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Educating the teachers on what qualities, traits, etc to look for in a gifted student is the first step to ensure atypical identification and what is currently being done through these required trainings. I only wish I would have known this information sooner (6th year teacher now), because it is so helpful. I think the referral process is flexible and utilized by most teachers, however I am still unsure on specifics of the qualification process.
Cara Thurman

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I'm coming from the perspective of a 2nd grade teacher. Thankfully, all of our students do take the ITBS/CoGAT and those scores are used to identify students we believe would benefit from the GATES program. Last year, I had a student qualify for GATES after the testing, and she continues to thrive from the instruction she receives. However, this year I have a student (maybe two) that I fully believe would soar in a GATES program. However, because of his home life and other outside factors, he is oftentimes unable to focus in class and my fear is that he will, once again, not be able to focus on a lengthy assessment. Our GATES teachers have had him flagged since kindergarten, and so far, he's been unable to qualify even though we are able to see his giftedness after getting to know him.

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At the high school level I feel like the ability for a student to spread their wings and challenge themselves is by far much easier. By this time in their lives; MOST (definitely not all, but most) students have already been identified as GT and those who struggled in middle school have been brought back down to a more comfortable level. However; I do not know that this is necessarily a good thing. I think at the high school level it is still important to seek out the GT kid in all classrooms. Each year I have at least 2 on-level students who "wow" and amaze me and by Christmas I call home suggesting a move to a higher level course and then eventually I end up calling and pushing for them to take AP chemistry. I love when this happens. It is like finding a diamond in the rough. I do not think all teachers follow this model. I think a lot of teachers just ride the wave of a good on-level student and don't necessarily push them in the most beneficial direction. I do think the districts lower levels (middle and elementary) do a fantastic job of allowing individual drive and success, but I think we could always do better at the high school level.

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I am a kindergarten teacher and I feel like our GT referral process for students is flexible. We have multiple ways to nominate for testing, including KOI lessons, small group pull out with our GATES teacher, teacher and parent referrals. Although our referral process is flexible, I think we still have some room for improvement in our identification process. I feel like we are not always identifying those atypical kiddos because we sometimes let their behavior or attitudes "justify" not testing or even qualifying them into the program.

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I believe NISD does a very good job at being flexible. I like how there are multiple platforms that can identify the kids as "gifted." Our GT teachers are pretty amazing from what I have seen so far. Being in a SEAC unit and having one of them involved in GT is so awesome. I am glad that kids are still identified without the stigma of behavior issues or "difficult to work with."

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I believe that we are very flexible in NISD. We give a lot of opportunities for students to display their different areas of "giftedness" which can help us look at the students who don't "jump off the page" as GT. We also have a lot of time for discussion which can clue us in to a child's thinking process and if/when they think in an abstract or logical way. I believe that our atypical kids also have the opportunity for identification because of the different mediums they work in (i.e. technology/hands-on). Discussions can also help us. I usually will pull my atypical kiddos and have discussions about what they're learning. Just their way of explaining the concept or connecting it to another really helps in identifying these kids.

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I believe that NISD is flexible in their identification process in that it allows teachers from all areas to refer ANY student for testing. Everyone below has made great points, however, that we cannot always base giftedness on a student's ability or outcome on the tests that we give them. For example, I have a student in my special education classroom that I am referring for testing this year. However, his abilities are not in reading or writing which creates a barrier on certain parts of the test. We need to make sure we've looked at the biases that our tests have and find ways to fill in those gaps.

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I think that it is somewhat flexible. From my experience, in 2nd grade, all students take the Cogat and ITBS tests every year. Once we get those scores back the GT teachers and classroom teachers evaluate them. It is always interesting seeing those scores especially for some students who were identified in kindergarten. Some of those kids' scores come back and they would not have qualified in 2nd grade. Not to say that they are not GT, but that they didn't meet the standards according to their test scores. I think these tests have their ups and downs. It takes us 2 weeks to complete both tests and we test for about an hour every day. This is the first time students are taking tests like this. I think it works to identify some kids, and does not do justice for others. For example, the underachieving student who isn't going to give 100% on the test. In second grade, that really is the sole identifier for GT students. I think it would be a better process if we were able to recommend students as classroom teachers that we believe meet the characteristics of a GT student and maybe didn't meet the standard according to their test scores.

