Program Overview:
All first grade teachers are given a screening tool in the spring of the school year to observe students in their classroom. From that screening tool, a cohort of students is gathered for further testing using the SAGES-3 assessment. SIGS-2 rating scales for school and home have also been introduced to provide additional data. From those assessments, and a review of student performance in the classroom, students can be labeled gifted. If students are not tested through that process for many possible reasons such as moving to the district or later recognition of potential giftedness, then the testing process can be outside of that framework either individually or gathering a mixed group of students. Students who have other testing or identification measures from other districts with gifted designations are recognized by our district as Montana has a wide array of acceptable assessments and processes for identifying gifted students. Further, our district operates under an RTI framework meaning that any student, regardless of an official gifted label, can be considered for advanced educational programming to suit their needs. This is often evident through our use of accelerated math, where students subject-skip a grade in math to be better aligned with their skill level. In line with RTI, it is also considered a best practice in the gifted education field in schools to not place sole focus on the label and consider how students are performing and what a proper skill-level placement would be.