Referring 2nd-12th Grade Students for GATE Assessment

Suggested Guidelines for Teachers

GATE Office 2009

There is no one single definition for giftedness,

However, the Marland Report provides the following definition: Those who by virtue of outstanding abilities are capable of high performance.
In 1972 Commissioner of Education Sidney P. Marland, Jr., published the results of a nationwide study mandated by the U. S. Congress to determine the degree to which our most able students were being served in the nation's schools.

As you prepare to refer students for GATE assessment, consider the following:
Einstein was four years old before he could speak and seven before he could read. Isaac Newton did poorly in grade school. When Thomas Edison was a boy, his teachers told him he was too stupid to learn anything. Verner Von Braun flunked 9th grade algebra. Winston Churchill failed the sixth grade.

These individuals did not conform to the expectations of their respective learning environments.
Yet, in retrospect, it is clear they all had potential for high performance.

Studies have shown that teachers tend to refer high achieving students for GATE assessment.
These students perform well academically and conform to the expectations of the learning environment.

Students who display gifted characteristics are less likely to conform to classroom routine and also less likely to be referred.
However, high achievement and gifted characteristics are not mutually exclusive in terms of GATE identification.

High Achievement Characteristics

Knows the answers Is interested Pays attention Works hard Answers the question Enjoys same-age peers Learns easily Is good at memorizing Is self-satisfied (when gets right answer) Appreciates teachers organizational system

Gifted Characteristics
Asks the questions Is very curious Gets involved mentally and physically Inattentive and still get good scores Questions the answers/teachers Prefers adults or older children Often already knows the answers Is good at guessing Is highly self-critical/critical of others (perfectionists/ underachievers) Can be extremely organized or disorganized

Use the Student Behavioral Checklist to help guide your referral decisions.
This form, also labeled as the G-2, addresses both high achievement and gifted characteristics. This form is available from your schools GATE representative and is also in your principals copy of the GATE Administrative Guidelines.

G-2
Teachers have asked for clarification on the term abstraction: This means to be adept at thinking at an abstract level and/or to move quickly to the abstract level with new concepts.

GATE assessment uses multiple criteria, so in addition to the G-2, the following forms must also be completed:

G-1: Completed by teacher, schools GATE representative, or administrator. Must be signed by representative or principal. G-3: Must be completed and signed by teacher. G-4: Must be completed and signed by parent or guardian.

G-1
Circle the Intellectual Ability category

G-3

G-4
Must be completed and signed by the parent or guardian in order for their child to take a general intelligence test.

All completed forms are submitted to the site GATE representative.

The site representative gives the completed forms to the test administrator on the scheduled test date.

Other important referral information

There must be a two-year interval between GATE testing. Ask your school site representative to confirm with the GATE office any previous test dates. Do not send home a G-4 until a two-year interval has been confirmed. Parent requests for GATE assessments are always honored once the two-year interval between tests has been established. The GATE office reviews all individual 2nd-8th grade student CST results each August as another avenue for GATE identification.

Questions???
Contact the GATE office at extension 80315 or e-mail ebailey@rusd.k12.ca.us