Gifted & Twice-Exceptional (2e)
Giftedness
The National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC) defines giftedness as, "Students with gift and talents perform, or have the capability to perform, at higher levels compared to others of the same age, experience, and environment in one or more domains. They require modification(s) to their educational experience(s) to learn and realize their potential." That is according to NAGC gifted children do not have to be gifted in all areas (i.e., "globally gifted"), but rather extremely skilled in one area (e.g., general intellectual ability, specific academic aptitude, creative thinking, leadership ability, visual or performing arts). In fact, it is incredibly rare to be gifted in all areas and far more likely to be gifted in one one specific domain.
Traditionally speaking, giftedness is defined by having an IQ score of 130 (98th percentile) or higher. And individuals with an IQ score of 155 (>99.9 percentile) or above is highly gifted and 180 or above is profoundly gifted. Of note, most of our current IQ tests do not measure abilities above 160 (>99.9 percentile).
Gifted Education
The state of Arizona defines gifted education as appropriate academic course offerings and services that are required to provide an educational program that is an integral part of the regular school day and that is commensurate with the academic abilities and potential of a gifted pupil. In addition, a gifted pupil is a child who is of lawful school age, who due to superior intellect or advanced learning ability, or both, is not afforded an opportunity for otherwise attainable progress and development in regular classroom instruction and who needs appropriate gifted education services, to achieve at levels commensurate with the child's intellect and ability. ARS §15-779
The state indicates that students who score at or above the 97th percentile (standard score = 128) in any one of three areas (i.e., verbal, nonverbal, or quantitative reasoning) on any test from the State Board-approved list.
The state mandates school districts to conducted gifted testing three times per year. The majority of schools tend to administer the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) or Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT3). The CogAT and NNAT3 are group administered tests. If you believe that your child would benefit from an individually administered one-on-one exam, then seeking private gifted testing is an option.
School districts will consider/accept test scores from outside providers. Some districts specifically list "approved" outside providers and Dr. Andersen is some district's directories. Dr. Andersen routinely performs gifted evaluations and if you would like to seek a gifted evaluation from Dr. Andersen and he is not on a specific district's "approved" list, he will gladly provide any credentials/qualifications he has to the requesting district.
Twice-Exceptional (2e)
In NAGC's position statement on giftedness, gifted students can have learning and processing disorders that require specialized intervention and accommodation (e.g., Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD], Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Autism Spectrum Disorder [ASD], etc.).
What Do You Receive with a Gifted Evaluation?
Assessment
- Interview with the parent(s)/guardian(s) (~30 minutes)
- IQ test (~1 hour) via a State Board Approved Test
Results
- Verbal Feedback (~30 minutes)
- Written Report (approximately 2 to 5 pages) with the FSIQ, verbal, nonverbal, and quantitative reasoning scores reported.
The interested reader may view the following links below regarding gifted education in Arizona.