Academically Talented
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Identification and Placement
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Naperville Community Unit School District 203 ensures that all students are given an opportunity to be screened for placement into academically talented and gifted services each year. See Description of Services to learn more about these services. Identification and placement are determined by both formal assessments as well as teacher rating scales. Data collected during the identification process are placed on a matrix to determine if placement in academically talented and gifted services is appropriate. Students enrolled in academically talented and gifted services do not need to re-qualify for ongoing placement.
IDENTIFICATION AND PLACEMENT CRITERIA AND DESCRIPTIONS Naperville CUSD 203 uses multiple criteria to determine whether placement in gifted and talented services would be appropriate. No one criterion, on its own, provides a conclusive decision as to whether a student should be placed into these services. Rather, the five criteria, taken together, provide a holistic picture of a student and are used collectively to determine if placement would be appropriate.
MAP is a nationally-normed, computer-adaptive test that measures the student’s ability level in reading and mathematics.
CogAT is a nationally-normed test that provides a description of the student’s own cognitive resources for learning by measuring verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal reasoning abilities.
IOWA is a nationally-normed test that measures student achievement in reading, vocabulary, and mathematics.
The placement tests for Grades 3-6 Honors Math and Grades 4-8 Project IDEA are district-developed and locally-normed assessments, the placement test for Grades 7-8 Honors Math is the Iowa Algebra Aptitude Test (IAAT), and the placement test for Grades 4-8 Project IDEA Plus is the Figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT). Both the IAAT and the TTCT are nationally-normed tests.
IDENTIFICATION AND PLACEMENT TIMELINES
Fall Grade 3 2024 TimelineSpring 2025 (Grades 3-7) Timelines
Timeline for Placement into Grades 4-6 Honors Math, Project IDEA, or Project IDEA Plus
Timeline for Placement into Grades 7-8 Honors Math, Project IDEA, or Project IDEA Plus
New Student Timeline
Timeline for Placement of Students New to the District PLACEMENT MATRICES Honors Mathematics
Project IDEA
Project IDEA Plus
Additional Information about the Placement Tests
PLACEMENT TESTS Honors Mathematics, Grades 3-6
The placement test for each grade is a district-developed and locally-normed test that assesses the student’s ability to answer challenging problem-solving questions. Each test is a paper-pencil test and is not multiple choice. Students can receive partial credit for showing their thinking as they solve the given problems.
Honors Mathematics, Grades 7-8
The placement test is the Iowa Algebra Aptitude Test (IAAT), which assesses the student’s ability in the areas of pre-algebraic number skills and concepts, interpreting mathematical information, representing relationships, and using symbols. IAAT is a nationally-normed test and is a paper-pencil test.
Project IDEA, Grades 4-8
The placement test for each grade is a district-developed and locally-normed test that assesses the student’s ability to answer multiple-choice, reading comprehension questions and compose a written response about complex texts. The test is a paper-pencil test.
Project IDEA Plus, Grades 4-8
The placement test for each grade is the Figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT), which uses three picture-based exercises to assess five mental characteristics and creative strengths. TTCT is a nationally-normed test and is a paper-pencil test.