Before a parent agrees to having the school conduct an IQ test, they need to ask why the school needs that score.  An IQ test should only be done if it will benefit the child by improving his/her educational program.  IQ tests should not be done if a child is too young (under 7)  and/or the scores would not be reliable based on the child's disability.

Here are some beneficial and not beneficial reasons for conducting an IQ test.

Beneficial reasons:

If a district says "We want to make the appropriate accommodations and modifications" than it might be beneficial to get an IQ score.  An IQ test can be used to understand why a student is not making progress. The IQ test is one piece of information that can help a teacher understand how a child learns.  It should be done in conjunction with other tests, data collection and observation.

1. An IQ test can help a teacher see if a child needs accommodations.

A child that has a an IQ in the average range or above and still is unable to do the classwork may have a learning disability. A discrepancy between the IQ and the child's performance can be used to establish that the child's lack of progress is due to a learning disability and the teacher will need to make accommodations.  For example; A child can't that read at grade level because of a learning disability would be allowed to have the book read to them.  This child can understand the content but can't read well enough to get the content from reading a text book.

2. An IQ test can help the teacher know if a child needs modifications.

If a child has a lower IQ that might explain why they are struggling in class even though the child appears to have good social and verbal skills. An IQ score would help a teacher understand what modifications need to be made in the curriculum to help the child make progress. For example:  a child who has difficulty comprehending the content in a science lesson would only be expected to learn the basic content.  The curriculum and learning goals would be modified so that they can learn the same material but not at the same level.

Non-beneficial reasons:

Parents should be very skeptical if the district says "We want to use the IQ score to place your child in an environment with other children learning at the same level."  IQ scores are often misused and may be detrimental to a child if they are used for the school district's convenience.

1. It would not benefit a child if an IQ score was used to determine placement.  Some  school districts have classrooms that are based on functioning levels (gifted, general education, resource room, extended resource room, self contained, life skills) and they might use an IQ score to say that a child needs to be placed in a specific setting.  Parents need to remember that special education is a service not a place. Children should in the general education classroom with all the accommodations and/or  modifications they need to learn in that environment. School Districts should not place a child in a life skills classroom simply because  they have an IQ below a certain level.

2. It would not benefit a child if an  IQ score was used as an excuse for a child not learning.  If a child is struggling, the IQ score is should not be used to justify the fact that the child is not making progress.

3. It would not benefit a child if too much weight is put on an IQ score.  It should just be one test that is used to understand a child's learning needs.  All testing done on any child should give us information that will help us determine what we have to do to help a child learn. So when a district says they want to test a child's IQ, parents need to ask how an IQ score will change the child's program to be more beneficial to their child.