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Identification

Identifying Gifted Students


 

Different Learners





The identification procedure is a four-step process:

1) Referral

Referrals for the gifted program may come from parents, teachers, friends, or students themselves. Those referred must meet the criteria for screening and also the state criteria for giftedness in order to be placed in the program. The school counselor must be contacted to begin the referral process.

Students who have been in a gifted program in another district or state can submit documentation to be reviewed by the Pupil Appraisal Department. If Louisiana criteria are met, then the student is placed in the program. If criteria are not met, then the Pupil Appraisal performs an evaluation. 


2) Screening

  • The school counselor completes a screening packet and sends the packet to the gifted office.

  • A gifted teacher will arrange a time with the parent of the student to administer a screening assessment which measures aptitude.

  • The screening assessment will be administered at the student’s homebased school or at a school gifted resource center site.

  • The parent will be notified within two weeks by letter from the gifted office stating whether the child met the criteria to qualify for further testing.

  • The screening assessment will not need to be given if the student scored a 98% in total reading and 94% or greater in the other on a nationally normed achievement test administered within a year’s date of the time referred. 


3) Evaluation

If the student qualifies for further testing:

  • The parent will receive a letter from the Pupil Appraisal Department informing the parents that the student qualifies for further testing. Parents will return the requested information to the Pupil Appraisal Department.

  • The student will be administered an aptitude test and an achievement test by the Pupil Appraisal team. The testing will be done throughout the school year at the homebased school site and in June at a central site.

  • The parents will receive a written evaluation from the Pupil Appraisal Department stating whether the student qualifies for the gifted program.

Criteria for Gifted Identification

The criteria for the identification of gifted are set by the state of Louisiana.

  • 3 aptitude matrix points OR

  • 7 or more total matrix points OR

  • 6 or more total matrix points with at least 1 aptitude matrix point and team recommendations

Assessment Instruments

Percentiles/Points Assigned

  84-93%
(1 pt.)
94-97%
(2 pts.)
98-99%
(3 pts.)
Aptitude      
Reading Achievement      
Mathematics Achievement Test      

 

4) Placement

If the student is identified gifted, an IEP conference will be scheduled so that he or she can be placed into the gifted program.

 

The IEP Conference

Once a student has been identified as gifted, educational personnel with input from the parent(s) and student must develop an individualized educational program (IEP) for that student. An IEP conference is scheduled which includes the parent(s) or legal guardian, the Gifted teacher(s), the student, input from the student’s regular education teacher, the officially designated representative (ODR) of the school system and others who may help implement the IEP.

At this conference, those involved will discuss the student’s proposed placement and present levels of performance. Additional information will be obtained from forms completed by the student and the regular education teacher. Goals and objectives should be based upon the student’s strengths, interests, and aptitudes and are selected from a computer-generated IEP developed for the Calcasieu Parish gifted program. The teacher selects appropriate methods of measurement for each goal.

The IEP committee will be asked to sign to indicate presence. The parent(s)/guardian will be asked to sign to indicate agreement with the proposed educational program and placement. A student must have a current IEP in order to be served by the gifted program.