Gifted and Talented

Gifted and Talented Programing

At Inspire Elementary, teachers differentiate instruction to meet the diverse needs of all students in their classrooms, which includes students in the district talent pool and those identified as GT (Gifted and Talented). This is a cornerstone of our school culture. Academic and social-emotional skills are included in our daily practices and our schools philosophy, which harbors much benefit for advanced learners.

Some of the techniques used through the grade levels include:

Cluster grouping – Providing advanced cohorts that are able to work together (e.g. reading groups, math groups, etc.).
Advanced content – Providing appropriate content that allows for extensions (e.g. Khan Academy, Prodigy, Epic, Raz Kids, etc.).
Curriculum enrichment/extensions (e.g. STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Projects, Classroom Passion Projects, Portfolios)
High level questioning techniques – Asking students to apply information in new and creative ways.

Gifted and Talented services are also provided by our district itinerant who supports throughout the year with testing and GT identified students with ALPs (Advanced Learning Plans). As students are tested and potentially identified, groups evolve throughout the year to respond to the various needs. Although younger students usually do not have the data points acquired for full identification, they may need extra academic challenges to provide optimal engagement, which their grade level teachers support.

Gifted and Talented Defined

In the Denver Public School District (DPS), “gifted and talented” refers to those students who demonstrate abilities, talents and/or potential for accomplishments that are developmentally advanced and may require additional support within the educational setting. These students perform, or show the potential of performing, at high intellectual levels within specific academic or creative areas when compared with others of their age and experience.

Gifted and talented children are present in all student groups, regardless of gender, disability, English language proficiency, economic status, ethnic or cultural background.

Gifted and Talented Identification

Gifted and Talented identification follows district and state guidelines. Students need a body of evidence including three or more scores at or above the 95th percentile on state-approved measures. Both ability and achievement scores can be part of the body of evidence.

DPS administers the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) as a universal screener in Kindergarten, 2nd and 6th grades to ensure all students are given the opportunity to receive potential GT data points. In addition to these screeners, other measures may be used to support a body of evidence. These may often include Cognitive Ability Test (CogAT), Iowa Assessment (Iowa), Scales for Identifying Gifted Students (SIGS) and Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS). For equity, DPS policy does not allow private testing to be used for GT identification.

In addition to the universal screener (Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test) administered in Kindergarten, 2nd and 6th grades, parents of students in other grades may nominate students to take the CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) for Highly Gifted and Talented (HGT) identification to attend a magnet program, or another potential data point.

For more information, please visit the DPS Gifted and Talented Website.