Allen ISD students will have the opportunity to test for potential gifted identification once per academic school year. Per guidelines in the State Plan, Allen ISD's gifted/talented identification and assessment procedure and qualification criteria consist of at least three quantitative and qualitative measures, including aptitude and achievement testing, creative and critical thinking tasks, and an opportunity for parent and teacher input. 

Overview

Districtwide testing for kindergarten students is administered in December/January. All kindergarten students participate in phase I testing. Districtwide aptitude screening is offered in February/March for students in Grades 1-11. Students in Grades 1-11 must be registered to participate in testing. Parental consent is obtained before any special testing or individual assessment is conducted as part of the identification process. Students in grades 1-11 who qualify during the main spring assessment window begin services the following school year.

New Students

Families of students new to Allen ISD who were identified as gifted in their previous school/district should email scores and/or documents used to determine gifted identification to gifted@allenisd.org. Once these documents are received, they will be assessed and the next steps will be determined and communicated to the family.

Allen ISD District Criteria

Students must meet the minimum criteria set by the District Selection Committee in order to be selected for participation in AISD gifted and talented services. Students are selected based on both quantitative and qualitative measures.

Aptitude -97 Age NPR or above
Achievement – 97 PR or above
Critical/Creative Thinking Portfolio - 4
Parent/Teacher Inventory - 4

Phase I Testing

Students who register for phase I testing take the online CogAT on their home campus during the school day. Students who meet district criteria are referred for phase II testing.

Alternative Review Process

Alternative Review offers a second opportunity to students who scored extremely close on phase I but did not meet district criteria for further screening. Students who score at 94, 95, or 96 age percentile in any one area of phase I testing are eligible for alternative review. Requests for alternative review must be received within ten days of receiving your student's phase I testing results. Directions to apply for alternative review are included in your student's phase I testing results, which are uploaded via Skyward. Students who participate in the alternative review process are not eligible to file an appeal.

Phase Two Testing

Students who meet district criteria on phase I testing are eligible to participate in phase II testing, which includes an achievement test and a creative/critical thinking exercise. Phase II also requires observation inventories to be completed by teachers and parents. These inventories rate students on observed traits and characteristics that may be common of gifted/talented students. In grades 3-11, students respond to writing prompts and are scored holistically for purpose, organization, elaboration, depth, and complexity.

Appeal Process (upon completion of phase II testing)

The appeal process provides another opportunity for potential gifted identification. To be eligible to file an appeal a student must have at least one score in the 94-96th percentile on phase II and may not have moved directly to phase II based on a prior appeal. Appeals will be reviewed by the district selection committee.

The Disctrict Selection Committee makes the final decision on student identification and qualification for gifted services. The Destrict Selection Committee includes classroom teachers, gifted specialist teachers, campus counselors, campus administrators, and district instructional specialist and coordinators.

Please email gifted@allenisd.org for information on furlough or exit procedures.

A furlough may be granted at the request of a teacher and/or campus committee, student (K-12) and/or parent. Per the State Plan for the Education of Gifted/Talented Students, a student may be furloughed for a period of time deemed appropriate by the selection committee, but a furlough will last no longer than the current school year. At the end of the current school year, the student’s progress will be reviewed.  At that time, the student will be re-entered to gifted courses/services for the following year, unless they choose to permanently exit. Any student who exits gifted/talented courses/services must test in order to re-qualify as gifted/talented.

• Elementary: A student may furlough once K-6.
• Middle School: A student may furlough once 7-8.
• High school: Identified student may choose the gifted course or other option and will maintain gifted status through graduation.
  

Gifted and talented scores will be made available for viewing in the "Portfolio" area of Family Access.

Results will be sent to all guardians with email addresses provided. For this reason, it is important that you have set up your Family Access account and maintain a current email address. 

Please note: you must be logged in as a parent or guardian in order to view these results. Logging in under the student account will not provide access to these results.

