Hi Texas Summer,
Good Luck with your project - sounds very interesting! Are they looking to set this up for Kindergardeners up through 5th? For very young elementary students Deb Ruf's Giftedness Levels might be helpful, and they don't require expensive testing. For 3rd graders, and up, one could use the talent search. Actually, any of the standard tests your school uses as achievement test, could be used as above level tests for kid in younger grades.
There are also some novel ways that actually work, like as all the kids in a classroom to write down the names of the three smartest kids, and look for trends. These kids can then be given further tests, or not. I believe that this method has been tried and found very effective - does anyone have a reference here?
Another way is to give a test that would test all the objectives that are supposed to be learned at the current grade level. Kids who know 90% of the material can be given the corresponding test for the next year up. Kids who score 90% can be given the corresponding test for plus two years up. Take the ones who score the best and put 'em in the class. Reccomend that the rest get gradeskips.
There is an excellent book from the ERGE, part of an excellent series on gifted, that mean to introduce students to the classic research studies. The one's I've gotten from my library have been very readable.
These might be of help:
Identification of Students for Gifted and Talented Programs (Essential Readings in Gifted Education Series) by Joseph S. Renzulli and Sally M. Reis (Paperback - Mar 6, 2004)
Curriculum for Gifted and Talented Students (Essential Readings in Gifted Education Series) by Joyce L. VanTassel-Baska
Program Evaluation in Gifted Education (Essential Readings in Gifted Education Series) by Carolyn M. Callahan and Sally M. Reis (Paperback - Mar 11, 2004)
Remember two things -
1) The identification method should fit the type of services you offer. A visual-spatial lego builder may or may not be well served in a writing-intensive gifted program. I've heard it said that the more extreame the giftedness, the more extreame the variation between individuals. I'm not sure I believe it, but I'm sure that it's true from the prespective of trying to provide an education that is right for each individual child.
2)The program should be different (challenging) enough from the general curriculum that pretty much the only kids who's needs aren't being met in the regular classroom would even want to be there. That way you can let kids visit, and see if they fit "no matter what the tests say." You may want a program where the strongest readers come and join your core group for reading, strongest math-ers come and join for math.
If it's possible for the teachers from the highly gifted program to interact with classroom teachers and help the classroom teachers met the needs of moderately gifted kids inside the regular classrooms, or reccomend gradeskips for the kids who need them, I suspect that the gifted teacher might be able to keep his/her eyes open for kids who would be best served in the highly gifted program but didn't get found for one reason or another at the time of testing, that way some of the pressure is off of the team to "get it right, right now." Some kids won't show their gifteness until they get that differentiated curriculum or their grade skip, but then (once the depression, or attitude, or whatever has lifted) they may turn out to be HG/PG afterall.
What ever you do will be better than what is now, and teach you more about the next step. Don't let perfectionism stop you, ok?
Love and More Love,
Trinity
