The body of evidence for identifying gifted and talented students will contain both subjective and objective evidence in six areas: Behavior, Ability, Motivation, Performance, Achievement and Interests

• Intellectual Ability (on tests or sub-tests)
• Achievement (on criterion-referenced tests)
• Demonstrated Performance (distinguished level)
• Behaviors and Characteristics (outstanding or exceptional factors)
• Motivation (intensity both in and out of school)
• Interests (involvement both in and out of school)

When using intellectual ability tests, one score can qualify a student for gifted/ talented programming services, but no one score can disqualify a student for services. For example, a student may have a very high nonverbal reasoning score on the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) and below average scores in verbal and quantitative reasoning. The student would still qualify for programming options related to superior spatial abilities given  other indicators included in the body of evidence.
Professionals need to choose the most appropriate options for the individual student, so one student would not be required to have data in all of the following areas.
Examples of Assessment Instruments available in our BOCES:

• Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) - Reasoning skills
• Naglieri Test of Nonverbal Reasoning (NNAT)- Non-biased nonverbal reasoning
• Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC III) - Verbal and performance IQ's
• Woodcock Johnson Achievement Test (WJ III)
• Gates MacGinitie Reading
• Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) - Reading, writing, and math
• Woodcock Munoz
• Kingore Observation Inventory (KOI) - Classroom tool for seven characteristics of gifted, or other observation checklists
• Torrance Test of Creative Thinking
• MAPS, NWEA
• Other district testing information

Examples of other evidence for the Body of Evidence:

• Student Portfolio with examples of work in strength area(s);
• Classroom assessment information (unit tests, writing samples, etc.);
• Teacher checklist;
• Parent checklist;
• Other evidence of superior abilities.

1. Based on an informal assessment of available data, the Student Support/Intervention Team will decide if a student shows strong enough potential and requires further assessment to identify gifted learning needs. The GT facilitator will send home the Parent/Teacher Checklist and Parent Permission forms if additional testing is necessary. Prior to the forms being sent home it is best for the classroom teacher, GT facilitator, administrator or counselor to contact the parent personally to explain the identification process.
2. The GT facilitator will collect classroom data and/or portfolio evidence as available. A Student Profile for Gifted and Talented (see form) will be completed for each child who has been referred for identification. This document will contain a summary of all collected formal and informal data.
3. Upon the completion of A Student Profile for Gifted and Talented, the Student Support/Intervention Team will determine what, if any, additional testing is necessary. Written parent permission for additional testing will be on file prior to any assessments being administered. Students referred as gifted in creativity, music, leadership, performing arts, art, and/or psychomotor areas, aptitude testing may be unnecessary, especially if strong portfolio evidence is available.
4. If appropriate, determine which aptitude tests to administer based on student information. The CogAT is appropriate for most students. The NNAT (Naglieri) is best for students who are less verbal, come from low socio-economic backgrounds, are culturally diverse, have English is a second language, or who are visual learners. Either assessment may be administered in a small group setting.
5. Once testing is finished, data needs to be entered into the Student Profile.
6. The building level Student Support/Intervention Team will review all of the data and make a determination of programming needs. If the student is identified as gifted/talented in any area, an Advanced Learning Plan (ALP) needs to be completed at this time.
7. Parents will be informed of the assessment team's decision.
8. Programming options decided upon by the team will be implemented and their effectiveness monitored throughout the school year. The ALP will be updated annually.

Written permission from parents must be on-file prior to any cognitive testing.

Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)

• To identify a gifted student, any one score can qualify a student, but no one score can be used to disqualify a student.
• The CogAT measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and nonverbal reasoning. It is not always appropriate to use with culturally diverse students.
• Students will need a score in the 95th percentile or higher on the CogAT in order to be flagged for gifted.
• Even if two areas are in the average range on the CogAT, if one area is high that student will be flagged for GT.
• CDE acknowledges GT flagging in math, language arts and/or other.
• First and second grade students may be tested individually or in a group. Some may require the assessment be read to them. There are separate consumable test forms for first and second grade.
• There is no time limit. Consider your student needs as you wish to have the most accurate data possible.
• Third through tenth grade students can be tested together. Their sample questions are the same, however, the booklets are different. These students will need to use an answer sheet to record their answers. Each subtest takes ten minutes.
• The answer sheets may be hand-scored using normed tables by chronological age or grade-level.

Naglieri (NNAT)

• The Naglieri can be administered in small groups. It is hand-scored and uses normed tables.
• The NNAT is considered to be less culturally biased; therefore, it is probably better than the CogAT for culturally or linguistically diverse students and those from low socioeconomic homes that may have less verbal and/or experiential enrichment. The test takes 30 minutes.
• A score in the 95th percentile or above is considered a high score. No one score can disqualify a student for GT programming, but one score can qualify a student for GT programming given supporting evidence.

Other Information

• Neither of these tests is necessarily appropriate for a student being considered in the other category (in creativity, art, music and/or performing arts, leadership.) In that case, a thorough portfolio analysis and relevant body of evidence is necessary to ensure that the student is performing in the exceptional range. Consider testing to uncover other areas of talents that may not be evident in the classroom environment.
• Some very bright students do not do well in timed situations. Keep this in mind, along with other affective and/or environmental issues, when analyzing testing data.