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I think that in most aspects our identification is flexible. Teachers can recommend a student and there is no pushback, they are tested. However, I have noticed that when kids come from other districts and are identified as GT, they have to retest and sometimes do not qualify. I wonder if this happens due to anxiety and being so new to a school. Chapter 2 suggested that if students qualify in one city, they should be placed in GT in the next, and we monitor whether or not that placement works for them. I'm wondering if this is a practice we should do at our school as well. I agree with some of the other posts that teachers need to be made more aware of what the testing is like. Some kids who are very high in reading may struggle in Math. Would that disqualify them?

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After teaching Kindergarten for 13 years and having lots of parent request for testing it has been challenging and eye opening to identify 4th graders. I felt that many times a Kinder student who appeared gifted was often a student that had had lots of exposure and experiences. My experience in 4th grade has been that often times kids are not identified due to those "undesirable behaviors" that go against the classroom norms. I have actuallly seen gifted students perform poorly on a screening because it had no "value" for them. I do believe that we as educators are understanding and embracing how all students learn and the differentiation that it takes to meet the needs of all students, and most importantly our gifted population. I have been pleased with the parameters that NISD has in place: having accountability standards, not just accepting a placement from another district etc. and the knowledge that our GATES teachers have about the testing and identification process.

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Victoria Mengden: I believe that the identification process in NISD is pretty flexible based on the fact that there are multiple ways that NISD uses to identify GT students. Before taking these GT courses, I will admit I did not know much about our GT program or the identification process except for the fact that I knew that we offered GT English on our campus. Based on this idea, I believe we do a great job of identifying students in our district at a younger age but sometimes might miss some students who should be identified at the high school level. I think we would see an increase in our number of GT students if more secondary faculty were aware of the identification process. Not saying we should identify every student but I think there are a few students who miss being identified that would benefit from our GT courses! 

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Victoria Mengden: I believe that the identification process in NISD is pretty flexible based on the fact that there are multiple ways that NISD uses to identify GT students. Before taking these GT courses, I will admit I did not know much about our GT program or the identification process except for the fact that I knew that we offered GT English on our campus. Based on this idea, I believe we do a great job of identifying students in our district at a younger age but sometimes might miss some students who should be identified at the high school level. I think we would see an increase in our number of GT students if more secondary faculty were aware of the identification process. Not saying we should identify every student but I think there are a few students who miss being identified that would benefit from our GT courses! 

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I believe we are taking steps in the right direction in regards to we do just you one test to identify G.T. students. I am not fully aware of all of what we offer and specifically do to support our G.T. students. I do believe their is some value and a chance for growth in our district in creating options for students to be in gt classes for Social Studies and Science instead of just ELA and Math classes.

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I recently spoke to the diagnostician about IQs. We were identifying a student in SPED and I happened to ask what his IQ was, only because I heard another teacher mention it during a meeting. I was surprised to learn that determining if a student is SPED by looking at their IQ is diminishing, rather they are looking at other aspects of the brain, such as processing speed. If that theory is taken to the other end of the spectrum, how would relating the student's IQ qualify them for being coded as gifted and talented. I think there is a great area of improvement needed as we begin to see the many talents students have and where they are deficient. Calling a student GT but not accommodating them anywhere but math and ELA might not be the best route. Also, I've never been a part of the process for GT testing but I wonder how much of it is subjective and how much of it our students have learned to get away with to be able to skew the results. Like any other test, if a student had a bad morning and they don't meet the requirements of GT that day, does that mean they aren't? Or if a student in class has brilliant ideas and and is able to think outside of the box and turn in amazing work is he or she not GT because of a test? 

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I recently spoke to the diagnostician about IQs. We were identifying a student in SPED and I happened to ask what his IQ was, only because I heard another teacher mention it during a meeting. I was surprised to learn that determining if a student is SPED by looking at their IQ is diminishing, rather they are looking at other aspects of the brain, such as processing speed. If that theory is taken to the other end of the spectrum, how would relating the student's IQ qualify them for being coded as gifted and talented. I think there is a great area of improvement needed as we begin to see the many talents students have and where they are deficient. Calling a student GT but not accommodating them anywhere but math and ELA might not be the best route. Also, I've never been a part of the process for GT testing but I wonder how much of it is subjective and how much of it our students have learned to get away with to be able to skew the results. Like any other test, if a student had a bad morning and they don't meet the requirements of GT that day, does that mean they aren't? Or if a student in class has brilliant ideas and and is able to think outside of the box and turn in amazing work is he or she not GT because of a test? 

