February 22, 2010

DefinitionChildren and youth with outstanding ability

perform or show the potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment. These children and youth exhibit high performance capability in intellectual, creative, and/or artistic areas ... or excel in specific academic fields. They require educational programs and services beyond those normally provided by the regular school program in order to realize their contribution to self and society. Outstanding talents are present in children and youth from all cultural groups across all economic levels.

Identification ProceduresOur Objective

A systematic approach to understanding, uncovering, and documenting the gifts and talents in CCSD #1 students

Identification ProceduresGuiding Principle for Today

Provide an opportunity for discussions about how to approach the design and development of strategies that will confirm and/or uncover students’ latent talents and abilities.

Identification ProceduresEvidence of a Strategic

Identification ProcedureA narrative and/or outline of identification

procedures that codifies screening and selection approaches using objective and subjective tools that yield a group of gifted and talented students who need access to programs and services beyond those available to all students.

Identification ProceduresAnswers these questions:

Who are the gifted and talented students?Why are we striving to identify them?How do we find them?What are the most appropriate tools for

identifying students’ gifts and talents?How are data from various tools analyzed and

interpreted?Who is responsible for identifying students’

gifts and talents?

Identification ProceduresFour attributes define high-quality

identification procedures (page 52 Designing Services …)

1) Comprehensive Approach2) Student Characteristics3) Objective and Subjective Tools4) Defensible and Inclusive Criteria

Identification Procedures1) Comprehensive ApproachYounger Students - Length of test, test

anxiety and experience, test format, testing environment

Older Students – Test structure (validity of the process for the student, provide them with new information – challenge their perceptions of “tests” to uncover abilities, testing environment

Identification Procedures2) Student CharacteristicsIdentification tool needs to address concrete

areas available to our students with the CCSD #1 district.

Language differences, learning differences, the tool needs to clearly define level of gift and talent manifestation in daily school and home environment

Identification Procedures3) Objective and Subjective ToolsProvide flexibility to test students in a

comfortable environment, screener comprehensive enough that students do not “fall through cracks”, cohesive data, flexibility for information to be provided by parents and teachers

Identification Procedures4) Defensible and Inclusive CriteriaRural culture is represented in the test

format, deliver in variety of languages, clear definitions of “cut” scores and explanations of what they mean, clear procedures of identification process, defining program goals, directly tied to the CCSD #1 definition

Identification ProceduresReflection Questions

1) How do we define success in our school district?

2) Think of the top five most successful students at the elementary, middle, and high schools. What characteristics do they have in common? How are they unique? What do their cumulative records say about them? What can we learn about the predictability of

student success through the previous questions?

Identification Procedures1) What are the academic and/or artistic

strengths of our student population that exceed developmental guidelines or milestones?

Identification Procedures2) What types of objective and subjective

tools provide evidence of students’ unique talents and abilities?

Identification Procedures3) What criteria will be used to determine the

initial screening pool of students and the final identified group of gifted and talented students?