Student Identification:
Exploring Guiding Principle 4
4. All student identification procedures and instruments must be based on current theory and research.
The research literature from the fields of gifted child education and psychology provides information about identification procedures and instruments that is continually changing. If the most current information is not applied, students might be missed as a result of out-of-date instrumentation or procedures. As new information and insights are reported, expanded conceptions of giftedness and talent and expanded understandings about the reliability and validity of assessment instruments require a realignment of definitions and methods used for assessment and identification.
Therefore, identification procedures and instruments should be investigated through a review of current literature, (including test reviews) prior to use to determine their appropriateness for the construct being assessed and for the district's population of students. In addition, the procedures and instruments should be regularly reviewed (at least once every 3 years) to ensure that the identification process remains current. Finally, the use of assessment instruments should conform to professional standards for ethical use as well as reflect current best practice and research for the specific use with gifted learners.
Standards and Sample Outcomes
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4.0 MINIMUM STANDARD
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4.0 EXEMPLARY STANDARD
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No single assessment instrument or its results denies student eligibility for gifted programming services.
- A battery of assessment instruments and procedures provide more than one “path” to eligibility so that results from one instrument do not automatically exclude a student who warrants a closer examination.
- Student performance or demonstration of visual and performing arts ability are representative of work over time, rather than a one-time display of aptitude.
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Student assessment data should come from multiple sources and include multiple assessment methods.
- Districts use a balanced combination of strategies that permit multiple ways for potentially gifted children to be identified. Placement decisions also are based on multiple sources of information.
- Assessments of visual and performing arts incorporate a diverse display of talent collected by several approaches.
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4.1 MINIMUM STANDARD
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4.1 EXEMPLARY STANDARD
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All assessment instruments must provide evidence of reliability and validity for the intended purposes and target students.
- Assessment instruments and procedures are selected based on satisfactory reliability and validity for their intended use in identifying giftedness.
- When assessment instruments are re-normed or outdated, their use is revisited.
- At the very least, inter-rater reliability is established among experts who assess portfolios, performances, and displays of artwork.
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Student assessment data should represent an appropriate balance of reliable and valid quantitative and qualitative measures.
- Sources of student assessment data are balanced between academic and non-academic sources, formal and informal strategies, standardized and non-standardized assessments, subjective and objective data, and qualitative and quantitative data.
- Districts document the reliability and validity of each assessment instrument and procedure for the purposes of identifying gifted students in their school setting.
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