Just wondering about the entrance criteria for gifted programs in other districts/schools. Here they pretty much demand achievement math/reading test scores that are both above the 98th percentile AS WELL AS CogAT scores above 132.
Assessing both aptitude and achievement for placement into a gifted program is common. The scores you share are often considered the minimum requirements. In general if a pupil is not this advanced, they are believed to not have
demonstrated a need for other than the grade-level curriculum.
... be taught above grade-level... extensively after-schooled... come from teachers who differentiate...?
Unfortunately some may say this expresses a view of a child more as a passive recipient of knowledge presented to them, rather than the child as a passionate, driven, intensely interested, internally motivated, perpetual knowledge seeker... these are common characteristics of gifted children who may often feel a need to constantly learn something new, just as they feel a need to breathe... children who may feel suffocated in the gen-ed classroom. These children will tend to be challenge-seeking, achieving, asking, persisting, some may even say pestering, until they learn more in depth and breadth about whatever has their interest at the moment... then may often move on to a new intellectual pursuit, reading, experimenting, questioning, and learning along the way.
The frustration which some parents have reported is that their child's self-directed learning may be outside the parameters which some achievement tests may tend to measure. In these instances, some families have had success with presentation of a portfolio of the child's leisure-time age-untypical academic-or-intellectual work-products and/or accomplishments reflective of the child's interests and passions (given any financial constraints which may tend to limit opportunities of a grander scale)*. It may often be helpful if the child has a hand in selecting what s/he is most pleased with and comfortable in sharing, and if the child also presents the portfolio while the parent assists only if the child specifically asks for a particular type of assistance.
ETA: * (given any financial constraints which may tend to limit opportunities of a grander scale) Example:
A child's construction of something from a household material, traditionally used for another purpose -as compared with-
a child's construction of something from a commercially available toy building block. The second may have
instant appeal and brand name recognition but it may be costly. The first may have
more appeal when considered for a length of time, as the child first thought to re-purpose a common household item to utilize for building. Parents may wish to take photos of these spontaneous projects!
