In order to help find and identify more gifted and potentially gifted students from underrepresented populations (CLD- Culturally and Linguistically Diverse students, Special Education students, Economically Disadvantaged students, etc.), we should also consider extenuating factors for the student and alternative data for the student.
Extenuating Factors– Documented factors that can impact the student and his or her test data, such as:
- disabilities,
- homelessness,
- frequent change of schools,
- poverty,
- language barriers,
- trauma in the home, etc.
Alternative Data– Data that isn’t typically used for gifted testing but can give more insight into the student’s academic performance and needs, such as:
- grades,
- student interview,
- student statement,
- state achievement testing results,
- observational descriptions of student performance in the classroom, etc.
It is important for schools to do their best to paint the most thorough picture of each referred child to make sure that giftedness and potential giftedness is identified. What does your school do to connect the dots for students’ needs?
Now that we have collected all of this data on our referred student, what do we do with it all? We’ll focus on that question in the next post!
Teaching for Talent 