Alternative Review Process for Phase I (CogAT)

If your child did not meet the district minimum standard of 97 APR but scored a 94-96 APR in any of the tested areas, they are eligible to complete an alternative review (AR). If your child qualified for AR and you would like them to complete the process, you must email gifted@allenisd.org no later than midnight on: 

• Monday, January 24, 2022 for kindergarten students who  completed the district-wide assessment in December.
• Thursday, April 14, 2022 for students in grades 1-11 who are completing spring 2022 assessment in March 2022.

Phase II Appeal Process

If your child did not meet the district minimum standard of 97 percentile and/or a scores of 4> on creative/parent/teacher inventories during phase II testing, but scored a 94-96 percentile in any of the tested areas, they are eligible to appeal. If you would like them to complete this process, you must email gifted@allenisd.org no later than midnight on: 

• March 3, 2022 for kindergarten students who completed phase II testing during March 21-29, 2022.
• May 31, 2022 for stuents in grades 1-11 who completed phase II testing on April 23, 2022. 

A decision will be made by the District Selection Committee over the summer. Notification of the committee decision will be communicated before the new academic school year begins. 

Registration for phase II testing will open for qualified students on April 8, 2022, and will close at midnight on April 14, 2022.

To qualify for phase II testing, students must score a 97 Age Percentile Rank (APR) or higher in one or more assessed areas of the CogAT in the current school year (unless otherwise ntoified via a district selection committee decion on a previously filed appeal).

Students who qualify for phase II testing through the spring 2022 CogAT will be notifified via Skyward messenger on or about April 8, 2022.

For a qualified child to participate in phase II testing, their parent or guardian must complete both the phase II registration form and parent inventory link below. Both forms are due by midnight on April 14, 2022.

• Phase II registration form (currently closed)
• Parent inventory form (currently closed)

Phase II and AR for qualified, registered students will take place on Saturday, April 23, 2022. Test day details will be emailed to families of registered students the week of April 18, 2022.

Notification of final testing results will be communicated via Skyward messenger on or about May 18, 2022. Students who are ultimately identified as gifted will begin receiving gifted services during the 2022-2023 school year. Secondary students (grades 7-12) who have already made course selections will have an opportunity to change their schedules to accommodate gifted coursework.

Each year, Allen ISD hosts an informational meeting for parents providing information on the district's Gifted and Talented services. 

The 2021-2022 meeting will take place via Zoom on January 27, 2022.

The 2020-2021 informational meeting was held via Zoom webinar. If you were not able to attend the meeting, or if you'd like to rview the presentation materials, please visit the links below:

recording of 2021 parent information meeting

2021 parent information meeting slides

2021 parent information meeting FAQs

In order to register for testing, students must:

• be enrolled in and attending an Allen ISD school at the time of registration and testing
• currently in grades 1-11
• not already be identified gifted/talented in Allen ISD
• not have participated in phase I testing during the 2021-2022 academic year

Allen ISD administers the computerized version of the Cognitive Abililites Test (CogAT) for all students in grades 1-11 who test for potential gifted identification. All students interested in participating in phase I of testing for potential gifted identification will take this administration of the CogAT on their home campus during the school day.

Registration for phase I testing for students currently in grades 1-11 will be open from January 27, 2022 through February 7, 2022. Please use Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Safari, if possible. Internet Explorer is not compatible. If you your child is registered to test, you will soon reveive more information about the specific date and time of their testing session.

Notification of phase I testing results will be communicated via Skyward messenger on or about April 8, 2022.

District-wide Assessment (Phase I)

All kindergarten students will participate in phase I (aptitude) testing on December 6-13, 2021. Notification of results will go home via Skyward messenger on Jan. 20, 2022.

Phase II

Kindergarten students who meet Phase I criteria are eligible for phase II testing. Phase II testing will take place on campuses during the school day from Jan. 24 - Feb. 18, 2022.

Kindergarten students who met the district criteria of 97 age percentile rank or above need to complete bothe the registration form and the parent inventory below to register your eligible kindergarten student for phase II or alternative review (AR) testing. Please use Google Chrome if possible. Internet Explorer is not compatible.

Kindergarten phase II and AR Registration is currently closed. Registration will open from January 20-24, 2022.

Parent Inventory (form will be available from January 20-24, 2022).

Notification of final results via Skyward messenger: Feb. 24, 2022.