Gifted & Talented

What does the elementary Gifted and Talented (GT) program look like? 

Each elementary school has a Gifted and Talented specialist who provides enrichment opportunities for students. The specialists begin working with second-grade students, visiting classrooms to lead a variety of enrichment opportunities in all areas. All second graders participate in these opportunities, which promote problem-solving and reasoning skills. In the Spring of 2nd grade, the Gifted and Talented Specialists continue to lead regular monthly enrichment activities for all students.  

In the spring each year, the gifted and talented identification process begins. All students take the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT), which measures problem-solving and reasoning capabilities. Classroom and GT specialists are also working to identify high-achieving students who would benefit from accelerated learning in one or more subjects.  2nd-grade students who meet the criteria for the gifted and talented program are notified by the first week of June. GT Specialists begin to work weekly with GT students in math and literacy skills in the Fall of 3rd grade. 

In fourth grade, GT specialists continue to work regularly with students in the GT program. In math, students may begin to learn concepts typically introduced in 5th grade. Reading focuses on shared inquiry, critical thinking, comprehension, and high-level vocabulary with fiction and non-fiction novels. 

GT students are not assigned to their own classroom in elementary school; instead, they are assigned to one of the 3-4 classrooms in their grade and participate in regular instruction alongside GT pullout. Classroom teachers in all grades use differentiation to meet GT students' needs. The classroom teacher gives all final grades on the report card. 

What are the specifics of the identification process?

Qualifying for the GT program is ultimately based on a review of CogAT scores, FAST data,  and teacher input. The final decision is made approximately four weeks after the CogAT testing window closes. Each family will receive a letter disclosing the student's CogAT score and any changes to GT status. 

The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) has sections on verbal, mathematical, and spatial reasoning. Each section receives a score, and there is an overall composite score. For identification, scores of 125+ for either the composite score or one or more subjects indicate a student might be a good fit for the GT program. CogAT results also include stanine scores (a 1-9 scale) and percentile ranks, which allow for comparison of student performance with that of other students of the same age and grade across the county. 

Teachers look for students who demonstrate above-average performance or aptitude toward one or more subjects. Working with students daily (classroom teachers) or regularly (GT specialists) provides a more comprehensive picture of students' capabilities beyond a single test on a given day. 

What curriculum is used in GT instruction?

GT curriculum may include Byrdseed TV, Depth and Complexity, Junior Great Books, Shared Inquiry, Noetic, Jacob’s Ladder, Perplexers, Newsela, Continental Math, and LEGO STEM.

Where can I learn more?

ISD 197’s website 
Katie Quinlan, Elementary GT Coordinator - katherine.quinlan@isd197.org
Gifted and Talented Advisory Committee - Contact your school’s principal for more information

GT Teachers by Site
Garlough Environmental Magnet School: Kristine Goldade kristine.goldade@isd197.org
Mendota Elementary School: Emily Paper Emily.paper@isd197.org
Moreland Arts & Health Science Magnet School: Sheila Schwirtz sheila.shwirtz@isd197.org
Pilot Knob STEM Magnet School: Andrea Boe andrea.boe@isd197.org and Lauren Knoepfler lauren.knoepfler@isd197.org
Somerset Elementary School: Jordan White jordan.white@isd197.org

Middle School Gifted and Talented Program

Our two middle schools, Heritage E-STEM Magnet Middle School and Friendly Hills Middle School, have Gifted and Talented service models are specific to their building.  

Accelerated math options are available for students starting in 5th grade. In the spring of each year, 4th-grade student candidates for the accelerated math test are identified through a combination of input from teachers and families, as well as performances on assessments such as the FAST aMath and MCA math tests.  Students who meet the criteria for accelerated math beginning in 5th grade are notified by the first week of June.  

