An indepth look into the ways that DeKalb County students are identified for the district’s gifted program has resulted in changes that have made the process more inclusive.
According to Dr. Norman Sauce, chief of student services for the DeKalb County School District, altering the frequency of screenings and expanding the opportunities by which potentially gifted students are identified tripled the number of students eligible for additional gifted screening.
Last spring, more than 2,092 students were identified for gifted testing, a 47 percent increase from the past year. In 2023, the system had 9,953 gifted students that included 1,497 newly identified candidates.
“The number of students identified using the former method [once-a-year MAP assessment] resulted in a stark disproportionality of students” who qualified for gifted testing, Sauce said.
By lowering the threshold on the MAP assessment and adding an additional academic measure, the Iowa assessment, twice as many students were able to be assessed using the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT), with the number of Black, Hispanic and multi-racial students increasing significantly.
The shift also has allowed more ESOL and students with disabilities to be considered for gifted testing.
Statistics released by the system from an analysis performed by Riverside Insights show the following increases in students identified for gifted testing:
• Black – 72 percent
• White – 25 percent
• Latino – 60 percent
• Asian – 25 percent
• Multi-racial – 44 percent
• Economically disadvantaged – 40 percent
• English language learners – 80 percent
• Students with disabilities – 67 percent
“The Riverside study showed every subgroup benefited from the added opportunity to be screened,” Sauce said. “We are quite excited about those results.”
To support increases in the gifted program student population, the district has added 180 seats for professional learning for teachers interested in becoming gift-certified, according to Donyell Atkinson, the district’s senior coordinator, assessments and program services.
The district also held parent group meetings about the new initiative, which drew about 2,000 people.