Prepared in collaboration with the New Jersey Association for Gifted Children, the New Jersey Department of Education, and the Strengthening Gifted and Talented Education Advisory Committee

1. Identify student strengths in general intellectual ability, creativity, or specific academic areas. Students with gifts and talents require services beyond the general curriculum. Students do not need to demonstrate strengths in every domain to receive services or modifications in their area(s) of talent.
2. Maintain ongoing identification of students across all grade levels, K-12. Identification measures must be appropriate for each of these age groups. Assessments will vary depending on grade.
3. Consider all students, including multilingual learners, those with IEPs (Individualized Education Program), and 504 plans. Modifications to your criteria may be needed to identify these students.
4. Districts must use multiple measures when identifying students. Multiple measures should not be used as hurdles to jump over, but as various pathways to find students in need of services. No single assessment result should disqualify a student. Select assessments with a high ceiling or that are above grade level to ensure you are getting an accurate picture of abilities.
5. Consider the white papers, position statements, and programming standards of the National Association for Gifted Children when selecting criteria and identifying students.
6. Be transparent. Your criteria (how specific assessments are weighted) and detailed information must be posted on your website, including all applicable timelines.
7. Ensure equity and access by universally screening all students and using local norms in selection decisions.
8. Use both objective and subjective criteria and consider both quantitative and qualitative data. Utilize teachers’ rating scales as a “safety net” to catch students who may have been missed in the identification process; never use teachers’ rating scales to exclude children from programming when objective measures indicate a need for services. Avoid reliance on nominations as a screening factor.
9. Utilize alternate measures when appropriate. If other data exist, such as WISC-V scores for special education students, consider these results when determining a need for gifted services. Portfolios, showcasing exceptional talent, are an additional tool that can be used in the identification process. Allow for flexibility in the decision-making process by considering all relevant data.
10. Understand the limitations of every measure used and provide professional development in how to analyze and interpret the data. Be aware of the difference between potential and performance, especially when twice-exceptionality or underachievement may be present.