FREMONT UNIFIED S C H O O L D I S T R I C T Gifted and Talented Education(GATE) Testing and Identification Presented by: Robin Sehrt, Director of Elementary Education and Steven Musto, Director of Assessment and Accountability September 25, 2019 1
Defining giftedness Students, children, or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services and activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities (US Department of Education, 1993) 2
GATE in FUSD - History Practice • Teachers, Principals, and Parents recommended a child to be tested (3rd-5th grade) • Parents and Teachers could recommend a student be identified through the “professional judgment ” process • Testing was conducted on a Saturday with proctors (1:1 with a psychologist) and the GATE Specialist • Underserved students were under-identified for GATE testing • Teacher certification - 10 hours 3
GATE in FUSD - History Once identified as a GATE student: • Self-contained classrooms and homogeneous grouping • Qualified the child for Honors classes at secondary level • Students would be transferred to another school that had GATE Funding: • Funded through categorical funding 4
GATE in FUSD - Current Practices Practice: • All 3rd grade students are tested in a whole group setting unless parent opts the child out • All 4th and 5th grade students who did not get assessed in 3rd grade will be assessed (unless parent has opted the student out) • Parents and Teachers can recommend 5th and 6th grade students be identified through the “professional judgment” process • Teacher certification - 17 hours 5
GATE in FUSD - Current Practices Practice: • Testing all FUSD students has increased equal access to testing • Increased amount of underserved students are now identified, however, the gap continues to grow 6
GATE in FUSD - Current Practices 7
GATE in FUSD - Current Practices Once identified as a GATE student: • Guarantees a child a spot in 7th grade Honors for English Language Arts (other criteria exist for non-GATE students to be in Secondary Honors courses) • Student is placed with a GATE- certified teacher (when available) Funding: • Categorical funding for GATE was eliminated in 2013-2014 • $43,000 from the general fund is allocated for GATE testing in 2019- 2020 8
GATE Testing How would we identify giftedness without a standardized testing process? “Because no two gifted children are alike it is important to collect information on both the child's performance and potential through a combination of objective (quantifiably measured) and subjective (personally observed) identification instruments in order to identify gifted and talented students .” (National Association for Gifted Children) Current research: • There is a significant amount of research that indicates one test is not a best practice to identify gifted students. One assessment is limited at identifying a wider range of gifted students. • The research suggests “multiple pieces of evidence should be collected that measure different constructs and characteristics aligned to the gifted program definition, goals, and objectives .” 9
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