The identification process has several phases, as required by State law. The process begins with a Referral. Referral forms are available in all the school offices, in the Office of Gifted Education, and on-line on the District's website. A student may be referred by a parent, teacher, counselor, the student him- or herself, or an adult who knows the child well.

The first phase of the process is "Screening."
The purpose of Screening is to cast a broad net, looking at as many students as possible, looking for their strengths and possible areas of giftedness. Hamilton City Schools test all students in grades 3, 6 and 9 using The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills as an achievement measure and The Cognitive Abilities Test to measure ability. The district uses these tests for several purposes, including assessing progress of our student population as a whole and looking at individuals' progress.

We use those same scores as the Screening phase for gifted identification. [Since all students at these grade levels are tested, a referral is unnecessary.]

The second phase is "Assessment."
Students who score at least 120 on an ability test or at least 90th percentile on an achievement measure during the Screening phase are eligible to move on to the Assessment phase. This phase allows students who have scored well but not quite high enough to be identified as gifted to have a second opportunity to reach the gifted level. Students who have reached the Assessment level are offered a different test in the area(s) in which they reached the prescribed cut-off level. That is, if a student scores between 90 and 94th percentile in achievement or 120-126 on an ability test, he or she may take a different test to try to make a higher score.

Phase three is "Identification."
Students who score at least two standard deviations above the mean-127 on the CogAT-or 95th percentile on the Iowa are "identified" as gifted in that area and are eligible for whatever services are available to gifted students in that category at that grade level.

Students may also be referred for possible giftedness in areas of Visual and Performing Arts. The same three stage process is followed, but auditions or portfolios are used rather than standardized tests. Students may also be referred for gifted identification in the category of Superior Creative Thinking. Students need to score at least 115 on a cognitive test and score in the superior range on an approved checklist of creative behaviors. However, being identified as gifted in Visual or Performing Arts or in Superior Creative Thinking will not provide any services beyond what is available without that designation.