talented services hays cisd gifted and talented referral ... · assessment •campus-based...

Hays CISD Gifted and Talented Referral and Assessment Information

Tish Cawley, Coordinator of Gifted and Talented Services

Welcome!

Agenda• Characteristics of G/T Students• Referral Timeline• Assessment Procedures• Overview of Gifted Services

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Questions?

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I think my child is gifted. How can I be sure?

Ask: Compared to whom?

O All kids say and do things that make us smile or amaze us.

O All children are gifts.O All children deserve to be

challenged.O Are we using the right

definition?

O Siblings?O Classmates?O Team Members?O Relatives?

What does it mean to be gifted?

This is not a validation of wonderful parenting skills.

What is the perception?

Genius?Prodigy?

Precocious?

Superior?

Exceptional?Elite?

A Shift in Language Around“Gifted and Talented”

G/T is not…

O A reward for kids who behave well in class and turn in perfect work.

A Shift in Language Around“Gifted and Talented”

G/T is not…O A program for kids with

exceptional grades.

A Shift in Language Around“Gifted and Talented”

G/T is not…O Fun for fun’s sake.

A Shift in Language Around“Gifted and Talented”

G/T is not…O Extra work to fill extra time.

A Shift in Language Around“Gifted and Talented”

G/T is not…O A test of what the kid knows but an opportunity

to explore what he is yet to know.

A Shift in Language Around“Gifted and Talented”

G/T is not…O A privilege!

A Shift in Language Around“Gifted and Talented”

G/T is not…O A self-esteem booster.

A Shift in Language Around“Gifted and Talented”

G/T is not…O About preparing kids to save the

world or find a cure for cancer.

A Shift in Language Around“Gifted and Talented”

G/T is not…O Only about academic needs but includes social, emotional needs and validates talents.

A Shift in Language Around“Gifted and Talented”

G/T is not…O A club to belong to.

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In Tamara Fisher’s words…G/T is not a surplus offering for kids with surplus

knowledge, rather, it is an academic intervention

for kids who don’t learn like other kids do. Let’s

start calling it what it is, so that we can help those

who misperceive begin to understand what GT is

really all about.

Fisher, Tamara, Unwrapping the Gifted, Education Week Teacher, 2011

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Timeline for Assessment of Gifted/Talented Students

Nov. 1st – 30th

Referral Period

Jan.2019

Testing Begins

Mar. 1st

Kinder Identified

- Services

Begin

May 2019

1st – 11th Identified

and parents notified via mail

Aug. 2019

Services

Begin

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How do I Decide to Refer?

• Observe your child• Talk to your child’s teacher • Think about the top descriptors of

gifted children– Quick grasp of concepts– Unusual memory– Curiosity – Creativity– Sensitivity– Risk-taking– Task commitment

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HAYS CISD Gifted and Talented Assessments

Qualitative Quantitative

Anecdotal Information

SIGS

Iowa/Logramos

CogAT7

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Home EvaluationSIGS which stands for Scales for Identifying Gifted Students

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Home Evaluation

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When rating each item, think about the student in the following way:

“To what degree does my child exhibit the behavior listed when compared with his or her age peers?”

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Iowa/Logramos

• Logramos (Spanish equivalent)

• Nationally normed academic achievement test

• K-11—ELA & Math; K-2 portions of the test are read to the students

• Online

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Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)

Group administered ability test used to assess students’ abilities in reasoning and problem solving using verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal (spatial) symbols.

Created to make testing more accessible and fair for ELL students.

Online

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CogAT - Verbal

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CogAT - Quantitative

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CogAT - Nonverbal

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CogAT - Verbal

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CogAT - Quantitative

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CogAT - Nonverbal

Assessment

• Campus-based selection committees examine all assessments and student data while maintaining confidentiality. The committee is made up of three staff members who have received a minimum of 30 hours of GT training.

• Test scores are part of a matrix (profile) for identifying need for GT services.

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Notification of Results

• Parents will be notified by U.S. Mail.

• Kinder parents will receive notification by March 1.

• 1st – 11th grade parents will receive notification in May.

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Gifted and Talented Services• Students who participate in services designed for G/T

will demonstrate skills in:– self-directed learning, – thinking, – research, – and communication.

• Students will develop innovative products and performances that reflect individuality and creativity and are advanced in relation to students of similar age, experience, or environment.

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Instruction• G/T Cluster Grouping (1st-12th)

– Hays CISD method used to meet the academic needs of G/T students

– Students are clustered with a G/T trained classroom teacher

• Differentiation (K-12th)– taking in information (content) – making sense of ideas (process) – expressing what they learn (product)

Questions

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District Contacts• Tish Cawley, Coordinator of Gifted and

Talented Services– 512-268-2141 x45035– Tish.Cawley@hayscisd.net

• District website– www.hayscisd.net/gt