At Heritage E-STEM Magnet School, the Gifted and Talented (GT) program for 5th and 6th graders uses a co-teaching model, where GT students are clustered in language arts classes with support from both a GT teacher and a language arts teacher daily. This approach ensures students receive academic challenges and support for personal growth. In 7th grade, the model transitions to a cluster model, where GT students are placed together in language arts classes and receive academic challenges aligned with their specific needs. For 8th graders, the program shifts to a consultative model, where students meet one-on-one with a GT specialist quarterly to track their academic goals, including high school preparation and curriculum enrichment. This overall model represents a gradual release from direct, daily GT support to a more independent, consultative approach as students progress. The school also offers various enrichment opportunities, such as Jr. High Math League and Odyssey of the Mind, and continuously monitors and adjusts its program to meet student needs.

At Friendly Hills Middle School, GT identified students in grades 5-8 are clustered together in Reading/ELA courses that are co-taught/co-planned with the Gifted and Talented Specialist.  Curriculum in these courses is designed to differentiate for their academic needs and provide opportunities for growth in critical and creative thinking.    In math, all students have access to several levels of challenge and are grouped by placement assessment and teacher recommendations regardless of GT identification.  Teachers in any content area may consult with the school GT specialist for help differentiating and providing any necessary challenge.  A GT specialist also serves as a touchpoint of contact for GT identified students and their families looking for support for any academic needs. 

• Further Enrichment: Additionally, the GT specialist may assist with a number of schoolwide enrichment programs which may change from year to year.  Battle of the Books, Math League, the Young Author’s Conference/Creative Writing Club are some examples available to all students.  For more, see weekly email communications from FHMS.

GT Community:  While ISD 197 has no direct affiliation with any of the following, parents seeking to be part of a broader GT community in the Twin Cities Metro area may wish to explore these resources.

• Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented
• University of Minnesota Talented Youth Mathematics Program
• Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth

At Two Rivers High School, students have access to a variety of rigorous coursework through classes such as Advanced Placement (AP), College in the Schools (CIS), and Concurrent Enrollment.  Additionally, students have the opportunity to explore a variety of career pathways and potential internships through opportunities provided at the high school within the Center for Applied Professional Studies (CAPS), Genesys Works, and Work-based learning,  School counselors are available to help with post-secondary planning and support students through the Naviance program, which allows them to develop a personalized portfolio of their work and research colleges and careers. 

MISSION
The mission of the West St Paul - Mendota Heights - Eagan Area Schools Gifted and Talented Program is to nurture exceptional abilities of Gifted and Talented students by providing challenging and purposeful educational opportunities to all students. 

Attract and support Gifted and Talented Students by providing high level, challenging curriculum and enrichment during and beyond the school day

• Curriculum adoption process seeks high levels of rigor and challenge to provide pathways for students to excel and remain challenged.
• Teachers are trained and supported in their implementation of differentiated instruction and developing differentiated learning opportunities. 

Provide opportunities, community, resources, and support for families of Gifted Students

• Through the use of the West St Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan Area Schools Gifted and Talented webpage, information is posted for families to explore local opportunities and resources. Many schools also include information in newsletters. 
• The Gifted and Talented Advisory Council (GTAC) meets several times each school year to explore a variety of topics that pertain to the gifted community. GTAC includes parents, teachers and administrators in the district.

Assist with smooth transitions for students from elementary to middle school and from middle school to high school

• Through the relationships that are established between the Gifted and Talented Teachers in each Elementary and Middle School and our identified gifted student population, students have regular access to an adult in their educational lives that provides familiarity and serves as an advocate on their behalf during and beyond their transitions.

Teach and encourage gifted students how to negotiate and advocate for their academic needs

• During opportunities to work with groups of our identified students, our teachers model this skill set to further equip students with the tools they need to respectfully request increased challenge and rigor. 
• This is also addressed through the encouragement of project based and inquiry-based learning and the further development of higher order questioning skills.   

Employ a comprehensive and inclusive identification process that provides multiple entry points

• Our identification process includes a variety of factors including both quantitative and qualitative measures.
• We examine Cognitive Abilities Test scores as well as NWEA Measures of Academic Progress results and teacher checklists.
• We consider parent, teacher, and student nomination through the use of our web-based survey options.

