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Identification Process

Elma School District Highly Capable Program Annual Plan for the 2017‐2018 School Year

Identification Process

Notification, Referral, Screening, Assessment, and Selection/ Watch List. Listed below are the policies and procedures used by the multi-disciplinary team to identify students.

Written Description of the HCP Identification Process

Step 1: Referral of students shall be permitted from any source, including teacher, other staff, parents, students and members of the community. Referral forms need to be obtained from the district office or school building office.

Step 2: Parent Permission must be obtained in writing before assessments to determine eligibility are conducted.

Step 3: Referred students’ scores on building level assessments are reviewed.

  • Elementary FastBridge & iReady Testing, Building Benchmarks Assessments, *Smarter Balance Middle School- MAPS, Building Benchmarks Assessments, *Smarter Balance
  • High School-*Smarter Balance(upon release of scores)

Step 4: Students Referred for consideration to participate in this program are screened with an additional Characteristic Measurement and the Cognitive Abilities Test. Screening procedures may eliminate students from whom there exists clear, current evidence that the student will not qualify for eligibility.

  • CLED Scales: High Potential Culturally, Linguistically, and Economically Diverse Learner: Teacher Rating Scales will be administered to teachers of Referred students to show evidence that students demonstrate or possesses unique or outstanding creative ability or unusual problem solving ability or learning characteristics which indicates that the student has the intellectual potential for perform academically at a level significantly higher than the norm for his or her chronological age. The Scales will be completed by the student’s Current Academic Teacher.
  • Cognitive Abilities Test: The student with a score in the 90th percentile or above in any one of the three areas of the Cognitive abilities Test will be automatically placed on a watch list. This test measures verbal, non-verbal, and quantitative abilities.

Step 5: The Multidisciplinary Selection Committee reviews all the screening data(Step 3-Step 4) The team also develop a profile of tests scores and data collected on the student’s progress and which data will be most appropriate for determining a student for placement. For students recommended for placement or non-placement to the program, parents/guardians will be notified by letter. Students not placed or identified will be monitored for involvement with parts or all of program options.

Step 6: Parents/guardian will grant permission for their student to be a part of the program or may reserve their right to appeal the committee’s decision.

Further information on any of the above steps and current program options can be reviewed as outlined in the Elma School District Highly Capable Guide.

Right to Appeal

Parents may appeal the decision of the committee to Elma’s Superintendent. Such an appeal must be submitted in writing within ten business days of receiving the final recommendation of the committee.