IDENTIFICATION
PROCEDURES (Top)
Purpose
The purpose of identification
in the gifted program is to find students whose potential and/or performance
is so extraordinary that they require differentiation in their instructional
program.
Goals
1. Locate and recognize
students in grades K-12 with extremely strong learning profiles in the
areas of:
-
Intellectual ability
-
Academic achievement (general
or specific)
2. Use multiple criteria
for eligibility and specific procedures that acknowledge the variety of
ways and environments in which students manifest giftedness.
The School Gifted Review Committee
A Gifted Review Committee
is formed at each school to facilitate the identification process.
Membership consists of at least three representatives selected by the principal.
Members should include those with expertise in general gifted characteristics
and behaviors, and knowledge of the intellectual, academic and/or artistic
areas being considered. Members generally serve for one school year and
may be reappointed the following year. The chairperson of the committee
may be the gifted resource teacher or another school educator selected
by the principal. Input from individuals who know the student well, including
the student himself/herself, peers, parents, teachers, and others in the
school community should be encouraged.
The Gifted Review Committee
receives and considers referrals on a regular basis throughout the school
year. Transferring students should be considered as soon as possible
after the transfer. Other referrals should be considered on a quarterly
basis, at a minimum.
STEPS
IN THE IDENTIFICATION PROCESS (Top)
1. Referral of students for
consideration by the Gifted Review Committee will be completed through:
-
Screening - Available data
on all students are used to find likely candidates for gifted program services.
Screening never excludes a student from consideration in the identification
process. Students not referred through screening may be referred
through nomination.
-
Nomination - Individual
students are recommended by professional staff members, parents/guardians,
or through self-nomination. No qualifying test scores are required for
nomination.
-
Transfer Records - Students
whose records from schools outside of DoDEA indicate eligibility for a
gifted program are recommended for immediate review.
2. Assessment of each referred
student is completed with parent or guardian permission.
3. An eligibility decision
for each candidate is made through a review of the student's assessment
profile.
4. Determination of gifted
program services for eligible students is the decision of the Gifted Review
Committee.
Referral
The purpose of referral is
to provide the Gifted Review Committee with names of students who should
be assessed and considered for eligibility for gifted program services.
Students are referred through the screening process, by individual recommendation
of a teacher, parent, or professional staff member or self-nomination,
or as the result of previous eligibility in a non-DoDEA school. If
no ability or achievement scores are available for a student, the student
may be referred without such data. Parent or guardian permission
for further review must be received prior to assessment and committee review
of a student.
Referral through Screening
The purpose of screening is
to quickly locate likely candidates for consideration by the Gifted Review
Committee. Screening of all students occurs through:
Group ability testing for
second grade students (scores in the top 5% of the population)
-
A student whose total score on
the TerraNova achievement test is at or above 97th percentile should be
considered for referral.
-
Review of students' performance
on TerraNova achievement tests, grades 3-11 (total battery scores
at or above 97th percentile) Students whose test scores meet the
criteria are referred to the Gifted Review Committee.
-
A student whose total score on
the TerraNova achievement test is lower than the 97th percentile may be
considered through nomination. Results from other nationally normed
achievement tests may be considered.
Referral through Nomination
The purpose of nomination
is
to encourage consideration of students who appear to be potential candidates
but do not have achievement test scores available or at a level high enough
for an automatic referral. Other candidates may have compelling evidence
from ability tests, classroom additional performance, or data. Professional
staff members, parents/guardians, or students themselves nominate candidates.
Rating scales and an accompanying narrative describing each student's strengths
are completed for nominated students.
Referral through Transfer Records
Students who have been found
eligible at a DoDEA school shall be automatically eligible for services
when transferring to another DoDDS or DDESS school. The Gifted Review
Committee should review the profiles of these DoDEA transferring students
as soon as possible to recommend program services.
Students transferring into
a DoDEA school from a public or private school who provide evidence of
participation in a gifted program should be referred to the Gifted Review
Committee as soon as possible to be considered for determine eligibility.
Assessment
The purpose of assessment
for the gifted program is to provide the Gifted Review Committee with sufficient
information to make a decision on eligibility. Assessment of referred
students should incorporate the use of multiple measures. A profile
of each student's strengths is developed through the use of these measures.
(Folders containing information on each student's strengths are prepared
for committee use). Strategies and instruments available for use
by schools are defined in Table 1. Additional data available at the
school may be included in the student's profile folder for committee review.
Such information may come from teachers, parents, students, or others knowledgeable
of the student's strengths. Folders profiling each student's strengths
are prepared for committee use.
Assessment Options
-
Intellectual Ability- Academic
Achievement
-
Individual IQ test
-
Individual achievement test Interview
-
Group ability test
-
Group achievement test Performance/display
-
Record of observations Grades
Record of observations
-
Record of accomplishments
-
Rating scale Rating scale
-
Portfolio
Eligibility
The Gifted Review Committee
makes a decision on eligibility for each student. Profiles of students'
strengths include data from multiple sources as indicated above.