If your child will not be five by September 1st of you may apply for Early Entrance to Kindergarten. You can find information on this process in the forms below. Please contact the Curriculum Department at 651-403-7026 with any questions. No applications for the following school year will be accepted after the May 1st deadline. 

• Early Entrance Procedure - English
• Early Entrance Procedure - Spanish
• Early Entrance Application - English
• Early Entrance Application - Spanish

Minnesota Statute 120B.15 indicates that a school district must adopt procedures for the academic acceleration of gifted and talented students. These procedures must include how the district will:

• Assess a student's readiness and motivation for acceleration
• Match the level, complexity, and pace of the curriculum to a student to achieve the best type of academic acceleration for that student.

School District 197 has three ways in which students have an opportunity for academic acceleration.  These methods are listed below, and you can learn more about each by clicking on them.

• Early entrance into kindergarten or first grade.  
  • Click here for a checklist of materials to be submitted to complete the application process
• Single subject acceleration
• Whole grade level acceleration

Below is information that families may find helpful while considering a decision like early entrance into kindergarten.

Key Factors to Consider

Sending a child to school early can have a lasting impact on their academic and social life. It's becoming more common for families to wait, and many kindergarten classes have students who are already six years old. This means your child could be up to 18 months younger than some of their classmates.

Being a younger student in a class can lead to several challenges:

• Social and Emotional Skills: A younger child may not have as much time to develop social and emotional skills, which can make it harder to navigate friendships and classroom dynamics.
• Physical Differences: Your child might be smaller than their peers, which can be a factor in sports.
• Developmental Milestones: They could hit puberty later than their classmates.
• College Readiness: A student who enters college early may not have had as much time to mature socially and academically.

Is Early Entrance Right for My Child?

Early entrance is intended for children with fall birthdays who are ready to succeed throughout their entire school career, even though they'll be younger than their peers. A child should meet the district's birthday requirements and demonstrate readiness by showing:

• Strong academic skills.
• Good control over their emotions and behavior.
• The ability to focus and stick with a task.
• Flexibility to adapt to different classroom expectations.

If you decide to proceed, the school will gather a complete picture of your child through various sources, including:

• An application you fill out.
• Early Childhood Screening information.
• An observation of your child in a mock classroom.
• A formal Kindergarten Readiness Assessment.

Why are the standards so high?

The standards for early entrance are strict because the school wants to ensure your child is ready for the challenges of being in a classroom with older children. These high standards help to confirm that your child is prepared in all areas of development—academic, social, and emotional.

What does the research say?

• Preschool helps: Children who have attended preschool are often better candidates for early entrance because they have experience with structured routines and group social skills.
• Early reading isn't a predictor: Just because a child reads early or starts school early doesn't mean they will be successful in the long run.
• High expectations: Students who are accelerated into a higher grade are expected to perform at a very high level, typically in the top 10 percent of their class, and maintain this performance throughout their school years.
• The age advantage: Research shows that older students in a grade often have a competitive edge. They tend to score higher on standardized tests and are more likely to enroll in a four-year college.

IDENTIFICATION PROCESS
At the end of each school year, the academic performance of students in grades 2-7 is evaluated to identify children who should receive Gifted and Talented (GT) services for the following year. Performance measures include, but are not limited to, the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT), reading and math assessments from the Formative Assessment System for Teachers (FAST).

Alternate Identification is an additional option for students who may be very high academic performers but do not qualify for GT services using the standard measures. Please contact the program coordinator for more information regarding Alternative Identification.

PROGRAM APPROACH

Tier 1 of the Gifted and Talented Program focuses on the training and support of all teachers in differentiated instruction. This impacts all students, especially those achieving high levels, as it offers different learning opportunities beyond the general classroom expectation. Elementary teachers also receive whole class enrichment co-taught by the GT and classroom teacher in grades 2 and 3.

