gifted identification criteria?

on Oct 1, 2021 at 9:03 PM

gifted identification criteria?

From: Margaret DeLacy

User Posts: 21 - New User
Greetings everyone!
 I am Margaret DeLacy from the Oregon Association for Talented and Gifted. and I need some information.

Our state is rewriting our administrative rule for gifted identification which currently requires a score in the 97th. percentile for ELA, for Math or for Aptitude on a nationally normed test.  (There is an additional category for students with the "potential" to meet that criterion.)  During her presentation our specialist said that the committee she leads had no idea where the 97th. percentile cutoff came from.  Our statutory definition seems to be lifted straight from the Marland Report which includes mentions of the estimated g/t population but doesn't include any recommendations around test scores.  I suspect the number is a rounded-off version of two standard deviations out from the norm. I checked the State of the States but all I found there was definitions of gifted in statute and a whole series of links to other rules that fill out the definitions for each state. To save having to go through them one by one, can anyone tell me whether their state uses a similar criterion in practice (that is, a percentile score) and if so, what the number is?
 
Thanks,

Margaret
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on Oct 2, 2021 at 11:41 AM

From: Abbie Sigmon

User Posts: 0 - New User
Hi Margaret,

Ohio uses the 95th percentile on a nationally-normed test for specific academic identification, and two-standard deviations above the mean for superior cognitive identification.

Ann =
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on Oct 2, 2021 at 10:27 PM

From: Jennifer Martin

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Florida uses 2 standard deviations from the norm on approved IQ tests for "Plan A", but for underrepresented students we have a "Plan B" which is not mandatory and which varies by district with no consistency.  Here is the Rule.  Click on View Rule to to download the Rule.  Our Rule probably needs to be revised to bring more diversity, but that is very political and proposed changes could result in eliminating a gifted altogether given our legislature, but we are always thinking about what we might do.  https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ruleNo.asp?ID=6A-6.03019

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on Oct 4, 2021 at 9:52 AM

From: Jessica Applegate

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Hi Margaret -

North Carolina doesn't have a state mandate for identification; rather, each individual school district determines identification criteria based on their student population.  Individual districts must submit their gifted plan (which includes their identification criteria) to our Department of Public Instruction for approval every four years.  The state has well defined program standards that districts must follow as they create their plan. 

Best,
Margaret Crawford


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Margaret F. Crawford
Interim Executive Director
The North Carolina Association 
for the Gifted and Talented, Inc.
PO Box 758
Jamestown, NC  27282
Office:  336-312-9324
Website:  www.ncagt.org
Make a difference!  Join NCAGT today!
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on Oct 4, 2021 at 11:32 AM

From: MaryGrace Stewart

User Posts: 1 - New User
Hi Margaret,
If you use a standardized test it MUST use local norms and it MUST be only a part of a group of criteria ANY ONE OF WHICH should get them into a pool of students. There should never be one test with a cut-off score. That is unethical and biased against people of color and those who haven't had experience with the kinds of items on the test!
Then the student should be given the appropriate levels of classes that they are ready for. They also need a social group and the opportunity to follow their interests in an authentic way with a product or service as the outcome of their investigation.
I hope that helps.

MaryGrace Stewart, Ed.D.
Chief Academic Officer
Office: (413) 238-1738


"Creativity doesn't wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones." -- Bruce Garrabrandt

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on Oct 5, 2021 at 6:45 PM

From: Joe Helbling

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Thanks for asking, Margaret. To support what others have already said about using local norms and avoiding a single “gatekeeper” test, look at NAGC’s 2019 Pre-K-Grade 12 Gifted Education Programming Standards:

2.1.3. Educators use universal screening and multiple indicators of potential and achievement at various grade levels from Pre-K through grade 12 to provide multiple entry points to services designed to meet demonstrated needs.

2.2.5. Educators select assessments that minimize bias by including information in the technical manual that describes content in terms of potential bias, includes norms that match national census information or local populations, shows how items discriminate equally well for each group, and provides separate reliability and validity information for each group.

2.3.1. Educators select and use equitable approaches and assessments that minimize bias for referring and identifying students with gifts and talents, attending to segments
of the population that are frequently hidden or under identified. Approaches and tools may include front-loading talent development activities, universal screening, using locally developed norms, assuring assessment tools are in the child’s preferred language for communication or nonverbal formats, and building relationships with students to under- stand their unique challenges and needs.

Best,
Joe

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