Assessment Strategies

Researchers and practitioners have examined the obstacles to identifying students from diverse backgrounds as gifted and talented and have developed numerous strategies focused on improving our identification and assessment practices. All high-quality assessment practices related to identifying students for gifted education programs and services, which also ensures equitable participation, depends on the following:

1. The identification process and the assessments used are aligned with the program’s definition of giftedness;
2. The process includes the use of multiple assessments that are combined in a reasoned way that is not biased against any particular subgroup of students;
3. The types of assessments used have sufficient psychometric evidence supportive of decisions about students’ readiness for gifted programming;
4. All individuals involved in the assessment process have sufficient training in the administration and use of the assessments;
5. They themselves are fully informed about best practices in the field of testing as well as the latest research regarding the identification of gifted students; and
6. There is a process in place whereby the identification process is periodically evaluated to ensure it is reflective of best practices in the identification of gifted students.