the average IQ in the U.S. is 98

[frazzled]

189. Testing, but not "IQ" testing

The schools were always transparent about what tests were being administered, and parents were notified. I don't recall the names now (this would have been in the 1980s and early 90s when they were in elementary school), but they were achievement tests, like the "Iowa Tests of Basic Skills" that we had back in the 1950s-60s. Graded on a "percentile" basis in various areas. But never were we informed our kids would be getting a Stanford-Binet or Wechsler test. Rather, a combination of scores on those kinds of universal achievement tests mentioned, together with teacher recommendations (the teachers in Minnesota were well qualified to assess the kids), was what determined whether a kid was in the "gifted and talented" programs.

I do remember my son undergoing a qualifying exam for a program called UMTYMP (University of Minnesota Talented Youth Mathematics Program), on the recommendation of his school. He passed and entered the program at the U of Minnesota in 6th grade and completed all his high-school math (including calculus I) by 8th grade. It was at first a bummer for him when we moved to Massachusetts when he started 9th grade, because there was no such program, and he had to take calculus all over again. (We told him to suck it up, and it turned out fine.)

In high school, my daughter did the International Baccalaureate program. After we moved to MA, her brother just did mostly AP courses. Both of those are self-selecting, as long as you have a relatively good GPA. You either sink or swim in them.

But no, never an official IQ test.