Screening and Testing Criteria
When IMPACT begins looking for students who will qualify for our gifted program, we start with referrals. A referral can come from a teacher, parent, principal, or counselor. The deadline for first through fifth grade student names from each elementary school counselor to be turned in to the IMPACT teachers will be in January. After a child is referred, the next step is screening. The screening process helps us determine who is likely to qualify during summer testing.
Screening is different than testing, but some parents confuse it with testing. If your child does not pass the screening process, you will receive a letter thanking you for allowing us to screen your child and your child will be finished with the process. If your child passes the screening stage, you will receive a letter explaining that your child will go on to summer testing. This does not mean your child has qualified for IMPACT. Students must meet the state guidelines; they will be required to qualify on an IQ test as well as a creativity test. After all testing is completed, a letter will be sent home during the summer listing test scores and informing parents if their child has qualified for IMPACT.
Many times the classroom teacher’s input is requested during the referral process, so parents should talk with their classroom teacher to determine if they believe the student could be gifted.
Screening is different than testing, but some parents confuse it with testing. If your child does not pass the screening process, you will receive a letter thanking you for allowing us to screen your child and your child will be finished with the process. If your child passes the screening stage, you will receive a letter explaining that your child will go on to summer testing. This does not mean your child has qualified for IMPACT. Students must meet the state guidelines; they will be required to qualify on an IQ test as well as a creativity test. After all testing is completed, a letter will be sent home during the summer listing test scores and informing parents if their child has qualified for IMPACT.
Many times the classroom teacher’s input is requested during the referral process, so parents should talk with their classroom teacher to determine if they believe the student could be gifted.
What happens after the IMPACT referral?
The deadline for first through fifth grade student names from each elementary school counselor to be turned in to the IMPACT teachers is the end of January. After we know how many students have been referred for screening, we will order the selection tool that will be used in the screening process. The selection (or screening) tool, helps us to see which students are likely to score high enough for the gifted program. ISD will also screen all first graders as part of our process using a classroom screening tool called the analogy. Many children are high achievers, which means they do a wonderful job in school and are very successful, but do not need outside services to achieve. Parents will need to sign and return a permission to screen form. Each referred child who goes through the screening process will receive a letter stating the child's score and if they have scored high enough to go on to summer testing.