Talented and Gifted Program

Lake Forest Elementary School

Talented and Gifted Teacher:
Ms. Caine cainem@fultonschools.org
Gifted endorsed Teacher:
Ms. Bosse
What is Talented and
Gifted (TAG)?
The Fulton County Schools TAG program
provides an opportunity for gifted students to
interact with intellectual peers as they
participate in classes that extend and enrich
the basic curriculum.

Through participation in TAG classes, students
will develop advanced research, advanced
communication, critical thinking, and
creative thinking skills.
What is the process for
having my child tested for
TAG?
Step 1: Identifying students to
test (In the Fall)
Kindergarten
Check Acceleration scores greater than 80% on
Math and Reading
1
st
grade- 3
rd
grade
Check Acceleration scores greater than 80% on
Math or Reading
4
th
grade and 5
th
grade
Check CRCT scores
Reading Scale Score >870
Mathematics Scale Score >887


Step 2: Supporting Information
Kindergarten
No information needed
1
st
grade-5
th
grade
90%ile in total reading, total math, or complete battery
on a nationally normed achievement test
90%ile on TTCT
Advanced placement in Reading/Language Arts or
Mathematics*
A mental ability score at the 96%ile current within two years
or over two years old

Step 1: Identifying students to
test (In the Spring)
Characteristics Instrument for Screening Students
(CISS)
Motivation
Interest
Communication Skills
Problem-Solving Ability
Memory
Inquiry
Insight
Reasoning
Creativity
Humor

Interests
Intense(unusual interests)

Students may
Demonstrate unusual or advanced interests in a topic
or activity
Be beyond age-group
Pursue an activity unceasingly
Demonstrate perseverance in pursuit of an interest

Communication Skills
Highly expressive and effective use of words,
numbers, or symbols

Students may
Demonstrate unusual ability to communicate
(verbally, physically, artistically, symbolically)
Use particularly clever examples, illustrations or
elaborations

Problem-Solving Ability
Effective, imaginative strategies for recognizing
and solving problems

Students may
Invents strategy for solving problems or change the
strategy if it is not working
Create a new design, invent
Understand what questions to ask to solve the
problem

Memory
Stores a lot of information
Ability to remember and retrieve information

Students may
Needs only 1-2 repetitions for mastery
Knows a lot of information
Pays attention to details

Inquiry
Questions, experiments, explores
Seeks in-depth knowledge, understanding , or
information

Students may
Ask unusual questions for age
Plays around with ideas

Insight
Quickly grasps new concepts and makes connections
Sudden discovery of the correct solution following
incorrect attempts

Students may
demonstrate exceptional ability to draw inferences
appear to be a good guesser
be keen observer
possess capacity for seeing unusual and diverse
relationships
integrate ideas and disciplines

Reasoning
Logical approaches to figuring out solutions
Forward-looking, goal oriented thought

Students may
Make generalizations
Use metaphors and analogies
Think things through logically

Creativity
Originality
Problem-solving through non-traditional patterns
of thinking

Students may
Shows resourcefulness in using everyday materials
Exhibit wild, silly ideas
Produces ideas fluently/flexibly
Be curious

Humor
Conveys and picks up on humor

Students may
Exhibits sense of humorgentle or hostile
See relationships and create jokes or puns
Sensitive to feelings of others
Use inappropriate humor (class clown)

Motivation
Evidences an intense desire to achieve
Strives to satisfy a need or attain set goals

Students may:
Be persistent in pursuing/completing self-selected
tasks
Be a self-starter
Be an enthusiastic learner
Step 3: Testing
Students are tested in 4 areas:
Mental Ability
Achievement
Creativity
Motivation

What tests are
administered?
Mental Ability
Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)
Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT2)
Creativity
Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT)
Achievement
Stanford Achievement Test (STAT-10) K-2
ITBS 3-5
Motivation
Gifted Rating Scales-Motivation (GRS-M)
What happens after
testing?
Step 4: Eligible or Ineligible
Eligible
Met the criteria for 3 out of 4 test
Your child will begin TAG classes

Ineligible
Your child met the less than 3 out of 4 test
Your child will not begin TAG classes
Child may come up in testing process
again
Time to Practice
Mental Ability
Analogy Activity
Logic Problems
Mind Binders
Math Puzzle
Creativity
Drawing Starts

Websites and Resources
https://www.mindware.com
http://www.prufrock.com
http://www.gagc.org/content/page/Aw
ards.aspx (Georgia Association for Gifted
Children)