Identifying Gifted Students in Your School Susan Barnes, Coordinator ESE Support Services.

Identifying Gifted Studentsin Your School

Susan Barnes, CoordinatorESE Support Services

Florida’s Definition of Giftedness

One who has superior intellectual development and is capable of high performance.

Criteria for Gifted Eligibility

1. Need for a special program,2. A majority of characteristics of gifted

students according to a standard scale or checklist, and

3. Superior intellectual development as measured by an intelligence quotient of two standard deviations or more above the mean on an individually administered standardized test of intelligence.

Minimum Intellectual Scores

• WISC-IV, SB-V, and most other IQ tests:IQ=130+ (SD=15)

This represents intellectual functioning at or above 98%ile (top 2%).

Plan B Gifted Eligibility

Florida allows districts (at their option) to adopt a different set of criteria for gifted placement for students of under-represented groups. Currently, those groups include:

• Students with limited English proficiency (ELL)• Students from low SES families

Leon County was among the first districts to adopt a Plan B.

Students with Limited English

Proficiency

Are those who are:• Currently enrolled in

ELL (ESOL), or are• Within their two-year

probationary period after dismissal from ELL.

Students From Low SES Families

Are students who are qualified for free or reduced lunch

Screening for Gifted

Three elements are required for gifted screening (to determine which students to send on for a psychological evaluation):

• IQ screening

• Documentation of gifted behavioral characteristics

• Documentation of need for the program (statement of need)

Screening for Gifted

Intellectual screening:

• School administers the K-BIT2 (or other district-approved intellectual screening instrument)

• Students who achieve a score of 125+ have met this screening criterion.

Screening for Gifted

Behavior Checklist:

Teacher Checklist (Behavioral Characteristics of Gifted Students)

A student who earns 36+ points has met this screening criterion.

Behavioral Characteristics

Learning CharacteristicsLarge Vocabulary: Has unusually large vocabulary for age/grade level; uses terms in meaningful ways; has verbal behavior characterized by “richness” of expression, elaboration and fluency.Widely Informed: Possesses a large storehouse of information about a variety of topics (beyond the usual interests of youngsters his/her age); has quick mastery and recall of factual information.Complex Thinker: Has a rapid insight into cause-effect relationships; tries to discover the how and why of things-asks many provocative questions (as distinct from informational or factual questions); wants to know what makes things (or people) “tick”.Reads Extensively: Reads a great deal independently; prefers subjects beyond the interest of others the same age; does not avoid difficult material; may show preference for biography, autobiography, encyclopedias and atlases.

Behavioral Characteristics

Motivational CharacteristicsHighly Involved: Becomes absorbed and truly involved in certain topics or problems; is sometimes difficult to encourage to move on to other tasks; is internally motivated; perfectionist, self-critical; self-assertive, stubborn in beliefs. Often Bored: Is easily bored with routine tasks. Independent: Prefers to work independently; requires little direction from teachers; needs little external motivation to follow through in work that is initially exciting. Judgmental: Is quite concerned with right and wrong, good and bad; often evaluates situations, events, people and things. Takes Risks: Exposes oneself to failure or criticism; willing to take a guess; non-conforming; accepts disorder; is not interested in detail; does not fear being different.

Behavioral Characteristics

Leadership CharacteristicsSelf-confident: Is self-confident with others the same age as well as with adults; seems comfortable when asked to show own work to the class.Self-Expressive: Can express him/herself well; has good verbal facility and is usually well understood. Sociable: Seems to enjoy being around other people; is sociable and prefers not to be alone.Domineering: Tends to dominate others when they are around; generally directs the activity when others are involved.

Behavioral CharacteristicsCreativity Characteristics

Curiosity: Displays a great deal of curiosity about many things; is constantly asking questions about anything and everything.

Fluency: Generates a large number of ideas or solutions to problems and questions; often offers unusual “way out,” unique, clever responses.Flexibility: Takes different approaches to ideas; manipulates ideas (i.e., changes, elaborates upon them); able to shift categories; manipulates ideas into unique and original categories; generates a variety of kinds of ideas.Originality: Highly imaginative; offers unusual responses; expresses opinions freely; has a keen sense of humor.Elaboration: Embellishes upon an idea; embroiders a simple idea or response to make it more detailed; expands upon things or ideas.

Screening for Gifted

The final element required in gifted screening is a statement of need from a teacher.

Statement of NeedStatement of Need. Based on teacher observations, the student’s

classroom performance, and success or failure of interventions used to meet the student’s needs in the regular classroom setting, indicate why this student needs gifted services. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Date completed:________   Teacher completing:

 ________     This statement should indicate why the child needs gifted

services, not why s/he might benefit from it. The teacher should state what interventions have been tried to date.

Screening Summary

If the student meets all three of the screening criteria, the student is then referred to Student Services for a psychological evaluation conducted by a LCS school psychologist or a LCS contractor. Students who do not meet these criteria but are believed to be gifted may be referred through the IAT. Parents may also seek private testing at their own expense.

