The School Board of Sarasota County, Florida

Exceptional Student Education (ESE)

1960 Landings Blvd.  Sarasota, Florida 34231    (941) 927-9000

Information Required for Gifted Eligibility Determination for Students Moving to Sarasota County

The following items are required by your Sarasota County districted school to determine your child's eligibility for the gifted program at Pine View School.  Eligibility will be determined by your districted school upon receipt and approval of:

• Proof of residency in Sarasota County
• Evaluation reporting IQ and academic achievement test scores by licensed psychologist
• Gifted characteristics rating scales
• Report card grades spanning one year

Specific details on the required items are given below.

1.     Proof of residency in Sarasota County by deadline date (March 25, 2008) for acceptance of files  Examples:  recent utility bill, lease agreement

2.      Evaluation report (by licensed psychologist or school psychologist) that includes both individual IQ and academic achievement testing:

IQ Test

Either of the following IQ tests should be administered:

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth  Edition (WISC-IV)

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale-Fifth Edition (SB5)

The minimum required IQ score on either test is:  Full-Scale IQ of 130

A student with an IQ below 130 will be determined ineligible for gifted.   Some partial scores of 130 may be considered with acceptable written justification from the examiner.  If your child’s IQ score is below 130, further academic achievement testing is not needed. 

Academic Achievement Test 

Either of the following two academic achievement tests should be administered if your child meets the minimum Full-Scale IQ score of 130:

Woodcock-Johnson III: Tests of Achievement (Form A or B; Normative update required effective January 2008)

The evaluation must report standard scores (age based) for:

Reading Comprehension Composite

Broad Math 

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-II

Report standard scores (age based) for:

Reading Composite

Math Composite

Note:  Psychoeducational evaluations by psychologists in private practice are the financial responsibility of the parents.  All evaluations from psychologists in private practice are subject to review and verification by Sarasota County School Board staff prior to gifted eligibility determination.  It is recommended that psychologists in private practice review the letter to private practitioners included in the parents’ information packet.

3. Gifted characteristics scales 
   Renzulli’s Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students (revised 1997) are completed by at least one of the student’s current academic teachers. Areas rated are learning, creativity, motivation, and leadership. The student must display a majority of characteristics to be considered for a gifted program. 

4. Report card grades 
   Grades are required for the following subjects:  language arts (reading for elementary students), math, science, and social studies.  Submit report cards that cover the most recent grading periods that span one year.

Gifted Eligibility Determination

Gifted eligibility encompasses the following three requirements

• A full-scale IQ of 130  and
• A majority of characteristics on a gifted rating scale and
• A need for gifted services as demonstrated by grades and academic achievement

Please refer to the enclosed Gifted Profile sample for further details on ineligibility, gifted resource eligibility, and full-time gifted eligibility. A student may be determined ineligible for gifted, eligible for gifted resource services at his/her district school, or eligible for full-time gifted services.

All files are processed at the Sarasota districted school level by the Exceptional Student Education (ESE)Liaison.  Only complete files with proof of residency that are submitted to your district by the deadline date (March 25, 2008 for Pine View consideration) will be accepted for eligibility determination.  Gifted eligibility cannot be determined by your districted school prior to meeting these requirements.  Pine View will not be an option for any student whose file was submitted after the deadline; however, gifted cluster sites and districted school gifted programs will be options for students determined eligible for gifted services after the deadline.

The School Board of Sarasota County, Florida  

TO:             Psychologist

FROM:       Liz Elliott, ESE Specialist

DATE:         2007-2008 school year

RE:             District requirements for gifted eligibility determination

Parents who are moving to Sarasota County may, at their own expense, provide psychoeducational evaluations that report both IQ and academic achievement scores necessary for gifted eligibility determination.  The following tests are required:

IQ Test  

Either of the following IQ tests should be administered:

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth  Edition (WISC-IV)

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale-Fifth Edition (SB5)

The minimum required IQ score on either test is:  Full-Scale IQ of 130

Some partial scores of 130 may be considered with acceptable written justification from the examiner.  A student with an IQ below 130 will be determined ineligible for gifted.  If the child’s score is below 130, further academic achievement testing is not needed.

Academic Achievement Test 
Either of the following two academic achievement tests should be administered if you child meets the minimum Full-Scale IQ score of 130:
Woodcock-Johnson III: Tests of Achievement (Form A or B; Normative update required effective January 2008)

The evaluation must report standard scores (age based) for:
Reading Comprehension Composite
Broad Math 

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-II

Report standard scores (age based) for:
Reading Composite
Math Composite

A student must meet the minimum IQ score for consideration for gifted.  In addition, he or she must meet the total composite points requirement on the Gifted Profile Worksheet that is completed at the school level prior to final eligibility determination.   Points are assigned based on grades, academic achievement scores, and gifted rating scales.

March 25, 2008 is the deadline for parents to submit the psychological evaluation, gifted rating scales and report cards, including proof of residency in Sarasota County, to their Sarasota County districted school for consideration for Pine View. Pine View will not be an option for any student whose file was submitted after the deadline; however, gifted cluster sites and districted school gifted programs will be options for students determined eligible for gifted services after the deadline.

