Grade 7 students who have not been previously identified as gifted in both reading and math participate in the universal screening in their seventh-grade year. The identification process uses multiple indicators of potential, ability, and achievement as required by Maryland COMAR 13.04.07. The data points used in Anne Arundel County Public Schools are:
Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) Screening Assessment
i-Ready Diagnostic Test
Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students
Gifted or Advanced identification in Grade 7 is for ALPs instruction in Grades 9-12. Students with a previous Gifted or Advanced identification will retain their designation unless Grade 7 testing warrants a change from Core to Advanced, Core to Gifted, or Advanced to Gifted. Students will never lose their prior designation regardless of test results.
Cognitive ability refers to a student's readiness to learn in different situations and demonstrate creative problem solving skills. The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) Screening Assessment is used as a measure of ability in AACPS' GT Identification Screening Process for Grade 7 Students.
An ability measure is different than an achievement measure. An achievement measure evaluates how well the student learns the grade-level content while ability assessments evaluate the student's aptitude to find patterns and relationships in the world.
The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) Screening Assessment is administered in grade 7. This ability assessment is comprised of three batteries that appraises the level and pattern of a student’s verbal, quantitative, and spatial (nonverbal) reasoning abilities. The Screening Assessment includes subtests in Verbal Analogies, Number Analogies and Figure Matrices.
The questions provided below are from the Grade 5 assessment as sample items are not available for the Grade 7 assessment. However, the items below will give families an idea of the type of thinking required to complete this assessment.
Grade 5: Verbal Battery-Verbal Analogies
Taken from Riverside Insights
Grade 5: Quantitative Battery-Number Analogies
Taken from Riverside Insights
Grade 5: Nonverbal Battery-Figure Matrices
Taken from Riverside Insights
iReady is an online assessment that measures a student's current level of performance in both reading and math based on state and national standards. It is an adaptive assessment; questions become harder or easier as the student answers correctly or incorrectly. While all AACPS students take the iReady Diagnostic, the scores for Grade 7 students are used as an achievement measure in the GT Identification Universal Screening Process.
The Scales for Rating the Behavior Characteristics of Superior Students (Renzulli Scales) are a nationally recognized tool for identifying gifted children. Supported by 40 years of research, this standardized instrument is completed by teachers to gather information on student potential. The Renzulli Scales are used for all students in Grades 7 who were not previously identified as GT in both Reading and Math.
Both Gifted and Advanced students recieve ALPs Service as required by COMAR.