DISTRICT STATUS
The Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program provides challenging curriculum and instruction for students who are capable of achieving significantly beyond the level of their peers. Each school site offers supplemental and differentiated programs for individuals and groups of students with special educational needs. This occurs through identification, accelerated courses, counseling and program evaluation. Schools offer support activities in academic areas which include at the Middle School level; Knowledge Bowl, Math Field Day, Science Fair and the Spelling Bee and at the High School level; Academic Decathlon and Advanced Placement courses.

IDENTIFICATION
The GATE identification process component provides an equal opportunity for all students to be considered for the program. The search is conducted by each school site with support from the district staff, through a review of CST English and Math test data. Due to budget restraints, testing is conducted in grade 7th thru 9th. However, testing for 10th graders is permissible per request of teacher, counselor, or parent. The search focuses attention on students who are believed to have extraordinary capability, or the potential for academic success, in one or more of six categories; Intellectual Ability, High Achievement, Specific Academic Ability, Special Education, Limited English Proficiency for English Learners, and other students who don’t qualify for GATE designation but are able to compete successfully in an Honor/Accelerated Program. The other three categories (leadership, visual performing and creative thinking) aren’t currently assessed.

The district will provide GATE coordinators at each site with a list of test candidates, and then the GATE coordinator will assist in the search process by combining their list of students who demonstrate high achievement on CSTs by scoring 435 in English or 440 in Math. To aid in identifying underrepresented groups, additional students may be included with referrals from counselors, teachers or parents.

CATEGORIES
Current state legislation allows the district to select one or more of the following categories for the identification of GATE students. The letter in parenthesis is the coding SUHSD uses for GATE identification purposes.

Intellectual Ability (K): students who demonstrate exceptional intellectual development
High Achievement (L): students who consistently produce advanced ideas and products and/or score exceptionally high on achievement tests
Remain in GATE (J): Student does not qualify for GATE designation but is able to compete successfully in an Honor/Accelerated Program.

METHOD

Sweetwater Union High School District currently uses the CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) as part of the multiple variables to help identify academically gifted students.

The CogAT measures learned reasoning and problem-solving skills in three different areas: verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal. Reasoning skills develop gradually throughout a person’s lifetime and at different rates for different individuals. Reasoning abilities are good predictors of success in school and are important outcomes of good schooling. CogAT does not measure such factors as effort, attention, motivation, and work habits, which also contribute importantly to school achievement.

The three batteries of CogAT differ in the following ways:

The Verbal Battery measures flexibility, fluency, and adaptability in reasoning with verbal materials and in solving verbal problems. These reasoning abilities play an important role in reading comprehension, critical thinking, writing, and virtually all verbal learning tasks.
The Quantitative Battery measures quantitative reasoning skills; flexibility and fluency in working with quantitative symbols and concepts; and the ability to organize, structure, and give meaning to an unordered set of numerals and mathematical symbols. These reasoning skills are significantly related to problem solving in mathematics and other disciplines.
The Nonverbal Battery measures reasoning using geometric shapes and figures. To perform successfully, students must invent strategies for solving novel problems. They must be flexible in using these strategies and accurate in implementing them.

Because the CogAT is nationally normed, an individual’s test performance can be compared with the test performances of other students throughout the nation who are the same age.

A student’s national age percentile rank on the verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and nonverbal reasoning ability means that he/she scored higher than a certain percent of students of his/her age in the national norming sample. The CogAT composite score is derived from results on the Verbal, Quantitative, and Nonverbal batteries. The Composite national age percentile rank is a general statement of this student’s reasoning ability.