Highly Capable Forms
General Directions:

• Students in any grade level can be referred for assessment for eligibility to receive highly capable program services. Parents/legal guardians, teachers, or community members may refer a student. If a community member is referring the student, please give this referral packet to the child’s school or teacher, to initiate the referral process.
• BOTH parents/guardians and teachers need to complete the referral packet.
  • If a parent/guardian initiates the referral, they must complete the parent/guardian section, and give the teacher section to the teacher to complete.
  • If a teacher initiates the referral, they must complete the teacher section, and give the parent/guardian section to the parent/guardian to complete.
  • Teachers and parents/guardians turn in their sections of the referral separately to their school office, to submit to the Teaching and Learning department.
• Referral packets are due to school offices by January 19, 2024.
• School offices should not wait for both pieces of the referral to be turned in, before submitting to the central office. Please turn in either piece of the referral as soon as it is received, by sending to Adrienne Minnery Director of Curriculum and Instruction, PK – 6th grade [email protected]

Process

Referral
All students are eligible for referral, at any grade level. A teacher, family, community member, or student themselves can initiate the referral.

Universal Screening
In addition, the Shelton School District conducts universal screening at 2nd and 5th grade. 2nd grade students will participate in a brief screener (CogAT screener) during the school day in December. The screener measures verbal, spatial, and analytical reasoning. 5th grade students will take the winter MAP benchmark assessment as outlined on our assessment calendar. These universal screeners will be used, in conjunction with other data points, to identify students who may benefit from further testing to determine Highly Capable program placement.

Assessment
All referred students, and all 2nd and 5th grade students identified by the screener assessment, with parent/guardian permission, will participate in Cognitive Abilities full battery (CogAT) testing to give another data point about learning aptitude.

Selection and Notification
A multidisciplinary selection committee will meet to review multiple data points: academic benchmark assessments, CogAT, teacher and parent referrals, academic data, and state testing data, to identify students who would benefit from receiving Highly Capable Program Services. Families and schools will be notified about the decisions of the multidisciplinary committee in the spring of 2024.

Appeal: Students who do not qualify for Highly Capable program services have the right to submit a written appeal, providing the multidisciplinary selection committee with additional information to support identification for Highly Capable services. An appeal must be filed within two weeks of receipt of your child’s results. Appeals are reviewed by the district’s Multidisciplinary Team and families will be notified of the decision. Please submit appeals to: [email protected] (pictures acceptable) or mail to Adrienne Minnery, 700 S. 1st Street, Shelton, WA 98584