Gifted Services Identification
How do we identify gifted students?
Yuma Elementary School District One has a multi-faceted approach to identifying gifted students. Identification is a two-step process: screening and then identification and placement. We will make assessment accommodations for students with any documented needs such as disability or second language.
Screening
Students are referred for screening in any of the following ways:
- Parents, guardians, teachers, or the students themselves can nominate students to the Gifted Program.
- We only accept referrals for students enrolled in District One schools.
- Students who score at or above the 90th percentile on a state-approved test of intellectual ability will be further evaluated using the District One GATE matrix.
- Other screening measures include achievement on annual state tests and district benchmark assessments, exemplary schoolwork, and the judgment of school professionals familiar with the abilities that students demonstrate.
Each school makes testing available for students in grades K-8 on the following basis:
- In the 2023–2024 school year, all second-grade students enrolled by November 6 will take a group test for gifted identification.
- Parents or staff members may request testing for giftedness at any time during the school year. Please direct requests to the school administrator or classroom teacher. Schools report scores for gifted tests to the district office at least three times per year—October 1, February 1, and
May 1. - Each fall, each school's staff conducts a facilitated screening protocol based on the work of Dina Brulles in which teachers consider the gifted potential of every student in their classes; teachers recommend students for further testing based on this protocol.
Identification
Students within the District
Site coordinators assess nominated students with one or more tests from the Arizona State Board of Education approved test list. Currently, the district uses the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) for nonverbal testing and the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) for verbal and quantitative testing. Once students have completed the approved test, a designated person at each school site completes a three-factor matrix for each tested student who scores at least at the 90th percentile on one or more tested categories: verbal, non-verbal, and quantitative. The purpose of the matrix is to recognize that a student’s giftedness can be manifested in ways beyond a single test score. A range of points can be awarded on the matrix for each of the three factors: (1) scores on the state-approved test for giftedness; (2) a history of high achievement on district benchmark and/or state tests of academic achievement; and (3) factors that could influence performance on achievement or ability tests. A student who earns at least 15 points on the matrix is designated as a gifted and talented education (GATE) student in Yuma Elementary School District One. Such students are eligible for gifted services in this district.
A student who scores at the 97th percentile on any tested category on one of the state-approved tests of giftedness will automatically earn enough points on the matrix to be identified as gifted by Yuma District One and also by the state of Arizona. Other Arizona school districts could reasonably be expected to accept these results. A student who scores between the 90th and 96th percentile and is designated as a GATE student in Yuma District One and may or may not be recognized as gifted in another district.
Students Transferring into the District
The district accepts as valid for placement in the Gifted Program scores at or above the 97th percentile on any state-approved test submitted by another school district or by qualified professionals (psychologists in private practice, private schools, etc.) at the parent’s expense. We will identify transfer students as gifted as soon as we receive verification of eligibility from their previous school.
In the case where another district has identified a student transferring into District One as “gifted” based on scores from an Arizona-approved test but those scores fall below the 97th percentile and where the student supplies documentation of those scores and a clear identification of the student as gifted, this district will identify the student as gifted without further testing. If the identification is not clear, the district gifted coordinator will work with the school and the parent/guardian to locate evidence that can be applied on the district GATE matrix.
See the list of state-approved tests.
Parent Rights
Parents or legal guardians of our students have the right to:
- Request gifted testing for their children
- Know what services will be provided for their students
- Be informed of and give permission for any gifted testing not being given to the whole grade level
- Be given advance notice of the week their children will be tested
- Withhold permission for testing
- Receive test results within 30 school days of the completion of the test
- Request an explanation of gifted testing results for their own child
- Request and be granted an opportunity to appeal gifted test results
- Annually, be a part of developing a Gifted Differentiated Education Plan for their child, if they choose to do that