Testing & Qualification

Gifted services are an additional support for students whose needs go beyond what the regular classroom provides.  Quest isn’t something a child “gets into” or “misses out on.” It’s simply one of the ways our district matches instruction to a child’s needs.  Quest is an intervention service designed for students who demonstrate a need for a different kind of learning. Our goal is always to match students with the instructional setting that fits them best. Knowing a student’s cognitive ability score helps ensure that the level of challenge stays appropriate; not too hard, not too easy, but just right for steady, confident growth.

These results help us understand each student’s learning needs so we can place them in an environment that is neither too difficult nor too easy, rather where they can grow at a steady, healthy pace.

Each spring, students who meet the district’s initial criteria based on Benchmarking data are invited to participate in further screening for Gifted and Talented services. This additional screening helps us understand whether a student may need a different level of academic challenge.

As part of this process, we look at two kinds of information: cognitive ability tests and achievement tests. Each one tells us something different about a student's aptitude and ability.

These assessments measure how a child thinks, not what they have been taught. They look at reasoning, problem-solving, pattern recognition, and how students make sense of new information. They do not rely on prior instruction, and students cannot prepare for them. These scores help us understand a child’s natural thinking strengths and how they work through new challenges.

Achievement data reflects what a student has learned and can demonstrate within the school curriculum. This includes areas such as reading and math. These measures align with classroom instruction and show how students perform in relation to grade-level expectations.

Together, cognitive ability and achievement information give us a more complete picture. One shows how a child thinks; the other shows what they know and can do. Looking at both helps us determine whether a student might benefit from a different level of challenge or a different instructional approach.

To qualify for Gifted and Talented services, students must score at or above the 95th percentile nationally on three of the six required subtests. Students are not always given all six tests. If it becomes clear early in the process that a student already qualifies—or that they will not qualify—we stop testing to avoid taking unnecessary instructional time.

We cannot give exact testing dates for individual buildings. The schedule is fluid and depends on the availability of staff, space, and district-wide logistics. Some students may test in early April, while others may be scheduled later in the month.

Families and schools will receive results after testing is complete for the entire district, which may be near the end of May. This ensures that all students are evaluated fairly and consistently.

We do not re-administer cognitive ability or achievement tests within the same calendar year. Repeating tests too soon makes the results invalid and does not provide accurate information about a student’s learning needs.

These assessments measure how a child thinks, not what they have been taught. They look at reasoning, problem-solving, pattern recognition, and how students make sense of new information. They do not rely on prior instruction, and students cannot prepare for them. These scores help us understand a child’s natural thinking strengths and how they work through new challenges.

On cognitive ability tests, most students score somewhere in the average range, which is typically between the 25th and 75th percentiles. This wide middle range reflects the fact that children develop thinking and reasoning skills at different speeds, and most fall comfortably within this group.  A cognitive ability score reflects how the child reasons, problem-solves, and works with unfamiliar information. This score is not based on content knowledge, and students cannot study for it.

A score around the 40th percentile is right in the heart of the average range. It means the child’s reasoning, problem-solving, and pattern-recognition skills are developing as expected for their age. It does not indicate a concern, nor does it limit what a student can learn or achieve. Many students with average cognitive scores perform very well in school, especially when they apply themselves and build strong study habits.

A cognitive ability score above the 95th percentile means that a child performed as well as or better than 95 out of 100 students their age on tasks that measure reasoning, problem-solving, and how they work with new information. These scores reflect a child’s natural thinking strengths—not what they have been taught or how much they have studied.

A score in this range suggests that the child approaches learning differently than most of their same-age peers. They may grasp new ideas quickly, see patterns with little instruction, or solve problems in ways that are more advanced or complex than what is typically expected at their grade level.

This type of score is one of the indicators we use to determine whether a student may need gifted and talented services. It does not guarantee placement on its own, but it helps us understand when a child may benefit from a learning environment that offers more challenge, depth, or pace than the regular classroom usually provides.

Most importantly, a score above the 95th percentile is not something a child can “practice” for—it simply reflects how they naturally think and reason at this point in their development.

Achievement data reflects what a student has learned and can demonstrate within the school curriculum. This includes areas such as reading and math. These measures align with classroom instruction and show how students perform in relation to grade-level expectations.

Together, cognitive ability and achievement information give us a more complete picture. One shows how a child thinks; the other shows what they know and can do. Looking at both helps us determine whether a student might benefit from a different level of challenge or a different instructional approach.

To qualify for Gifted and Talented services, students must score at or above the 95th percentile nationally on three of the six required subtests. Students are not always given all six tests. If it becomes clear early in the process that a student already qualifies—or that they will not qualify—we stop testing to avoid taking unnecessary instructional time.

When a student shows very different scores on an achievement test and a cognitive ability test, it can raise understandable questions. For example, a child might score in the 90th percentile on an achievement measure but in the 40th percentile on a cognitive ability test. Here is what that means.

A high achievement score tells us the student is performing very well with the material they have been taught. They are learning grade-level content successfully, working hard, and showing strong academic skills in areas like reading or math.

On cognitive ability tests, most students score somewhere in the average range, which is typically between the 25th and 75th percentiles. This wide middle range reflects the fact that children develop thinking and reasoning skills at different speeds, and most fall comfortably within this group.  A cognitive ability score reflects how the child reasons, problem-solves, and works with unfamiliar information. This score is not based on content knowledge, and students cannot study for it.

A score around the 40th percentile is right in the heart of the average range. It means the child’s reasoning, problem-solving, and pattern-recognition skills are developing as expected for their age. It does not indicate a concern, nor does it limit what a student can learn or achieve. Many students with average cognitive scores perform very well in school, especially when they apply themselves and build strong study habits.

When these two scores differ, it does not mean anything is wrong.  In fact, this combination is common, and it helps us understand that the student is thriving in their current learning environment. Our goal is always to match students with the instructional setting that fits them best. Knowing a student’s cognitive ability score helps ensure that the level of challenge stays appropriate; not too hard, not too easy, but just right for steady, confident growth.

Most importantly, this is not a pass/fail situation. These results help us understand each student’s learning needs so we can place them in an environment that is neither too difficult nor too easy, rather where they can grow at a steady, healthy pace.