REFERALS/NOMINATIONS
The initial referral window opens on the first day of school and remains open until September 30. Parents, teachers, administrators, and counselors may refer students who are not receiving Gifted and Talented services for evaluation if they believe the student exhibits characteristics indicating giftedness. Students may also refer themselves. Testing will follow once permission to test forms have been received from the student's parent/guardian.
A second referral window will be available starting October 1 and will go through the end of the fall semester for any student who enrolls in the District after the closing of the initial fall nomination window or for those who the teacher becomes aware of that they feel exhibits characteristics that could lead to giftedness. Testing of these students will begin the first two weeks of January.
Nomination Reminders
• Students may be referred for GT Evaluation if they are in grades 1 – 12 and are enrolled in ESD. Services begin in grade 2.
• Communication of the Gifted and Talented nomination windows occur via District and ESD GT (eldoradogt.org) websites, ESD GT Facebook page, and communications posted at ESD elementary schools.
• Consent to be evaluated for Gifted and Talented services must be provided by the parent when anyone other than a parent makes the nomination.
• ESD Gifted and Talented Program accepts referrals from students from all ethnic and socioeconomic groups.
No one knows children and adolescents better than their own parents.
"Children who are gifted are known as children who have an “ability significantly above the norm for their age”. And children with different abilities as their peer groups will require a different type of education, but in order to provide this education, these students need to be identified properly. The effort of both the educators and parents/guardians is important in taking note of possible signs that a child may be gifted.
At home, children may exhibit signs of giftedness such as learning tasks and skills quickly (such as reading). Parents/guardians can share this information with the child’s educators, where the schools can implement tests to identify whether or not a child can be considered gifted compared to their peers. These tests can be divided into three categories that help identify a child’s giftedness: talent, performance, and comparative. Each of these categories have emphasized where a child’s giftedness may be manifesting itself and can be used as a practical tool to help identify gifted and talented children."