Identification Process

Screening

The total population is considered in the creation of a candidate pool. Screening of available test and assessment data occurs annually in the first half of the school year.

Referral

A student is referred to the gifted services eligibility process based on one or more of the following criteria:

a need for services beyond that provided by the regular instructional program.
available test information.
student products and performance.
academic performance.
behavioral characteristics of gifted students.

Referrals may be submitted before April 1 annually. A Referral Form (English) — also available in (Spanish),(Bengali), (Amharic),(Mongolian), and (Arabic). A referral form may be completed by the resource teacher for the gifted (RTG) at each school, a classroom teacher or other staff member, a parent or guardian, a community member or a student. The referral form is available by clicking on the active link above.

Identification

Student referrals are considered by a school-based committee composed of a classroom teacher, resource teacher for the gifted, principal or designee, and at times the school psychologist or school counselor. All relevant data is reviewed and the decision to identify a need for services or not is made by the committee. In identifying students for Gifted Services, multiple criteria are used including the following:
•   Nationally-Normed Aptitude and/or Achievement assessments
•   Teacher Observations/Scales for Identifying Gifted Students (SIGS)
•   School-Based Performance Data
•   Parent Information Sheet
•   Student work samples/alternate measures
•   Writing portfolio (K-5 English only)
•   Student Self-Assessment (Grades 6-12)
•   Grades (Grades 6-12)

Parents are notified of the committee’s decision by letter.