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I'm sometimes left with more questions than answers, but I like that it has me thinking.

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I assume Northwest does a proper job in identifying gifted students, but based on my limited knowledge of this department and the lack of information I have received I cannot make a sound opinion of our process. I have been emailed on occasion to highlight students that may be gifted through a school wide initiated response. We do not have a school-wide, grade level GT program. My last school our GT students traveled together to each class (Humanities, LA, SCI, SS) much like our SPeD students do on our campus. Therefore I believe we could do a better job at identifying atypical gifted kids through use of staff development during engage or other days in our schedule to ensure all teachers k-12 know how to adequately identify gifted students in their classroom.

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Northwest ISD has done a pretty good job of creating a flexible identification process since it focuses on multiple facets of student achievement and not specifically on one or two test scores.  It does seem that our district falls into the old habit of assuming that "once identified, always identified".  At least at the high school level, it is becoming increasingly more difficult for a student to drop a advanced level class during the school year, and many feel pressured to stay in their advanced level classes by counselors, teachers, etc.

As teachers, we need to be made aware of the referral process and what we should be looking for in terms of student achievement. Honestly, I didn't know about the referral process until this year when I took Audra's course on identifying GT students. The more we educate our faculty, the better chances we have of raising our GT numbers.

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I believe that the process for identification is more flexible than it has been in the past. We have moved beyond the "one test" method of identifying students and now include multiple diagnostic tests that examine the child more holistically to determine giftedness. The one area that could improve is in our identification time frame. In my experience (secondary), we still identify children as an "April Event".  Unless a parent pushes the subject, testing only occurs at the beginning and the end of the school year.  This process may be more fluid in elementary, but secondary definitely feels restrained by time.

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I believe the process of identification is not always accurate.  Not all testing in place identified gifted children.  I have personally dealt with this with my son.  He is a gifted child, but never could pass the placement test, therefore was not placed into the program.  Every year in school his teachers would ask me if I had considered having him tested.  I did this process for 3 years and then just quit because of the heartache it caused my son.

Therefore, I believe we need to really look and the type of testing we are doing to identify ALL gifted children. It should not be a one-size-fits-all.

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I think that our process has some room for improvement. I feel that there should be more of a trial period and monitoring of students that are not performing where they should. I also think that teachers should be better prepared to be a talent identifier so that students who show gifted characteristics in some areas but not all can still be identified
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This chapter was very interesting to me. My first year of teaching I sat on a GT comittee. I saw the process the district used as fair. It had 3 parts (CoGat Scores, Student Portfolio, and 3 Surveys [student,teacher, parent]). Then I moved to GA for 5 years. The district I was at there, tested every student in 1st and 3rd as a screener. Most students were entry in to GT was based only on test scores (coGAT and some subsequent motivation testing). Only If they were borderline, did the teacher make a portfolio.

I feel both of these systems had this flaws. If a teacher didn’t have evidence that showed the students potential then, the first method may hold them back. The second district’s method was also flawed in that it was heavily weighted on test scores.

I really thought this chapter was important to remind us that we need to advocate for students who could be gifted, yet know the difference between gifted and teacher pleaser.

The cheeta metaphor on page 57 was perfect! I wonder if there is some hidden talent in my classroom now that I have locked up.

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I feel our process can and should have some improvements when it comes to the identification phase. I believe that we have some GT students that may not have done well on the identification test and therefore do not qualify for the program. I think that's where flexibility should step in. I agree with Kelsey in that a trial period should be available for students that may not have met the exam standards. I believe it exists for the students that do pass the exam, which allows them a grace period of deciding whether or not to stay in a GT class. If a teacher feels a student would be successful in a GT class, the student should be able to "try" the class to confirm if they are truly a fit for the program.

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I think over time our identification process has become more clear for some students. But I also feel like at times it's not flexible. I feel like over the years I have had several students, who in my opinion, should have been able to be in GT but weren't allowed because they didn't score high enough on the COGAT or other identifying tests. I wish there was almost like a trial period they could go through if teachers see the potential in them!

This year we have tweaked our identification process ,  My hope is that it will help us find those hard to identify students.

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Over time the identification process has become more efficient and more inclusive of students.  As long as we use a "preponderance of evidence" in our identification process, we can be confident that we are identifying typical and atypical GT kiddos