Gifted Evaluation Process
All gifted assessments in the Cobb County School District adhere to the rules and regulations established by the Georgia Department of Education. There are three steps in the process of identification and placement of students into the gift-ed program: referral, assessment, and determination of eligibility.
Referral
The referral process is the first step of the gifted services eligibility process. A referral may come from teachers, parents, students, or as the result of system wide testing. Referrals are reviewed by each school’s eligibility committee to determine whether further assessment of a student for gifted eligibility is appropriate.
Assessment
Students are assessed in first, third, and fifth grades in four areas: mental ability, achievement, creativ-ity, and motivation. Instruments include nationally normed tests, rating scales, and other approved measures. All assessments comply with state rules and regulations.
Once assessment is completed, the data is evaluated for determination of eligibility.
Determination of Eligibility
Eligibility may be established in one of two ways:
Option A
Mental Abili-ties and Achievement.
Mental Ability: 99th percentile (K-2) or 96th percentile (3-12) on a standardized test of mental ability – Composite Score only
Achievement: 90th percentile in total battery, total reading, or total math section of a standardized achievement battery
A student must meet eligibil-ity requirements in both.
Option B:
Mental Ability: 96th percentile on a standardized test of mental ability approved component or composite score
Achievement: 90th percentile in total battery, total reading, or total math section of a standardized achievement battery
Creativity: 90th percentile / 90 percent on a creativity assessment
Motivation: 90th percentile / 90 percent on a motivation portfolio assessment
A student must meet eligibility requirements in three of the four following areas.