Tier 2 of the Gifted and Talented Program focuses on clustering GT students in specific Math and Literacy courses in middle school and  elementary students working with the Gifted and Talented teacher in small groups at their school.

Criteria for Tier 2 Identification is a combination of:

• Cognitive Ability Test - Composite Score of 123+
• Cognitive Ability Test - Single Subtest Score (Verbal, Non-Verbal, Quantitative) of 125+ scores at the 96th percentile or higher in both reading and math on the FAST assessments.
• Teacher Recommendation
• Parent Recommendation

Tier 3 of the Gifted and Talented Program focuses on the implementation of curriculum extension projects such as participation in The Confluence. These projects serve as curricular extensions that allow students to grow in order to develop their academic and social skills through problem solving, higher level thinking skills  and creativity. In order to offer students appropriate academic challenges, clustering is also used for Tier 3 students.

Criteria for Tier 3 Identification is a combination of:

• Cognitive Ability Test - Composite Score of 123+
• Cognitive Ability Test - Composite Score of 125+ and scores at the 98th percentile or higher in both reading and math on either the FAST assessments.
• Teacher Recommendation
• Parent Recommendation

MISSION: The mission of the Gifted and Talented Advisory Committee (GTAC) is two-fold;

• Promote and enhance the goals and objectives of Gifted Education programming.  

• Build positive partnerships among schools, teachers, gifted education staff, administration, parents, and the community to support current gifted education services and to advocate for future programming needs. 

MEMBERSHIP:  The Gifted and Talented Advisory Committee is composed of representatives from stakeholder groups with interest and expertise in gifted and talented education.  Minimally, there is to be one representative from each elementary (five in total), two from each middle school (four in total), two from the high school level and up to four student representatives at the middle and high school level.  The community representatives shall currently have a child that is either;

• formally identified as Gifted and Talented at the school

• or that has been approved for one of the three types of acceleration under Gifted and Talented programming (Early Entrance to K/1st grade, whole grade level acceleration, or single subject acceleration beginning in 5th grade). 

In alignment with our Strategic Framework, we have prioritized creating a diversified committee as the primary goal annually while establishing the committee.  Diverse perspectives representative of the various school levels and schools will be sought.  Diverse perspectives representative of our student population will be sought, including but not limited to:

• Race

• Gender

• Orientation

In addition to these minimal requirements, there are opportunities to include at-large positions, which are to be determined by the Gifted and Talented Coordinator on a yearly basis.  These at-large positions provide existing members with a temporary extension of their service in order to assist in developing continuity within and across the committee.  Overall, there will be no fewer than 11 members and no more than 21 members. 

TERMS: Initial commitments are for no less than two years and no more than four years.  The Gifted and Talented Coordinator will initially set one third of the position terms to end in two years, one third to end in three years, and one third to end in four years.  All subsequent terms will be three years unless replacing a member who leaves their position prior to their term ending. District administration may remove a member at its discretion.  Time commitment includes some review of materials and reading outside of the meetings. 

MEETING SCHEDULE.  Typically, GTAC meets five times annually.  All GTAC meetings are open to the public as observers. 

All meetings below will be held in the District Office Conference Room, from 5:30 - 7:00.  

• October 9, 2023

• November 6, 2023

• January 29, 2024

• March 11, 2024

• May 13, 2024

EXAMPLES OF DISTRICT LEVEL TOPICS GTAC PROVIDES INPUT TOWARDS INCLUDE:  

• District-wide curricular review processes

• District-wide strategic planning 

• District level policy reviews

• Reviewing Gifted and Talented models at each level

• Enrichment opportunities available to students (e.g., Spelling Bee, Odyssey of the Mind)

CLICK HERE to Link to District Advisory Committees

The Confluence The Confluence is an opportunity for students in grade 4. It is a student literary publication which features the writing and artistic gifts and talents of School District 197's students.  The Confluence is an annual publication that we share with families and the broader community.  By exploring the theme of elevating and amplifying student voice, we hope this publication might become a way for our members of our community to learn about, and appreciate our diverse student population.

