DCSD and DES Gifted Education

Information Night for Current and

Prospective Parents

Facts About DES

• Currently have 196 Students in our Gifted

Program

• Approximately 8 teachers on staff have Gifted

certification in addition to our 3 teachers

• Class size is 21-23 students

• No replacement for excellent core teaching

with differentiated instruction

Gifted Eligibility Requirements

and Procedures

Who Is Tested?

• In DeKalb County, all first, third, fifth, and

seventh grade students are given the norm-

referenced, standardized tests.

• Testing is done in October and November.

• ITBS and CogAT are given in October. The

Renzulli Creativity and Motivation scales are

completed by the teachers in November.

Second & Fourth Grade Testing• Only students new to Georgia public schools

may be tested in second and fourth grades.

• Students from out of state gifted programs

and students recommended for testing by

parents or teachers can be tested in these

grades, but recommendations must also be

accompanied by data backing up this action.

• No student who has either a mental ability or

an achievement score from the previous year

in a Georgia public school is eligible for any

retesting.

What Characteristics Are Tested?• In Georgia, the areas tested are Mental Ability,

Achievement, Creativity, and Motivation.

• These criteria are based on Dr. Joseph Renzulli’sThree Ring Conception of Giftedness.

• Students are assessed in the areas of Mental Ability through the CogAT – Cognitive Abilities Test.

• Achievement is tested via the ITBS – Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

• Creativity and Motivation are determined by completion of the the Renzulli’s Assessment Scales for Creativity and Motivation.

Renzulli’s Three Ring Conception of

Giftedness

Renzulli considers three factors important for the

development of gifted behavior: above average

ability, creativity, and task commitment.

Within above average abilities, Renzulli notes a

difference between general ability, such as

processing information and abstract thinking

(mental ability), and specific abilities, like the

capacity to acquire knowledge and perform in an

activity (achievement).

By creativity, Renzulli means the fluency, flexibility

and originality of thought, as well as an openness to

experience, and a willingness to take risks.

Under task commitment, he understands that

motivation must be turned into action, like

perseverance, endurance, and hard work, but he

also includes self-confidence, perceptiveness, and a

student’s fascination with a special subject. He

maintains that without task commitment, high

achievement is not possible.

http://www.gigers.com/matthias/gifted/three_rings.html

Qualifying Scores• All qualification requirements are set by the State

Department of Education, not by DeKalb County.

• On the CogAT, students must have a score of 96% or higher on any one of the subtests (Verbal, Quantitative, Non-Verbal) or on the Complete Composite score.

• On the ITBS, students must have a 90% or higher on the Total Reading, Total Math, or the Complete Composite.

• On the Renzulli – either Creativity or Motivation-a score of 90% or higher is required.

• For inclusion in the gifted program, students must qualify in three* out of four areas.

*Exception

• If a student in grades K-2 gets a score on the

CogAT Complete Composite (not on just a

subtest) of 99%, or in grades 3 and higher a

score of 96% on the Complete Composite, and

also has a 90% or higher Achievement score

(TR, TM, or CC), then he or she qualifies even

without acceptable scores in Creativity or

Motivation, although testing data is still

needed in all four areas.

Yes/No Chart

What is Step II?

• Step II occurs when a student qualifies only on Mental Ability or on Achievement. He or she may or may not have qualifying Renzulli scores. A Renzulli score alone is not a qualifier without a CogAT or ITBS. In addition, only one Renzulliscore can be counted toward qualifying.

• In a group setting, Step II students assess themselves in the areas of creativity and/or motivation, depending on the results of the October/November testing sessions.

• The Step II tests are norm-referenced and standardized.

Testing Modifications and Gifted

QualificationThe scores from nonstandard administrations of tests may not be used to establish gifted program eligibility. This includes extended time and small group settings. Whenever the administration of a standardized test is modified in any way, the results are no longer comparable to those obtained by the norm group. They are, therefore, invalid for the purpose of ranking student performance (the very purpose of norm-referenced tests). The Georgia DOE addresses this issue in the Test Coordinator’s Manual: Please note that a non-standard test administration results in invalid scores for a norm-referenced test. Such invalid scores cannot be used for determining eligibility for special programs.

Testing Timeline

• October – The CogAT and ITBS are administered

• November – The Renzullis are completed by the teachers.

• December – Scores usually come back to the schools right before Winter Break

• January – Scores are entered by the county into the county database and lists of students eligible for the program or for Step II testing are made available to the schools, probably by the middle of the month

• January (mid) – PCEs are sent home for permission to test students needed Step II (no student can be assessed without this signed permission form).

• Late January to early February – Step II is completed.

• February – The results of Step II and the notifications of qualifying students are sent home. (The Continuation Policy must be signed and returned prior to admission to class.)

• February – Newly designated gifted students join Discovery classes.

Gifted Education Service Delivery

Model – Resource Class

• Our curriculum has an academic content foundation based on the Georgia curriculum standards, but the instructional focus is on an interdisciplinary enrichment activities and not any one content area.

• This model gives Gifted students the opportunity to work through the curriculum at a faster pace. The curriculum is differentiated in complexity and acceleration which offers a variety of options for students who differ in abilities, knowledge and skills. Our program offers different approaches to what students learn (content), how students learn (process), how students demonstrate what they have learned (product) and how they are evaluated (assessment).

What you need to know for

success at DES!

• E- 97%

• S- 80-96

• N- 79-70

• U- 69 and below

Grading in the

Discovery Classroom

• Friday to Friday

• One tally for each homework returned on-time

and attempted

• 4 tallies = 100%

• Looking for effort not perfection!

Homework

• Composition Notebook

– Interactive notebooks

• Plastic Folders

– Portfolios

• Stay in the classroom and are

returned at the end of the

year

• The complete supply list is

posted online

Supplies

In the Classroom

• Novel Studies

• Projects and Cooperative Learning Activities

• Technology Integration

• Writing (Narrative, Descriptive, Expository, Persuasive)

1st

•Nonfiction

Studies

2nd

•Simple

Machines

3rd

•Nonfiction

Studies

4th

•Egypt

5th

Bridges

Testing Dates

• CogAT for Grades 1, 3, 5 – Oct. 9 – 15

• ITBS for Grades 1, 3, 5 – Oct. 16 – 26

These dates represent a testing window and

include days for make-up testing.