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School Gifted Screening Process


shellbelle
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My son transitioned from homeschool to public school in December. He is in 5th grade. I received a call from the school psychologist notifying me that he will be screened for the gifted program within the next week.

 

Does anyone here have a child who has gone through this process? If so, what should he expect? I believe she called it a cognitive skills test.

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They will likely give a paper and pencil test like the CogAT. If it is the CogAT, it is very important for him to work quickly and accurately as it is very tightly timed, and if they give the on level test, missing just one or two problems can put a kid in the "non-gifted" category.

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It all depends on the test.

 

In our school, there are two screenings. First, is the OLSAT. This is given to the entire class using paper and pencil. Next is the SAGES-2 (I find this a strange one, as it is 2 parts achievement and 1 part reasoning). This is given by the counselor. DD9 just took this last week with two other kids in the counselor's office. This test also uses paper and pencil with each section taking about 20 minutes to complete. They did this on three separate days, with each section having 30 questions. The tests were untimed.

 

If one scores high enough, he/she moves on to the WISC IV with the district psychologist. This is one on one, no paper and pencil. If I can remember from my boys, our district only uses certain subtests, so it doesn't last as long as the full test.

 

What can your son expect? It depends on the test. I know that doesn't help. I think our school used the K-BIT for screening years ago. I don't think that was a paper and pencil test.

 

For my daughter, who loves her logic books and logic games, the reasoning part of the SAGES was easy, she said. And her score expressed that. If your son is familiar with that kind of thinking, he shouldn't be too thrown off by what is asked of him. The only advice I'll give dd for the WISC is to not be shy! I'll tell her to express her answers with as much detail as she thinks is necessary.

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They will likely give a paper and pencil test like the CogAT. If it is the CogAT, it is very important for him to work quickly and accurately as it is very tightly timed, and if they give the on level test, missing just one or two problems can put a kid in the "non-gifted" category.

 

 

Cogat is what my Son's school did, which is offered to everyone.

We didn't get the Cogat results yet, I have no idea what level they test but DS didn't seem have problem with the time and he said it was very easy. One of the boy who is a grade older did the test last year apparently told my Son that he didn't get in last year by only missing 4 questions, Which makes me think the test is bit bogus. I believe there are total of 150 questions at least, and it is an 1 and 1/2 hr sit down test with paper and pencil but not 1 to 1 evaluation. I have hard time to see the evulation is valid.

If it is Cogat, you do want your kid to practice fill the "correct" bubble". We had to practice on that. and I do really worry that my Son will screw that up.

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Some will use the CogAT and follow it later with an achievement test (ITBS) to further narrow the pool of candidates. Some areas examine test results but weigh teacher observations hugely, while others do not. It really does depend on the district, the school and sometimes even the individual coordinating the program.

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i remember having to take an iq test or something like it, back when i was in high school, to get in. my district here, they use work samples and standardized tests that the kids regularly take. when we moved here, they could not evaluate my daughter for the gifted program, despite having been in the gifted program in her least school, because she was new to the district. supposedly they've worked on that . . .

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I volunteer as the GT coordinator at our local elementary school (after I was disgusted in the lack of accommodations for accelerated students).

Because MA does not offer GT funding anymore, we do not have to follow any particular guidelines. The school psychologist refers students to me through teacher recommendations and then follows up with the OLSAT and sometimes the WISC-IV. If it state testing (many states test for GT in 3rd grade), then chances are he will be taking the CogAT.

Prepare him for about an hour or two worth of testing (paper and pencil). He should try his best to work in a timely manner, wile still striving for accuracy.

 

Take a deep breath and relax. The cream typically rises to the top!

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Keep in mind that the CogAT doesn't always identify all gifted kids. It probably misses as many kids as it catches. This is particularly true for a kid who might have any sort of additional learning issue, major or minor. So, if the test - which is just a screener and doesn't provide an official IQ - does not identify your child as gifted, that doesn't mean that he isn't.

 

Our district gives the CogAT to all 3rd graders. Currently, they also accept private testing, though they have gone back and forth on that over the years. (FWIW, two of my kids have taken the CogAT with results that do not correspond to the results of private one-on-one testing - not even close.)

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Our current district does not have a GATE program, but in the previous one, all students who score at least in the 98th percentile on both the math and the English portions of the state standardized test take the Ravens. After that, the administrators used some process that I never could get a straight answer from the district about to select students to fill a single class. I heard rumors that any child who is from an "underrepresented" demographic group automatically gets a slot but I have no idea whether that is true or just ugly racism/classism talking.

