The purpose of this communication is to provide you notice and information regarding the District’s procedures for the selection and identification of eligible students for programs for academically gifted and talented.  Academically gifted and talented students are those who are identified as demonstrating high performance ability or potential in academic areas and therefore require an educational program beyond that normally provided by the general school program in order to achieve their potential.  Currently, our eligible students are served through a variety of enrichment opportunities or a resource/pull out model in grades 3 - 5 at the elementary schools and through honors or GT classes in grades 6 - 10.  

The selection and identification process will occur throughout the 2017-2018 school year with eligible students being placed with the start of the 2018-2019 school year.  The selection and identification process is mandated by state regulation and SC Department of Education procedure. 

The selection and identification process is a multi-dimensional process with stages occurring throughout the school year.  Students achieving a certain standard on Dimension A qualify for placement without achieving any additional criteria.  Otherwise, students must achieve some combination of Dimensions A, B, or C in order to qualify for placement.  Following is an explanation of these dimensions and stages.

• Dimension A (Reasoning Abilities/Aptitude) – Student information is gathered by state and/or district administered aptitude tests.  Aptitude tests must be nationally normed and render a composite score as well as subtest scores for one or more of these three areas:  verbal/linguistic, quantitative/mathematical, nonverbal.  The District will be administering the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) to students in grades 2 and 4 to gather aptitude information this year.  Students who achieve a 96^th national age percentile Composite score or higher qualify for placement without meeting any additional criteria.  Students who achieve a Composite score 93^rd through 95^th national age percentile score or a subtest score at the 93^rd or higher national age percentile may qualify if they achieve successfully the standard on either Dimension B or Dimension C.

• Dimension B (High Achievement in Reading and/or Mathematics) – Student information is gathered by state and/or district administered achievement tests.  Achievement tests must be nationally normed.  The District will be administering portions of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) to second grade students and will be administering the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) to second through ninth grade students to gather achievement information this year.  SC READY is another measure by which achievement information is collected on students.  Students who achieve at the 94^th national percentile or above on a nationally normed test (in either reading comprehension or math concepts / problem solving) or obtain an equivalent score on SC READY (for qualification in total ELA scores or total mathematics score) may qualify if they achieve successfully the standard on Dimension A or Dimension C.  For students taking MAP, the procedures require districts to use the composite scores on reading and mathematics from the fall administration. 

• Dimension C (Intellectual/Academic Performance) – For students in grades 2 - 5, Performance Tasks Assessment will be used after a student meets the standard on either Dimension A or Dimension B but not both. For students in grades 5 - 8, Grade Point Average will be used after a student meets the standard on either Dimension A or Dimension B but not both.  Students must achieve a 3.75 grade point average on a 4.0 scale using year-end grades (2017-2018) in the following subject areas:  English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.  Students who achieve Dimension C may qualify if they achieve successfully the standard on either Dimension A or Dimension B.

For more detailed information on the identification and selection process, please visit the South Carolina State Department of Education’s gifted and talented website, http://ed.sc.gov/instruction/standards-learning/advanced-academic-programs/gifted-and-talented.

Implementation of the process for selection of academically gifted and talented students occurs throughout the school year.  A calendar for implementation during school year 2017-2018 is listed below.

August through September – administration of MAP in grades 2 - 8

October/November – administration of ITBS in grade 2; administration of CogAT in grades 2 and 4

February/March – administration of SC Performance Task (STAR)

January – administration of MAP in grade 9

March/April – administration of MAP in grades 2 -8

May – administration of SC READY

June - calculation of year-end grade point averages in grades 5-8

You will receive more specific information regarding test dates from your child’s school staff as the school year progresses.  The best thing your child can do to prepare for testing is to work hard in school every day.  Regular attendance, good nutrition, and adequate rest are also important components for successful test performance.