District Identification Policy

  • District Identification Policy

    Quotes about Gifted Education 

    IDENTIFICATION
    “Gifted” means a student who performs or shows potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared to others of their age, experience or environment and who are identified under Division (A), (B), (C), or (D) of Section 3324.93 of the Revised Code.  All Ohio schools are required to screen and identify gifted students in grades K-12 (3324.04 O.R.C.)

    Students can be identified in four areas:  superior cognitive, specific academic (reading/writing, mathematics, social studies, and science), creative thinking, and the visual and performing arts (art, music, dance, and drama).  Students participate in the following assessments.      All testing and audition results must be sent to parents within 30 days.  Parents may submit a written appeal of the identification results.

     
    Specific Academic Ability:
    Grades 2-8 - NWEA MAP (reading and math)
    Grade 7 - Stanford Achievement (science)
     
    Cognitive Ability:
    Grades 2 and 5 - CogAT   
     
    Visual and Performing Arts:
    Grades 7-12 - portfolio or audition take place in the fall or spring for all grade levels.  The VPA rubrics provided by ODE are used to identify students in VPA. GATES and Scales are used to assess creativity.  
     
    Anyone may recommend a student for testing.  Referral forms will be available in every school office or by calling 330.830.8001. All referred students will be tested individually by a gifted specialist or a Jackson Local School District school psychologist.
     
    Ohio achievement tests can only be used as one piece of data that would be a part of the pre-screening stage of the identification process.

    Screening and Assessment
    The district uses a three-part approach to screen students who perform or show potential for performing at high levels of accomplishment in the areas of superior cognitive ability, specific academic ability, creativity and visual and/or performing arts.

    Pre-assessment
    The pre-assessment part of the process involves gathering student data from a variety of sources including teacher, parent and peer nominations; grades; portfolios; observations; review of student records; and outstanding products or performances, etc.   All students are involved in the pre-assessment pool.  By using the pre-assessment process, the district ensures equal access to screening and further assessment by all district children, including culturally or linguistically diverse children, children from low socioeconomic backgrounds, children with disabilities, and children for who English is a second language.  Jackson Local School District uses referral and review of existing data in all grades at this stage.

    Assessment for Screening
    The screening stage examines the data gathered from the pre-assessment stage and determines if additional assessment is necessary.  School personnel examine all available information about a student to determine if evidence of possible giftedness exists for that student and conduct necessary additional assessments.  District-determined cut-off scores are used to move students from the screening state to the assessment stage.  Parents must be notified within thirty days of the results of screening.  Jackson Local School District uses assessments for screening from the ODE approved list.

    Assessment for Identification
    Assessment strategies provide additional data necessary for an identification decision and the delivery of services.  Strategies for additional assessment include the individual and group testing requirements of Sections 3324.01-3324.07 of the Ohio Revised Code and as described in the Gifted Identification pamphlet.  Once additional assessment has been completed, the data obtained throughout the stages of identification are determined.  Jackson Local School District uses assessments for assessment and identification from the ODE approved list, which is available upon request.      Retesting opportunities are offered to students who qualify.  The assessments that are used for retesting purposes include:
     
    Specific Academic Ability:
    Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS)
     
    Cognitive Ability:
    Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT Form B)

    Referral
    The district ensures there are ample and appropriate scheduling procedures for assessments and reassessment using:  group tests; individually-administered tests; audition, performance; display of work; exhibition; and checklists.  Children may be referred on an ongoing basis, based on the following:  child request (self-referral); teacher recommendation; parent/guardian request; child referral of peer; and other (e.g., psychologist, community members, principal, gifted coordinator, etc.)  Upon receipt of a referral, the district will follow the process as outlined in this brochure and notify parents of results of screening or assessment and identification.  The district shall provide at least two opportunities a year for assessment in the case of children requesting assessment or recommended for assessment by teachers, parents or other children

    Withdrawal
    If at any time, a student wishes to withdraw from gifted programs or services, the request should be written by the parent or child to the building administrator and gifted coordinator.  If children request to withdraw, parents will be notified.  A meeting with all involved parties will be conducted and a decision based upon that meeting result will be made.

    Appeal Procedure
     An appeal by the parent is the reconsideration of the results of any part of the identification process which would include:  screening procedure or assessment instrument (which results in identification); the scheduling of children for assessment; the placement of a student in any program; and receipt of services.  Once parents submit a letter to the superintendent or designee outlining the nature of the concern, the superintendent or designee will convene a meeting with the parent/guardian, which may include other school personnel, to discuss the concern.  The superintendent or designee will issue a written final decision within 30 days of the appeal.  This written notice should include the reason(s) for the decisions(s).

    General
    The district accepts scores on assessment instruments approved for use by the Ohio Department of Education provided by other school districts and /or trained personnel outside the school district.

    Transfer
    The district ensures that any child transferring into the district will be assessed within 90 days of the transfer at the request of the parent.


    SERVICES               
    There is one full-time and one half-time coordinators for the gifted and talented program.  These coordinators provide ongoing professional development for district curriculum coordinators as well as classroom teachers.  These coordinators supply the teachers with resources, lessons, and enrichment programs.

    To qualify for gifted services in Jackson Local School District, a student must be identified as gifted in the selected area of service with a nationally normed qualifying assessment.  Students identified and currently receiving services will not need to be re-identified and will remain in the program.

    Students who meet identification and service requirements are clustered in classrooms taught by teachers who receive ongoing professional development.  These teachers receive regular classroom coaching and support from a district G/T specialist.
     

    WRITTEN EDUCATION PLANS                   
    All school districts in Ohio reporting services to gifted students must have on file a copy of a Written Education Plan (WEP) for each student served.  Ohio Administrative Code 3301-51-15 (D) (4) outlines the specific points that must be included on the WEP.

    The WEPs contain annual goals for the students which are statements that describe the knowledge, skills, and /or behaviors a student is expected to be able to demonstrate during the time period for which the WEP is in effect.  Annual goals should be based on the student’s needs, as identified in the present levels of performance.  Goals will include both academic and social/emotional needs and will be targeted toward specific needs, skills, or content in each area of identification that will be served.  Goals will be met by differentiation by acceleration, complexity, depth of understanding, challenge, abstractness, and /or cognitive creativity and will be provided through differentiation in a regular education class, accelerated placement, arts classroom, mentorship, advanced placement, educational options, and/or dual enrollment.

    The student’s WEP will address the waiver of assignments and scheduling of tests missed while participating in gifted services. 

    WEPs will be reviewed and updated annually.  Parents, classroom teachers, and gifted specialists will have available copies (in the permanent file) of the WEP.

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