Do I have a Gifted Child?
All parents wonder, is my child gifted? It’s that time of year again where many parents of elementary students and kindergarteners are in search of the best school for the upcoming school year. Or your child is already in public school and you feel like they are too smart for the classroom, often bored or completing assignments at astronomically fast rates, understanding concepts, and asking questions that are well beyond their years.
Many of you have been told by friends, teachers, and others that your child seems quite advanced or even “gifted”. As you consider having your child evaluated for giftedness, the following are all of the ins and outs you need to know before they take the test. If you are interested in having your child tested privately for gifted, contact me at (786) 383-4942 to set up an appointment.
The evaluation takes approximately an hour to an hour and a half and scores are given immediately once testing is completed. Gifted evaluations are $400. The report is completed within the week. I test children as young as four who will be entering Kindergarten the following school year through adolescents.
Scores do not need to be shared with the school and are kept confidential. The following information is specific to the Miami Dade County Public School System Process and may not necessarily reflect standards of Broward County or other counties in South Florida.
Specifications
- Gifted is considered when the child earns a minimum Intelligence Quotient (IQ) score of 130 and above. That is two standard deviations above the mean. This rule, states that a gifted student is “one who has superior intellectual development and is capable of high performance.”
- As a parent, you can request that your child be evaluated for giftedness to the school counselor, administrator, or your child’s teacher.
- The school has 90 days to complete the evaluation from the date that the parent signs a consent form formally allowing the school to evaluate your child.
- Direct testing by a Miami-Dade County Public School -school psychologist
- Or, review of an assessment completed by a private provider. This evaluation cannot be older than two years.
- Screening Process: Regardless of parent request, the school will screen students who show unusual ability using two or more of the following criteria:
- High academic achievement, as indicated by standardized test 89 percentile or higher or Levels 4 or 5 or course work grades of A or B.
- Above-average creative output in artistic, literary, scientific, or mathematics endeavors.
- Very rapid learning rate or unusually insightful conclusions.
- Multiple nominations from teachers and staff who observe unique talent.
- Parental reports of advanced developmental behavior, such as early reading, verbal precocity, and use of complex syntax, or evidence of mechanical aptitude.
- Outstanding academic, creative, or leadership abilities, self-reported, or peer reported.
- In addition, all LEP students that have achieved a grade of A or B in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) or home language arts (i.e., Spanish language arts, Haitian-Creole language arts) and mathematics are screened for gifted.
Procedures for referring for gifted education:
- Teachers, parents, or anyone with “qualified knowledge of the student’s ability” can refer the child for gifted education.
- A student profile is developed for a student being referred to the School Support Team (SST).
- The following is considered to continue the process by the SST:
- The student meets the majority of criteria in Gifted Characteristics Checklist
- Standardized test scores
- Classroom performance
- Report card grades, classwork, and/or projects.
- Once that is all complete and everyone is in agreement, your child is off to gifted education!
What is Plan B/ Part B?
- This focuses on the underrepresentation of minority students receiving gifted services. As per the State Board of Education, Part B includes students who are low socioeconomic status (free/ reduced lunch) or who are limited English proficient. Ethnicity is not considered mandatory to take into consideration anymore.
- A minimum IQ score of 112 is necessary.
- Miami-Dade County Public Schools uses four indicators for giftedness to check for eligibility:
- The Gifted Characteristics Checklist
- Scores on standardized academic achievement tests
- Individualized test of intelligence is administered by the school psychologist
- The Williams Creativity Scale is used to determine creativity.
- These four indicators are assigned points on a rubric. Students scoring nine (9) points in three of the four categories with a minimum IQ of 112 are eligible for gifted.
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