QUEST/GT
GT/QUEST Referrals for the 2027–2028 School Year Are Now Open!
Referrals for the 2027–2028 GT/QUEST screening process are now being accepted and will remain open through March 1, 2027.
Parents who submit a referral will be notified by April 1, 2027 if their child has advanced to the testing phase. Final eligibility results will be sent home before the last day of school.
If your child is not referred or does not qualify this year, the next opportunity to refer them for the GT/QUEST Program will be during the 2027–2028 school year for screening and testing in Spring 2028 for placement in the 2028–2029 school year.
Students may be referred for the gifted and talented program at any time by teachers, counselors, parents, or other interested persons. The district provides at least one screening and identification and assessment opportunity once per school year (EHBB Local). Screening as well as identification and assessment is a multi-step process and involves both quantitative and qualitative measures. (EHBB Legal) (19TAC89.1)
Kinder Screening: All kindergarten students are screened for possible consideration for GT services. The initial GT screening for all kindergarten students begins in January. The state of Texas requires that kindergarten gifted students are served by March 1. Beginning March 1, identified kindergarten students are provided opportunities for application of their gifts, talents and skills through project-based learning, including building community and self-awareness, investigating the creative process and researching as part of the kindergarten QUEST service.
Grades 1-11 GT Referrals: All students in grades 1-11 may be referred for screening and identification at any time during the school year. Screening and assessment will take place during at least one district window each school year. Students identified from the annual screening and assessment will begin services the following school year or semester based on when the assessment occurs. Note: All students in LISD have access to Advanced Program opportunities and differentiated instruction. Only students identified as GT have access to QUEST services.
Screening, Assessment, and Identification Process: The campus QUEST Teacher(s) or campus designated GT trained teacher, counselor. or administrator, complete the screening, assessment, and identification measures to collect multiple measures for the GT Decision Committee review. The GT Decision Committee lead has at least 30 hours of GT foundation training and members of the committee have at least 6 hours GT training in identification and assessment of the GT learner. The committee of at least 2-3 educators may be composed of K-8 QUEST teachers, GT trained teachers, GT counselors with oversight/guidance from the GT District Coordinator(s).
Step 1 – Screening: All students in Kinder and all students referred for GT services will
participate in the GT screening process. The purpose of the screening is to identify students who
demonstrate potential in the areas of general intellectual ability through district selected
achievement and observation feedback tools. Screening does not require permission to test as
measures used are provided to all LISD students. Note: students not meeting screening criteria
will not move forward to additional assessment.
Step 2 – Assessment: Parents of students meeting the screening process criteria will be notified
and students will be assessed for gifted services once permission from the parent/guardian is
received. Assessment tools may include, but are not limited to, the following:
achievement tests
intelligence tests
creativity tests
behavioral checklists
student/parent conferences
student work products
Step 3 – Identification: All measures collected are evaluated by the GT Decision Committee.
The committee recommends appropriate educational placements. The committee may request
additional data collection if needed.
Step 4: NOTIFICATION: The campus GT representative with approval from the District GT
Coordinator will notify parents or guardians in writing of the committee’s decision.
Step 5: CONSENT and REVIEW: Parents/guardians of all qualifying students must give written
consent for their child to receive GT services. Parents of non-qualifying students may request a
conference with the GT Teacher or District GT Coordinator to review assessment results. If the
parents or guardians question the decision of the GT Decision Committee, they may initiate the
appeals process. All appeals will go to the district Director of Advanced Programs and will follow
the district appeal process. (EHBB Local) (FNG Local)
Screening for grades 1-5 new to district and referred students occurs during the fall semester with assessment in January. New to district K-5 students are screened and assessed in May.
Screening and assessment for referred grades 6–12 students is offered once in the spring and once in the summer. Referrals must be received prior to the start date of the spring or summer screening and assessment window.
Referrals from students, teachers, administrators, counselors, and parents are accepted throughout the school year for Grades K–12.
Kindergarten screening for all learners occurs during January. Prior to screening, elementary G/T-QUEST teachers provide a minimum of four whole-class lessons to every kindergarten class. These lessons provide common creative and critical thinking experiences and allow us to better understand the learner prior to screening.
Transfer identified G/T students will have records reviewed following the District’s assessment procedures. Students demonstrating a need for G/T services will be placed upon completion of the record review process.
Once identified, QUEST-G/T students are NOT re-screened or retested, unless they have exited from the program.
Furloughed QUEST-G/T students may be retested or re-screened following the recommendations of the QUEST-G/T Identification and Placement Committee, based on individual student needs, performance, and history.
In order to furlough or exit from the program, parents and students conference with the campus QUEST-G/T teacher and follow the steps of the furlough/exit process. Parents, students, or QUEST-G/T teachers may initiate the furlough/exit process.
QUEST-G/T teachers support campus teachers with enrichment for all students and in meeting the needs of QUEST-G/T students, including working with individual students, training opportunities, conferences, sharing of instructional strategies and collaborative meetings.