Click here for this Edition 3 (Spring 2024) of the Confluence.  The 2023 edition's theme was Building Bridges, One Story at a Time. Bridges are remarkable. We admire these structures for their strength, grace, reliability, and power to tie communities together.  Our stories have these same amazing qualities. When we share our thoughts, feelings, and experiences, we are building a bridge that has the remarkable ability to connect us with each other.  Our strength as writers is in our collective stories.

Past Editions are below:
Confluence Edition 2 (Spring 2023)
Confluence Edition 1 (Spring 2022)

Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving competition for students of all ages. Teams of students select a problem, create a solution, and then present their solution in a competition against other teams in the same problem and division. There are many nuances of the program that are explained further in this presentation

In competition, every team solves a spontaneous problem. Teams are only made aware of what they'll have to do to complete the problem upon entering the competition room. The spontaneous problem is a great way to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Spontaneous problems are "top secret." Teams participating in the same long-term problem and division will solve the same spontaneous problem. To ensure fairness, it is critical that no one discusses the problem outside of the room until all teams have competed.

Click here for more information on Odyssey of the Mind

Contact site G&T Specialists for more information

Resources

Elementary GT opportunities and resources

Reading Lists
There are many lists available for recommended reading by Gifted and Talented students.

• Hoagies' Gifted Education
• Young Adult Library Services Association

Summer Program List
Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth- Elementary 

College and Career Readiness 
NUMATS: Northwestern University's Midwest Academic Talent Search

Secondary GT Opportunities and Resources 
University of Minnesota Talented Youth Mathematics Program (UMTYMP)

Summer Program List
Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth- Middle
Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth- High School 

Minnesota Statute 120B.15 indicates that a school district must adopt procedures for the academic acceleration of gifted and talented students. These procedures must include how the district will:

• Assess a student's readiness and motivation for acceleration
• Match the level, complexity, and pace of the curriculum to a student to achieve the best type of academic acceleration for that student
• Address prior learning a student has in a particular subject

Single Subject Acceleration

Single subject acceleration is defined as the delivery of curriculum by either 

• physically moving a student into a higher grade level classroom within the same district
• having him/her work with a higher grade level curriculum either independently or in his/her own age-based classroom
• Skipping a course in a sequence (high school only)

Elementary Single Subject Acceleration

No subject acceleration in math is available in the current elementary program, teachers will meet student needs through differentiation.

A Gifted and Talented teacher at each site provides support to students in grades three and four during the literacy portion of the classroom schedule.  During that time students will receive instruction at their academic level through guided reading. 

Middle School Single Subject Acceleration

Subject acceleration is available in math in middle school and is an educational accommodation designed for exceptional math students. Subject acceleration requires an ongoing and committed partnership between the school district and the family. The subject acceleration procedures for math are designed to guide the process in determining if a student is a good candidate for this accommodation. To aid in the decision making process, more information about math pathways can be found in this resource: Math Pathways.

Subject acceleration before high school is not available in any other content area.  A Gifted and Talented teacher at each site provides support to students in grades 5 - 8 during Language Arts and will consult with social studies and science teachers to differentiate instruction.

High School Single Subject Acceleration

Subject acceleration is available in any credit-bearing content area and is an educational accommodation designed for exceptional students. Subject acceleration requires an ongoing and committed partnership between the school district and the family. The subject acceleration procedures are designed to guide the process in determining if a student is a good candidate for this accommodation. Students can apply to test out so that they can skip a course in the required sequence but will not receive credit for the skipped course. If students have completed learning from an accredited institution they should see School Board Policy 620. 

Families need to apply for single subject acceleration by the last day of school (MS)/May 1(HS)  in order to be considered for the fall of the upcoming school year. Criteria for acceleration are listed below.  

Note: Students who do not meet the entrance criteria for accelerated math in grade five will have other opportunities for acceleration throughout their middle and high school career in School District 197.

Procedures