Identification and Placement

  • 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 requalify 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.

    NWEA MAP Growth (MAP)

    MAP is a nationally-normed, computer-adaptive test that measures the student’s ability level in reading and mathematics.

    Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)

    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 Assessments (IOWA)

    IOWA is a nationally-normed test that measures student achievement in reading, vocabulary, and mathematics.

    Placement Tests

    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.
     Renzuli Scales

    The Renzulli Scales is a standardized, observational instrument that is completed by the student’s current teacher. The items on the scales are observable behaviors and characteristics that gifted children tend to exhibit.

     

    IDENTIFICATION AND PLACEMENT FLOWCHARTS

    Flowchart for Placement into Grade 3 Honors Math

    Flowchart for Placement into Grade 4-8 Honors Math, Project IDEA, or Project IDEA Plus 

    Flowchart for Students New to the District

     

    IDENTIFICATION AND PLACEMENT TIMELINES

    Fall 2021 Timeline

    Timeline for Placement into Grade 3 Honors Math

    Winter/Spring 2022 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

    Honors Math Placement Matrix Grades 3-8

    Project IDEA

    Project IDEA Placement Matrix Grades 4-8

    Project IDEA Plus

    Project IDEA Plus Placement Matrix Grades 4-8

     

     Additional Information about the Placement Tests and Renzulli Scales

    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.

     

     

    RENZULLI SCALES

    Naperville Community Unit School District 203 uses the Renzulli Scales to gather teacher input during the identification and placement process. Supported by 40 years of research, this standardized, observational instrument is completed by teachers, who rate their current students on certain observable behaviors and characteristics that gifted children tend to exhibit such as having an interest in analyzing the mathematical structure of a problem, using advanced vocabulary, grasping underlying principles, and making generalizations from complex information. The teacher rates the student based on his/her observation of how frequently the student demonstrates these characteristics. The children who demonstrate these characteristics more frequently are more likely to be gifted. For identification purposes, the average of each scale is determined.

    Honors Mathematics

    Teachers complete the following scales.
     • Learning Characteristics
     • Motivation Characteristics
     • Mathematics Characteristics

    Project IDEA

    Teachers complete the following scales.
     • Learning Characteristics
     • Motivation Characteristics
     • Communication Characteristics

    Project IDEA Plus

    Teachers complete the following scales.
     • Learning Characteristics
     • Motivation Characteristics
     • Communication Characteristics
     • Planning Characteristics
     • Creativity Characteristics