Use of Gifted Plan B

Plan B is here for you to use! Based on the relative incidence in our population, we seriously under-serve gifted students who are Limited English Proficient (LEP) or who are from families with Low Socio-economic Status (SES).

Plan B will be eliminated when a new DOE

gifted rule is adopted. Use it, because you will lose it later!

Gifted Plan BTo qualify for gifted under our Plan B, the student

must have a total of 10 points on the matrix.

Points are earned based on the results of:• Behavior checklist• Creativity assessment• Academic achievement• IQ test results

Additionally, there must be a statement of need.

Gifted Plan B

All students have the “right” to qualify for gifted under “Plan A.” This means that the first step for any gifted referral should be completion of the teacher checklist and the administration of the K-BIT2. If the child qualifies for referral for a psychological, that then takes place. If the child does not meet the IQ screening criterion, you may then address Plan B.

Gifted Plan B

Another time that you may try the Plan B route is when an able student does not score high enough on the individual intelligence (IQ) test to qualify.

Evaluation Scoring System(Points Awarded for Component Scores)

Component 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point Points Awarded

I.Behavioral Characteristics of Gifted Students Total Score: _______

55 - 72 36 – 54

II. Creativity Assessment Program Total Score: ______ Date given: ______

Grades 1 – 3Grades 4 – 6Grades 7 – 9Grades 10–12

96 or above102 or above109 or above113 or above

91 – 9597 – 101

104 – 108108 - 112

88 – 9094 – 96

101 – 103103 - 107

85 – 8791 – 93

98 – 100101 - 102

III. Academic Achievement Group Test Name: _______________ Date administered: __________ Total Battery * Percentile: _______ * See Referral Coordinator Handbook for scores to use when Total Battery Score is not reported.OR

Percentile96 – 99

Percentile90 – 95

Percentile85 – 89

Percentile 80 – 84

Individual Test Name: ______________ Date administered: __________ Standard Score: _______ Area Score Used (check one): ____ Composite ____ Reading ____ Math ____ Written Language

Standard Score

125 or aboveStandard Score

119 – 124Standard Score

115 – 118Standard Score

111 – 114

IV. Intellectual Ability Test Name: ______________________ Full Scale/Composite Score: _______

127 or above 124 – 126 121 – 123 118 - 120

TOTAL (10 points are required for gifted placement. All four areas must be considered.) Note: at least one point must come from area IV.)

Teachers…

• Are the most critical element in identifying gifted students!

• Must realize that the student’s culture will influence what gifted behaviors will be observed and how they will be exhibited.

• Should be aware that giftedness is not necessarily manifested in academic achievement.

So….What do I look for?

This may be a student who…Has a longer attention spanDisplays excellent memory skillsHas keen powers of observationDisplays ability with numbersPerseveres (when interested)Is concerned with justice and fairness

So….What do I look for?

Shows high intensity in studiesHas a wide range of interestsUses an extensive vocabularyDisplays personal sensitivityShows a high degree of creativityTends to be a perfectionistIs good at jigsaw puzzles

So….What do I look for?

Has a preference for older companions

Has good problem-solving and reasoning abilities

Displays a vivid imaginationShows compassion for othersMakes judgments mature for age

So….What do I look for?

Has an excellent sense of humorDemonstrates unusual curiosityHas a high degree of energyShows early or avid reading abilityTends to question authorityDemonstrates moral sensitivityAppears to learn rapidly

(From the work of Linda Silverman)

Think Outside the Box!

• Students who are African American or who come from a background of poverty may not demonstrate gifted characteristics of the “majority” culture.

• Look for strengths in areas such as speaking, energy, social relatedness, spontaneity, and independence.

The Problem:

• The number of students identified as gifted in LCS has been steadily decreasing for the past few years.

• The proportion of African American and low SES identified as gifted is very low as compared to students in other race/ethnic groups.

“Universal” Screening

The district administration has decided that all students in grades K-5 will be subject to “universal” screening using a checklist of seven gifted characteristics. The checklists for each classroom (pre-populated with student names) will be emailed to each elementary school in October and again in April.

“Universal” Screening

• Teachers who have been using this checklist for the past few years report that it takes no more than two minutes to rate a whole class of students.

• It is suggested that a deadline be set for the checklists to be returned to a designated person in your school.

“Universal” Screening

• Students who are rated as displaying four of the seven characteristics of giftedness on the screening checklist should be considered for referral.

• Those students are then rated by the teacher using the district’s gifted behavior checklist, and those scoring a 36 or greater and have a “good” statement of need should be screened using the

K-BIT 2.

In Summary… We are obligated to seek

and identify gifted students just as assertively as we identify students who are disabled. Gifted students have special needs and require special education services.

Seek and ye shall find!