verbally reasoning but can't see anything with these. His verbal score was 114 and non-verbally 105. Thanks