The purpose of the Placement Process is not to determine if a student is “gifted” or “not gifted.”
Rather, the purpose of the placement process is to identify specific academic student needs and match learners with appropriate supplementary services.
This three step process includes Referral, Evaluation, and Placement.
The Referral Phase begins with screening. Screening is the process of reviewing current grade level data about each child to determine if a student should be referred for further assessment for possible placement in the Advanced Learning Program. The screening process includes: a review of current performance data, grade level standardized tests, and observational data using checklists based on gifted characteristics.
Referrals (sometimes called Nominations) is the direct procedure that enters a student into the Evaluation Phase. Referrals may be initiated by teachers, parents, or others who may have knowledge of students’ learning needs.
In the Evaluation Phase GPS uses a multifaceted placement scheme to identify not only students who are already high achieving in the domain but also those with potential but underdeveloped achievement.
Multifaceted placement scheme includes:
Age Normed measures of aptitude for reasoning in each of the domains for which services will be provided (for example, verbal reasoning scores considered for placement into language arts services and quantitative reasoning scores for placement into mathematics). (Cognitive Ability Tests)
Grade Normed measures of achievement in each domain for which advanced services will be provided. (Achievement Assessments).
Criterion Normed measures that add descriptive information about students’ performance or potential in the domains for which services are provided. (Performance Tasks)
In the Placement Phase the Building Advisory Committee (BAC), consisting of the ALP teacher(s), classroom teachers, a building administrator, and the ALP facilitator, conducts a comprehensive review of each child’s record and performance during the evaluation in order to make final placement decisions. All selection decisions reflect the best professional judgment of the committee to determine the best way to meet each child’s individual needs.