The Northshore example is interesting. I think the real benefit in Northshore is that they're now screening absolutely every kid--NOT waiting for parents to refer. I think the Naglieri is being used only as the first step in screening, hence the low cut-off, which is just the cut-off to move kids forward to the next step in testing. I don't think it's too surprising that they found 500 more kids to refer for more testing when using a decent screener on everyone. Previous research has at least hinted at the unreliability of referral systems.
I'm in the next district north of Northshore and our district still requires referrals and does Satruday cattle-call testing and a whole lot of other nonsense. There were 7 pages to be filled out to test and my 3rd grader had to hand write a 1-page essay about why he wanted to be in the gifted program, as if he would have any solid idea. The district supposedly now has a new K-3 program. I can only hope the kindergarteners are exempt from the essay portion.
