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Identification Process

Multifaceted Student Identification Plan

  • We identify students for advanced curriculum in math and/or language arts beginning during the kindergarten year. (At the middle school level, students in HA math will also take HA science; students identified for HA language arts will also take HA social studies/humanities. HA high school students participate in a wide array of Advanced Placement courses of their choosing so long as they meet established prerequisites.)   
  • We use both qualitative (characteristics) measures and quantitative measures (test scores) in identification.  
  • We follow national best practice guidelines by using at least three types of measures. 
 

Who Decides? When Does Identification Take Place?  

  •  An identification committee rather than a single person makes placement decisions based upon students’ needs.
  • At the elementary level, the identification committee is made up of teachers with High Ability endorsements from each school and the Director of Academic Services.  
  • At the middle school level, the identification committee is made up of High Ability teachers from each middle school, counselors from each middle school, and the Assistant Superintendent of Academics.
  • Elementary and middle school identification processes begin during the winter of each school year and take place over several months’ time. Students are considered during the March-May time-frame and are typically officially notified in June of placement for the following school year.  Kindergarten students are served all year based on initial screeners.
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Are students automatically considered?

  • All students in grades Kdg-7th are reconsidered every year for placement the following year. 
 

What about already-identified students? Are they re-identified each year?  

  • Already-identified students are automatically identified for the next school year so long as they have been successful. Students who are identified as math-only or language-arts only are automatically considered each spring for identification in the non-HA area.
 

Quantitative Measures

  • The Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®), the most widely used and trusted abilities test, makes it all happen. CogAT measures abilities across the symbol systems that are most highly correlated with fluid reasoning, problem solving, and success in school. With its separate measures of Verbal, Quantitative, and Nonverbal reasoning, this research-based and proven test provides multiple perspectives on student ability across grades K–12. The committee uses 95th percentile as one indicator that a student needs advanced curriculum and/or instruction.  

  • Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Primary Measures of Academic Progress (Primary MAP) and MAP test percentile ranks:   The NWEA test has two versions: one which is for primary grade students and one for students who have learned to read for themselves. The Primary MAP test is given to most students in kindergarten and first grades who are being considered for high ability in the next school year. The Primary MAP is taken on the computer with audio and visual supports (meaning it is read aloud to the student).  The other NWEA test (MAP) is typically given to students who are able to read independently (students in grades 2-8 and K-1 students who are already-identified HA students or who are fluent readers take this version of the NWEA test). The NWEA assessments help determine how a child is performing on state standards and as compared to peers. The test is adjusted to the student’s present level automatically and contains a full bank of questions ranging through high school level. Thus, it is a better measure of achievement for high ability students than a grade-level test of standards such as ILEARN. Percentile scores on the NWEA test indicate a child’s instructional achievement level in Reading and Math. If a child scores at the 50th percentile that means that his or her scores are equal to or surpass 50% of all other children in the same grade nationwide taking the same test. The 50th percentile is considered average. The committee uses 95th percentile on MAP and 98th percentile on Primary MAP as one indicator that a student needs advanced curriculum and/or instruction.  Please remember that having only one indicator does not qualify a child for identification. 
  • Since scores change so much during elementary years we consider achievement, ability scores, and teacher observations  when making placement recommendations. At the middle school level we consider achievement or ability scores.