The Importance of Identifying Talent
In Jeffco Public Schools, we realize the importance of identifying gifted students so that we can then begin cultivating their talent and better meet their needs. Therefore, we accept and encourage referrals from a wide variety of sources for all grade levels of students in all of our district schools. In Jeffco, we follow the Colorado Department of Education’s (CDE) GT Identification guidelines in making our identification decisions.
Click here for more about Identification practices in Jeffco Public Schools.
Why ID?
The purpose for identification is to provide programming different from the standard curriculum to better meet the unique needs of gifted students. Those students whose academic and affective needs are being met by the standard curriculum are not likely candidates for GT identification.
Types of Giftedness / Strength Areas
Giftedness may take a variety of forms, but can be generally broken into 2 broad categories as per CDE’s GT Definition and ID guidelines:
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Intellectual/Academic Ability: this is what people typically think of as giftedness in an academic setting, with strength areas such as
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Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies, General Intellectual Ability
- Click here for Intellectual/Academic ID Referral
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'Talent' Aptitude: these are strength areas where students may demonstrate exceptionality in fields such as
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Creative/Productive Thinking, Leadership, Visual and Performing Arts, Psychomotor Aptitude
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Click here for the GT Center application for current 2nd graders (3rd graders in 2019-20). This application is only for current 2nd graders who have taken the district universal CogAT screening and who have reviewed these results. Submissions from other grade levels will not be accepted at this time, as the general application closed October 15. If your current 2nd grade child has a Percentile Rank at or above the 95th percentile on one or more batteries or on the composite score of the 2nd grade CogAT universal screener, you may want to consider applying for one of our GT Center programs. Placement in a GT Center program is not based on the CogAT 7 alone!
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*Application for the Jeffco GT Center program for 3rd graders in 2019-20 (current 2nd graders) opens on Moday November 26, 2018 and closes on Sunday December 16, 2018 at 11:00pm.