DPS's Identification Process and Timeline:
How are gifted students identified in Denver Public Schools?
It is the policy of Denver Public Schools that ALL students be screened for gifted services at every DPS school. Identification is based on a body of evidence that includes multiple criteria from behavioral, academic and creative domains. Information contained in the body of evidence can include state-level standardized test results (TCAP), results from cognitive ability or creativity tests (such as the NNAT, CogAT, and Torrence Creativity Tests--see the following question for details), parent and teacher inventories, portfolios of student work, and/or interviews.
When does identification happen?
Gifted and Talented (NOT HGT) identification is conducted by each building's GT teacher, and can occur at any time of the year. However, to ensure that all students are screened for gifted services, DPS has several formal screeners that take place at set points in the year.
Parent and teacher inventories, nominations, and observations of student work, however, can occur at any time of the year, and gifted and talented coordinators can identify whenever a sufficient body of evidence has been gathered and confirmed by DPS's GT department. If you would like to nominate your child, please contact your child's classroom teacher and the GT coordinator via email.
HGT testing, however, is conducted by the GT Department (not the individual building). The nomination process is formal and tied to specific testing deadlines in the fall. Although teachers and the GT staff can encourage nomination, parents must complete the nomination forms for their students. To learn more about DPS's HGT application process, please click here.
Below is a visual representation of GT and HGT identification in DPS:
It is the policy of Denver Public Schools that ALL students be screened for gifted services at every DPS school. Identification is based on a body of evidence that includes multiple criteria from behavioral, academic and creative domains. Information contained in the body of evidence can include state-level standardized test results (TCAP), results from cognitive ability or creativity tests (such as the NNAT, CogAT, and Torrence Creativity Tests--see the following question for details), parent and teacher inventories, portfolios of student work, and/or interviews.
When does identification happen?
Gifted and Talented (NOT HGT) identification is conducted by each building's GT teacher, and can occur at any time of the year. However, to ensure that all students are screened for gifted services, DPS has several formal screeners that take place at set points in the year.
- Each spring, all 2nd and 4th grade students are given the NNAT2 (Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, Second Edition), a nonverbal test of reasoning. Find out more about the NNAT2 here.
- Each winter, all 3rd and 5th grade students are given the Torrence Tests of Creative Thinking, a test that assesses different aspects of creativity and divergent thinking.
Parent and teacher inventories, nominations, and observations of student work, however, can occur at any time of the year, and gifted and talented coordinators can identify whenever a sufficient body of evidence has been gathered and confirmed by DPS's GT department. If you would like to nominate your child, please contact your child's classroom teacher and the GT coordinator via email.
HGT testing, however, is conducted by the GT Department (not the individual building). The nomination process is formal and tied to specific testing deadlines in the fall. Although teachers and the GT staff can encourage nomination, parents must complete the nomination forms for their students. To learn more about DPS's HGT application process, please click here.
Below is a visual representation of GT and HGT identification in DPS: