ELEMENTARY QUALIFICATION PROCESS
Lewisville ISD Gifted & Talented Services
Overview
Assessments are administered over multiple days and weeks during the school day.
The complete qualification process, from referral to the communication of placement results, should take approximately 9 - 12 weeks depending on the amount of data collection necessary for an accurate determination of service recommendations.
Students must be enrolled in Lewisville ISD to be eligible for assessment.
Step 1: Compile Qualitative Data
Input from classroom teachers and parents/guardians is an important component of the qualification process for gifted/talented services.
Both parties complete attribute checklists which are used to measure a child’s behaviors when compared to other children at about the same age. Data gathered provides valuable information about student strengths and interests.
Planned experiences, designed to elicit specific behaviors and characteristics of gifted children, are conducted in all K-2 classrooms each school year. Data collected from the experiences is used to create a pool of students to watch through second grade. The information is also reviewed during this stage of the qualification process.
Additional data collected may include, but is not limited to, the following:
- work samples
- anecdotal observations
- performance task products
- advocacy statements
Step 2: Administer Ability Test(s)
All referred students are administered ability tests to measure verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal ability.
These assessments are predictors of potential for academic success and tap into a wider range of life experiences. They look at whether students can apply what they know in new and different ways.
Ability testing examines innate learning rather than school-based learning. A student's score is compared to the norm of similar test takers and may be expressed as a percentile, grade equivalent, or stanine. LISD practice is to look for two or more ability scores in the 9th stanine or "very high" range.
Step 3: Administer Achievement Test(s)
Students who show strength with ability assessments are then given achievement tests. These assessments do not measure how students think or what their potential may be. They show what a student has learned in relation to others. There are times when a student's most recent iReady assessment scores may be used in lieu of additional achievement tests.
Achievement tests are different than criterion-referenced tests, such as STAAR, which compare student knowledge and skills against a predetermined standard, cut score, or other criterion.
A student's achievement test score is compared to the norm of similar test takers and may be expressed as a percentile, grade equivalent, or stanine.
Step 4: Compile Data on LISD G/T Profile
Testing results are processed and organized into a student profile.
The Texas State Plan for the Education of Gifted/Talented Students requires that districts consider students who are advanced "when compared to others of the same age, experience, or environment." As a result, data is reviewed in comparison to the current LISD student population and campus peer group.
Formal assessment percentiles are used to demonstrate where a student performs compared to other students.
- Example: If a student scored in the 95th percentile, we could say that student is performing better than 95% of other students the same age.
Step 5: Hold Review Committee Meeting
A formal committee composed of campus and district personnel review student profiles. The committee meets approximately once per nine weeks.
The process for determining qualification is based on potential success in the district's gifted/talented service model.
Step 6: Communicate Committee Decisions
The committee's placement decision, as well as the student's assessment profile and test score reports, are shared with parents/guardians.
After parent/guardian permission is granted, qualifying students may receive gifted/talented services.
LISD Gifted & Talented Services
We strive to identify and engage a diverse population of gifted/talented students, build relationships that support student growth, ignite within students a desire for learning, and provide services and supports to meet students' unique social-emotional and educational needs every day.
Elementary Contact
Koby Stringer, Elementary Gifted & Talented Services Administrator
Email: stringerk@lisd.net
Website: https://www.lisd.net/Page/1721
Location: 1565 West Main Street, Lewisville, TX 75067, USA
Phone: 469-948-8054
Twitter: @LISD_GT