GT Screening and Identification
With the start of each school year, we begin the screening and identification process for the academically gifted and talented program. To be identified as academically gifted and talented in South Carolina, students must have a composite aptitude score at or above the 96th national age percentile or meet two out of three dimensions of eligibility: aptitude, achievement, or performance. This is a three-step process.
Step One:
All students in grade 2 as well as all referred students in grades 3-11 will be given the CogAT®, an aptitude test, in October. Any parent, student, teacher, or administrator may refer a student for testing by visiting https://palmetto-gifted.edwiselabs.com/refer-student prior to September 11th. If the student has a composite aptitude score at or above the 96th national age percentile, then he/she automatically qualifies for the program. If the student scores at or above the 93rd national age percentile on the verbal, nonverbal, quantitative or total portion of the aptitude test, then we will screen for high achievement.
Step Two:
For the achievement dimension, all students in grades 2 and up who take i-Ready will have their scores screened for academically gifted and talented qualification. Students who have i-Ready scores on either the reading or the math tests at or above the 94th national percentile meet the achievement dimension of eligibility. Additionally, the South Carolina Department of Education annually establishes SC READY scores used to determine eligibility for the achievement dimension for students in grades 3-8.
Step Three:
If the student meets the eligibility criteria for either the aptitude or achievement dimension but not both, we will screen for the academic performance dimension. The Performance Task Assessment will be administered to qualifying students in grades 2-5 in February/March. A student may take either the primary (grades 2-3) or the intermediate (grades 4-5) version of the Performance Task Assessment, and results will be released over the summer. End-of-year grades in the core academic areas (English, math, science, social studies, and foreign language) will be used as the performance dimension measure for students in grades 5 through 11. A grade point average of 3.75 on a 4.0 scale in the core academic areas is needed to meet the performance dimension eligibility criteria. Students who become eligible for the academically gifted and talented program through the performance dimension will begin gifted services the following school year.
Additional Eligibility:
Students identified in one South Carolina school district are eligible in any South Carolina school district, and students who have met the state identification criteria in another state and who transfer into a South Carolina public school maybe eligible for Gifted and Talented services as deemed appropriate by the Evaluation Placement Team. The referral, screening, and identification process is a lengthy one. If your child meets the identification criteria for the academically gifted and talented program, then you will receive written notification from your child’s school. If you have questions regarding the screening and identification process, please contact Heather Sheehan at 843-488-6843.