Pioneer Newsletter

Placement Procedure for Students

Students must meet three out of the four criteria in order to qualify for placement into the
Pioneer Program. The Individual Intelligence Scale Score must meet or exceed 125 – Full
Scale as per required by the state of Missouri. So, therefore, students who do not meet
this criteria are not eligible for further testing and possible placement during that
screening.

Criteria 1. Individual Intelligence Scale Score. The student must score at or above the 95
percentile (125 – Full Scale) on an individual intelligence test administered by school district personnel.

Individual intelligence tests have a number of advantages over group tests. Some
advantages are broader sampling of abilities is possible, better testing conditions can be
arranged than in group testing, a greater range of abilities can be tested, and interpretation of the quality of performance is possible. The kinds of items in an individual intelligence test are fairly typical of children’s thinking, especially in the school setting (Martinson,
1974).

The Stanford-Binet and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale IV are the two full-length
individual tests in widespread use for testing the gifted. Individual tests provide a much
more accurate ceiling than group tests and thus give a better estimate of ability. NOTE:
A minimum of six months between testing dates is required before tests can be
re-administered. If the WISC-IV the first time then Stanford-Binet must be administered the second time. No same IQ test can be administered within 1 year of each other.

Criteria 2. Woodcock Johnson-R. This individual achievement test will be administered
only to students who meet the 125 IQ criteria on the individually administered
intelligence test. Scores on the Skills part of Woodcock Johnson-R must be 95% or
higher in either the age or grade ranking to qualify this as a placement tool.

Criteria 3. Gifted and Talented Evaluation Scales (G.A.T.E.S.). If the student has the
minimum IQ of 125, but did not score 95% on the Skills part of the Woodcock
Johnson-R, the G.A.T.E.S. should be administered. This is a standardized,
norm-referenced test that helps identify gifted and talented students. Students must score at or above the 90% in three out of the five areas in order for the G.A.T.E.S. to qualify as a placement tool. The G.A.T.E.S. should be completed by the student’s teacher or the parent in the case of unfamiliarity on the part of the teacher to the student. The five areas on the G.A.T.E.S. are: Intellectual Ability, Academic Skills, Creativity, Leadership, and Artistic Talent. This criteria provides the necessary tool to identify the “hard to identify” gifted, who are highly creative.

Criteria 4. Teacher/Parent Nomination Form. One referral can be used as other
documented evidence as a placement tool for the program. If a parent filled out the
G.A.T.E.S., then the Teacher Nomination Form should be used as this placement tool. If
a teacher filled out the G.A.T.E.S., then the Parent Nomination Form should be used as
this placement tool.

A child will not be evaluated after two (2) evaluations without written parent request.
Only one parent request will be accepted per student career. (Grades K-6)