The A folder prepared for each student should include all assessment data
as well as any other significant information. Committee members
to review each child's strengths. If limited data are available,
the committee chairperson should collect additional information prior to
this review.
No single score or matrix total should define
a student's eligibility for gifted program services. Rather, the
committee should look at all available data to reach a professional decision
on each student..
GUIDELINES
FOR DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY (Top)
Table 2 provides guidance
for interpreting student assessment data. Scores or levels defined
in each area represent the expectation that a student is demonstrating
strength at the highest levels, equivalent to the top 2-4%-3-5% of students
of similar age in this area of ability or achievement. The Gifted
Review Committee should note scores or indicators of student potential
and/or performance at this high level in making an eligibility decision.
The committee should
recognize that a student's profile of strengths may not be evidenced in
a traditional manner. Linguistic and cultural differences may mask
individual student strengths. It is important that the committee
members look at all available data in determining a student's eligibility.
Students found eligible
should be demonstrating more than one indicator of exceptional performance
or the capability of attaining high performance with the support of gifted
program services.
Guidelines for Gifted
Committee Decision Making
The following guidelines
have been developed to assist Gifted Review Committee members in making
eligibility decisions.Indicators of Highly Unusual Ability/Performance/Achievement
Eligible students demonstrate
more than one of the following indicators:
Intellectual Ability
-
An IQ score of 130 or higher
on an individual psychological IQ test
-
A total score at or above 95th
percentile on the -Raven Progressive Matrices- a group ability test.
-
A score at or above 97th percentile
on the Test of Cognitive Skills-
-
An average rating scale score
of 36 or higher from two or more ratings -educator raters.
-
Qualitative data (observations,
anecdotal evidence) indicative of highly unusual ability or achievement
narratives, interviews
and/or-
Academic Achievement
-
A total battery - score at or
above 97th percentile on TerraNova -a nationally normed achievement
-
A total score at or above 97th
percentile on an alternative standardized achievement test
-
Qualitative data (observations,
anecdotal evidence, portfolios) giving clear evidence of highly unusual
academic performance
COMMITTEE
REVIEW (Top)
An individual student's profile
of strengths provides the Gifted Review Committee with data for decision
making about eligibility. Information from the assessment profile
as well as any other data of relevance provided to the committee should
be used. No single score and no summed scores from a matrix shall be used
for identification. Rather, the committee reviews the profile of
student strengths and makes a professional decision about eligibility.
The Gifted Review Committee
determines that the child is eligible for services, ineligible for services,
or is to be monitored. Each member of the Gifted Review Committee
independently reviews a student's profile. Using the available data
and the indicators of highly unusual ability and/or performance, each member
determines a student eligible, ineligible, or to be monitored. If
all members agree, a student is eligible. If not all members indicate
eligibility, the committee as a whole reviews the profile and makes a decision.
Services for students found
eligible are recommended by the Gifted Review Committee and coordinated
through the school principal, the gifted resource teacher, classroom teachers,
and other school professionals as appropriate. All schools will offer
services for students found eligible as intellectually/academically
gifted, or gifted in the performing arts. Gifted program options
are defined in Section II, Guidelines and Requirements for Gifted Program
Services, K-12.
Students found ineligible
for gifted program services may benefit from general enrichment activities
within the school. Their profiles of strength should be shared with
classroom teachers, parents, the students themselves, and other professionals
in the school. The gifted resource teacher may be able to assist
the school community in recognizing and maximizing the special strengths
of students found ineligible.
Students selected for monitoring
are those whose profiles indicate strong potential but do not appear ready
to participate in a gifted program. Students who are gifted and
underachieving are typical candidates in this category. The gifted
resource teacher and other school professionals should carefully follow
each monitored student during the semester. Additional data on these
students should be collected and reviewed by the Gifted Review Committee
the next semester. Like those students found ineligible, students to be
monitored should be given opportunities to use and enhance their talents
and gifts. Students may remain in a monitored status for up to two semesters.
CONTINUING
ELIGIBILITY (Top)
Eligibility for the gifted
program-The progress of student's receiving gifted education services is
reviewed annually by the Gifted Review Committee. The review is generally
completed at the end of the school year to document eligibility for the
upcoming school year. Information about student performance and outcomes
in the program is considered in the decision to continue eligibility for
the next school year. Students who do not experience success through
gifted program services may be recommended for monitoring. This change
in status is reviewed by semester. A student should be recommended
for ineligibility after a period of monitoring equivalent to two semesters.
APPEALS
(Top)
A parent or guardian of a
student found ineligible for gifted program services may appeal the decision
of the committee. A parent or guardian who wishes to file an appeal
concerning the process for identifying a student or services provided under
the auspices of the gifted program may present an appeal to the school
principal.
4/8/03 |