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After that, the administrators used some process that I never could get a straight answer from the district about to select students to fill a single class. I heard rumors that any child who is from an "underrepresented" demographic group automatically gets a slot but I have no idea whether that is true or just ugly racism/classism talking.

 

Weird. In our district, if you are gifted, you are in the gifted program. Would that be a state law? I thought that the school must provide adequate education for all, whether you are gifted or have other special needs. Hmmm. Is it different elsewhere?

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Weird. In our district, if you are gifted, you are in the gifted program. Would that be a state law? I thought that the school must provide adequate education for all, whether you are gifted or have other special needs. Hmmm. Is it different elsewhere?

 

hahaha not at all like that. in my district, my daughter couldnt get identified because she wasnt reccomended by a teacher (we were transfers)

 

my older son was nominated by a teacher to be evaluated. they looked at test scores and work samples. his writing was not up to snuff, but the teacher and i convinced them to use an interview, because his language skills were very high but not his writing. the committee fought us on it, but finally gave in.

 

so, then we had a choice of staying at the elementary school where they would group the gifted kids in their own homeroom, or going to a magnet-program. we chose the magnet program, and it turns out our grade school did not have enough gifted kids in his grade to make a whole class, so the gifted program consisted of the gifted kids doing projects together in the back of the classroom.

 

the stand-alone program he was in made it quite clear that being in the gifted program is a privileged not a right. if the kids coudlnt behave to high standards or couldnt keep up high grades, they were kicked out.

 

When my daughter went on to middle school, we were told that not being id'd as gifted made no real big difference - there were no gifted classes, only a gifted resource room that the kids could hang out in. There was a magnet International Baccalaureate middle school, but that did not require gifted identification, but required a very high amount of work - my kids are bright but not able to work that hard.

 

In high school, my daughter (not id'd gifted) would be recommended for an advanced class, but then not be able to keep up with the workload. if her grade dropped below an A, she was not allowed to sign up for the advanced class in that subject the next year. but the regular classes were so boring, she got even worse grades there.

 

my boys are very 2E . . . the one who was id'd gifted only lasted a half a year in the gifted program, and spent 3 years in special ed (for emotional issues). the youngest is currently at least 2 years ahead in math (maybe three) and a full 2 years behind in language arts abilities. There is nothing for them at school.

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At our school they also observe children in the classroom at the elementary level, and will interact with the children. They are looking for creativity and outside-the-box thinking, not just academic achievement or test results. If they see a student looking out the window, they may ask "What do you see when you look out the window?", observe doodles, ask children to problem-solve, etc.

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At our school they also observe children in the classroom at the elementary level, and will interact with the children. They are looking for creativity and outside-the-box thinking, not just academic achievement or test results. If they see a student looking out the window, they may ask "What do you see when you look out the window?", observe doodles, ask children to problem-solve, etc.

 

Oh, that's super cool. That's where you would see dd shine. Here, it's the OLSAT, then SAGES-2, then WISC. They will add an extra point or two (to the IQ score) if the teacher and parent fill forms recommending the student for the gifted program. Our gifted program, though, is 2x a week, pull-out in elementary. Nothing at the secondary level, other than a resource room and optional lectures/field trips.

 

I guess I can see how it works differently if there is an all day program or special school. So many different kinds of programs out there.

 

Homeschooling can really be ideal, for sure!

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Ours was a series of tests, recommendations, etc. They took into account achievement testing, iq testing, creativity scoring, parent input, teacher input, psychologist input, and work samples. A low-ish score in one area would not count you out, but the lower you made in one area, the higher you may have to make in another area. It took us months to finish testing, but I don't think it's as many hoops for older kids in our area.

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Our state is not required to identify gifted, however, our district does have 1 day pull out program focus everything but math and a seperated accelerated math program. We do cogat for the gifted program and kids score high in cogat math section will take tomags for math acceleration. DS did tomags before cogat based on teacher recommendation, so I supposed it is flexible.

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Thanks, everyone. I do believe he will take the CogAT. He should be tested this week. I just let him know to expect a test and that it might contain puzzle/logic questions.

 

I'm curious to see what the testing reveals. He is currently making high A's, but is very bored with school and asking to return to homeschooling next year. The gifted program in a pull-out enrichment type. He would spend one day a week in gifted, but it doesn't sound as if it would allow him to have more accelerated work. It would be nice for him to meet other kids who have similar interests, but I doubt it would do anything to cure the boredom issue.

 

It will be good to have answers, regardless of which educational path we choose in the fall.

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