The West St. Francois County R - IV School District uses a systematic process for the identification of gifted students that is comprised of multiple criteria, including objective measures and competent professional evaluation. The District will not designate a student as “gifted” based upon the student’s participation in an advanced placement course or international baccalaureate course. Rather, such determinations will be made consistent with the statutorily defined phrase, “gifted children.” Gifted students eligible to receive state aid shall be defined as those students who exhibit precocious development of mental capacity and learning potential, as determined by competent professional evaluation, to the extent that continued educational growth and stimulation could best be served by an academic environment beyond that offered or expected in the regular classroom program of the district. The following procedures are used in the identification of gifted students.

Preliminary Screening

The district will provide preliminary screening for all students to ensure that all potentially gifted students have an opportunity for consideration. All available data, including information contained in the permanent record, will be considered during the preliminary screening process.

The district will use a variety of screening methods that reduce the chance of bias and provide an opportunity to identify the strengths of all students, including those students difficult to identify and traditionally underrepresented, such as students with limited English proficiency, students' from culturally diverse backgrounds and students with learning disabilities.

The district uses the following preliminary screening methods:

• Academic GPA - 3.00 on a 4.00 scale
• MAP/McGraw Hill Terra Nova - 95th percentile
• Teacher/Parent/Counselor Referral - Judgment

Further Assessment

The district will target approximately 20 percent of the students initially screened for further assessment.  Students in the targeted group will be assessed using a more expansive application of the preliminary screening criteria.

Individual Evaluation

Approximately ten (10) percent of the remaining group will be targeted for individual evaluation. Students will be individually evaluated in at least three (3) of the following four (4) areas:

1. General Mental Ability -- including a full-scale score on an individualized intelligence test at or above the 95th percentile.
2. Academic Ability -- including a norm-referenced test with a cut-off score at the 95th percentile or above on the composite score or on a majority of sub tests.
3. Creativity, Reasoning and Problem-Solving Ability -- including results of instruments indicating outstanding ability in one (1) of the following areas related to the design of the district's gifted program:
   • Creative and productive thinking.
   • Advanced insight.
   • Outstanding imagination.
   • Innovative or creative reasoning ability.
   • Advanced perception of cause-and-effect relationships.
   • Problem solving.
   • Abstract concepts.
4. Performance -- including documented evidence of exceptional-performance, such as portfolios, auditions, and characteristics checklists.

The district will use a variety of evaluation methods to differentiate between the academically superior student whose educational needs are met by regular classroom programs and the gifted student with needs requiring additional developmental opportunities. The specific evaluation methods used by the district are:

• Intelligence Test(s) - WISC-IV, W AIS, Standford-Binet IV - 95th percentile
• Achievement Test(s) - WJB, McGraw Hill Terra Nova - 95th percentile
• Creativity, Reasoning and Problem Solving Ability Instrument(s) - Gifted Education Scale Creativity Subtest, CAP - 14 and above
• Other Documented Evidence - Teacher, Parent, Counselor Checklist - Judgment

Identification and Placement

Students who meet at least three (3) of the four (4) individual evaluation criteria may be offered the opportunity to participate in the district's gifted program.  However, no more than five (5), percent of the enrollment in the school(s) or grade level(s) to be served shall be placed in any state-assisted program unless the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has granted prior permission.  If more than five (5) percent of the total population meet at least three (3) of the four (four) individual evaluation criteria, those students who are most in need of services will be placed in the state-assisted program.