Gifted Testing & Acceleration Information

General Gifted Testing Information

For Academic Areas, Cognitive Abilities, and Creative Thinking

• The State of Ohio requires public school districts to conduct whole-grade gifted identification in the areas of superior cognitive ability, specific academic ability reading, and specific academic ability mathematics once during the K-2 grade band and once again during the 3-6 grade band.  CPS elects to conduct these whole-grade screening assessments for all students annually in grades 2 and 6.  

• CPS utilizes the following assessments for gifted identification:

  • • Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) administered to all 2nd and 6th grade students in the fall for assessing gifted status in superior cognitive ability. All other grades assessed by referral in fall or winter.

    • Iowa Assessments administered to all 6th grade students in the fall for giftedness in the areas of reading (reading + vocabulary), mathematics (mathematics + computation) as well as for elgibilty to Walnut Hills High School. All other grades assessed by referral in fall or winter.

    • MAP Growth and iReady assessments for giftedness in the areas of reading and math in grades 2-10 are administered three times a year.

• Gifted identification assessments in CPS will be held in person via an online platform.

• The exact date and time of the assessments is scheduled by each school. 

• Students may also be referred for gifted identification assessment.

  • • To refer a student for gifted testing, school staff should email the completed form, Gifted Referral and Permission Form REV 2022.06, to Jessica Boswell: boswelj@cpsboe.k12.oh.us.

    • Parents should return the form to the school.

    • Please allow up to 30 days for the form to be reviewed by DSS and the test website/materials prepared by Test Administration. 

An Overview Of The Gifted Assessment Process

Gifted assessment is used to screen students who perform or show potential for performing at high levels of accomplishment in the areas of superior cognitive ability, specific academic ability, creativity, and visual and/or performing arts.

Children may be referred for gifted assessment based on the following:

• • Child request (self-referral)

  • Teacher recommendation

  • Parent/guardian request

  • Child referral of peer

  • Other (e.g., psychologist, community members, principal, gifted coordinator)

 Based on the referrals, students are screened using:

• • Group tests

  • Individually-administered tests

  • Checklists

  • Audition, Performance

  • Display of work

  • Exhibition

Parents must be notified within 30 school days of receiving the screening results. Based upon these results, the next step in the process is one of the following:

• If the student's scores are high enough, no further testing is done and the student is identified as gifted.

• If the student's scores are not quite high enough, the student should be re-screened with a similar assessment during the next round of gifted testing.

• If the student's scores are below the re-screening range, no further testing is done. The student is not identified as gifted.

Gifted and Exceptional Programs

at Cheviot School and Spencer Center 

Entrance criteria for the gifted programs at Cheviot and Spencer:

• Gifted in Superior Cognitive Ability (composite score of 128 or higher at Grades 2 and 6) - OR - 

• A minimum score of 112 on the CogAT and a gifted identification in either Reading or Math

Entrance criteria for the exceptional programs at Cheviot and Spencer:

• A minimum score of 123 on the CogAT - OR - 

• A national percentile rank (NPR) of 80 in Reading on a state approved gifted assessment - OR -

• A national percentile rank (NPR) of 80 in Math on a state approved gifted assessment with a minimum Reading score of the 60th NPR or higher

Only students that have applied through the CPS Open Enrollment Lottery will be considered for enrollment at Cheviot or Spencer.  Families can and should complete the application for Cheviot or Spencer if interested in these programs and are still awaiting the results of Fall gifted testing.   If selected in the lottery for Cheviot or Spencer, enrollment would depend on proof of gifted or exceptional test scores. 

For additional information, please contact Cheviot or Spencer directly.

Walnut Hills High School Entrance Exam (WHEE)

(6th Grade Iowa Reading & Math Tests) 

Sixth grade students taking the Iowa Reading and Mathematics tests can also use their scores to determine eligibility for entrance into Walnut Hills High School as 7th graders in the following school year.   Students must score at the 65th national percentile rank for both the Reading Total and Math Total AND the combined percentile ranks across both tests must be 140 or higher.  

The Walnut Hills High School Entrance Exam (WHEE) was also referred to as the Special College Preparatory Program (SCPP) Exam.

More information about the Walnut Hills Entrance Exam can be found here.

Gifted Testing Information For Visual & Performing Arts

To be identified as gifted in an area of the visual and performing arts (Dance, Drama/Theater, Music, Visual Arts), a student is assessed using one or more of the following:

• Auditions/portfolios based on referrals

• Scales for Rating the Behavior Characteristics of Superior Students: Artistic, Musical, and Dramatics characteristics (SRBCSS, “Renzulli”)

• Ohio Department of Education Visual and Performing Arts Performance Evaluation Rubric: Dance, Drama/Theater, Music, and Visual Arts

Typically the assessment process for the visual and performing arts takes place during the second semester of the school year.

For additional information on gifted assessment in the arts, please contact Dr. Isidore Rudnick at rudnici@cpsboe.k12.oh.us.

Whole Grade and Subject Acceleration

Academic acceleration is when a school or district places a student in a higher grade level than is typical given the student's age for the purpose of providing the student access to appropriately challenging learning opportunities.  Two types of acceleration are

• Whole grade: This type of acceleration occurs when a student moves ahead an entire grade level. 

• Subject: This type of acceleration occurs when a student moves ahead a grade level in one or more subject areas but retains his or her overall grade level. 

Direct all questions and requests regarding acceleration to Jessica Boswell: boswelj@cpsboe.k12.oh.us.