Additional information for private practitioners is attached to this memorandum.   Please call Liz Elliott, ESE Specialist,  (941) 927-9000, for general questions regarding gifted program eligibility.  Specific questions related to the administration of the test instruments or preparation of the written report should be addressed to Tim Gissal, Chairperson, School Psychology Department, (941) 927-9000.

THE SCHOOL BOARD OF SARASOTA COUNTY

PUPIL SUPPORT SERVICES

1960 Landings Boulevard          Sarasota, FL 34231       (941) 927-9000

Dear Private Practitioner,

This letter has been prepared to make you aware of changes in the procedures for the identification and staffing of children into Gifted Programs in Sarasota County.  These changes were put into effect in August of 2004.  In June of 1996 a similar letter was distributed outlining changes that at that time were new.  Several of these changes are included in this letter as policy reminders.

ADOPTION OF WISC-IV AND SB5 AS INSTRUMENTS FOR ASSESSING INTELLIGENCE

Beginning with the first day of school (August 9) in 2004 the Sarasota County Public Schools transitioned to the updated version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (SB5) for gifted evaluations.  Therefore, all evaluations for determining the eligibility for gifted programming beginning in the 2004-2005 school year must utilize the most current measure of intellectual functioning.  Intellectual results from outdated versions of either scale (the WISC-III or SB: FE) that were obtained prior to August 9, 2004 may still be considered.  WISC-III and/or SB: FE scores obtained after August 9, 2004 will not be considered. 

ACCEPTANCE OF PARTIAL SCORES FROM WISC-IV AND SB-5

In some situations, part scores from the WISC-IV and SB5 may be a better indicator of a students functioning than the global score. When using the WISC-IV, the publishers suggest that it is appropriate to use the VCI, PRI, or GAI scores for part score interpretation. Publishers of the SB5 state that the VIQ and NVIQ scores are acceptable to use for part score interpretation. Written, clinical justification for using a part score must be provided within the psychoeducational report. For additional information, please reference the 2005-9 Technical Assistance Paper issued by the Florida Department of Education at the following website: http://www.firn.edu/doe/commhome/pdf/y2005-9.pdf

SELECTING AGE APPROPRIATE INSTRUMENTS

Sarasota County Public Schools will not accept scores from measures that do not include a child’s chronological age within the normative sample.  For example, a child under the age of six should not be given the WISC-IV, as that instrument contains normative data for children aged six-years, zero-months to 16-years, 11-months.  Although it may be an intuitively correct assumption that a five-year-old child scoring above 130 on the WISC-IV would be able to maintain and/or improve on that score at age six, there remains no standardized population to compare the child to at the time the test was administered.  This lack of standardized comparison sample renders the WISC-IV invalid.  A separate, age-appropriate measure (such as the SB5 or WPPSI-III) should be considered.

STANDARD ERROR OF MEASURE (SEM) NOT CONSIDERED IN PLACEMENT PURPOSES

As first discussed in 1996, the Standard Error of Measure (SEM) will not be considered in the eligibility determination of students in the Gifted Program.  This decision was informed by a technical assistance paper form the Florida Department of Education and met Sarasota School Board approval.

TO AVOID SUPERIOUSLY HIGH SCORES DUE TO A PRACTICE EFFECT, A PARTICULAR INTELLECTUAL MEASURE WILL ONLY BE CONSIDERED IF IT HAS NOT BEEN ADMINISTERED WITHIN 12 MONTHS.

To avoid any potential difficulties in this area, the Sarasota County Public Schools District strongly recommends private practitioners query their clients regarding any previous evaluations conducted with the child.  Regarding standardized academic tests such as the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement-Third Edition (WJ III ACH), examiners may administer “Form B” if “Form A” has been administered within in 12 months.  However, if two “Form A” or “Form B” measures are administered within 12-months of each other, the second administration of the same form will be considered invalid.  Note:  Normative update required starting January 2008 for WJ III ACH.

PROCEDURE FOR SUBMISSION OF PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL REPORTS

It is the parent’s responsibility to submit a private evaluator’s evaluation to the child’s district school during the school year.  The ESE Liaison at the district school will coordinate the collection and submission of all data required for gifted program eligibility determination.  To assist in this process, the private evaluator is encouraged to include (on the first page of the report) basic information such as the date of evaluation, the child’s date of birth, the chronological age of the child at the time of evaluation, and the school the child attends.

NOTE

Gifted Program eligibility is based on a number of factors, including the standardized scores described in a psychoeducational report.  In addition to these scores students must demonstrate a need for gifted services as evidenced by outstanding grades and teacher recommendation.  All evaluations must include a statement of the examiner’s professional judgment as to the reliability/validity of results.  In the case of re-evaluations (within 12-months) the report must include a statement of the examiner’s professional judgment as to the validity of the need for a second evaluation. 

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