TAG Scenarios for Role Playing
Rena Ingram
Situation 1 (High school – 4 Players)
Your group consists of a gifted program teacher, an administrator and both parents of a ninth
grader who is new to this state and your school. Thomas was in the gifted program in Texas in a
public school. At registration his parents brought the placement forms for the gifted program and
a copy of his permanent record from his previous school. He has the following most recent
entries:
WISC IV - 96% given two years ago when he was placed
Achievement tests given last year with scores of
Reading – 96th percentile Math – 98th percentile
GPA: 93.6
The parents want Thomas placed in the gifted program immediately, so he can take advantage of
the AP Classes and certain gifted program offerings. What can you tell the parents about the
process for placement in the high school gifted program and in AP classes? What should have
already been done? What will be done now?
Based on the setting of the scenario presented (at registration), I would have to ask that the
parents arrange a meeting with me so that we can further discuss their concern in a confidential
fashion. Within the meeting, I would, then, have to tell the parents that Thomas is currently
ineligible for the gifted program as there is no mandated reciprocity between states; however,
since he did receive the services in a separate state, his student record will be examined and if he
is determined eligible through the screening process, they will be notified of the next steps.
Based on the submitted data, he is eligible for automatic screening that will take place during the
fall semester as he met the requirements for mental ability, achievement, and motivation
categories; however, Thomas’s WISC IV (mental ability) scores are no longer valid because he
took the test two years ago. Next, Thomas’s parents will receive (and must sign) a letter of
consent that will allow us to administer gifted testing for mental ability, and possibly also
creativity since data for motivation is already apparent (GPA). If Thomas is determined eligible
based on his assessment results, his parents will be notified by December and he begin receiving
the program’s offerings in January.
Situation 4 (High School – 3 to 5 players)
Your group consists of a gifted certified classroom teacher, an administrator, a high school
student, and one or both of her parents. The child, Shefali, was in the gifted program in middle
school, decided she did not like to work that hard, so dropped out of gifted in 7th grade. Now that
she is beginning high school in 9th grade, the parents want her in gifted classes and AP classes, so
she can get into a good college. Shefali has the following scores on record from 7th grade system
wide testing:
Otis Lennon – 95th percentile
Achievement Test
Reading – 88th percentile Math – 92nd percentile
TAG Scenarios for Role Playing
Her 5th grade scores for placing her in the program include:
Otis Lennon 98th percentile
Stanford Achievement
Reading 95th percentile Math 97th percentile
Although the student is not so sure she wants to take those harder classes, the parents want the
child placed in the gifted program immediately. What will you say and do?
I would inform Shefali’s parents that based on her previous assessment data, she was properly
identified as gifted; however, her assessment data is no longer valid because it is all over 2 years
old. Thus, she would have to wait for the next appropriate screening window to determine
eligibility. Personally, based on Shefali’s emotional uncertainty (apparent lack of motivation)
and the fact that all her previous assessment data is no longer valid, I would wait until the
Reported Screening period when her teachers will use CISS to identify her superior abilities in
the Spring. If she has greater than five “checks”, in addition to her previous documentation, she
will be eligible for testing. If she is determined eligible based on her assessment results, her
parents will be notified by May and she begin receiving the program’s offerings in at the
beginning of her Sophomore year.
Situation 8 (High School – 4 players) Three situations.
You are on a referral team (administrator, gifted program teacher, counselor and a regular
education classroom teacher) at the high school looking at the students below for possible testing
and placement in gifted. The gifted program teacher has the following information on these
students. What recommendations for placement and evaluation would you give him/her?
1. Yi Kung (10th grader)
Scores from 8th grade system-wide testing:
Mental Abilities Test
Verbal 84th percentile Quantitative 95th percentile
Nonverbal 94th percentile Composite 94th percentile
Achievement
Reading 85th percentile Mathematics 95th percentile
GPA of 3.2
When Yi first took the assessments in the 8th grade, he was not eligible based on his results as he
only satisfied the requirement of achievement. However, regardless of his current GPA falling
short of the requirement, his assessment data is > 2 years old, so I would recommend he take
another mental ability test (CogAT and/or NNAT) and achievement test (IOWA or STAT-10). I
would potentially also recommend a creativity assessment (TTCT).
2. Larry Smith (11th grader transferring from another Georgia county – where he was in the
gifted program). He was placed in the gifted program with these scores in the 8th grade:
Cognitive Abilities Test
Verbal 96th percentile Quantitative 99th percentile
th
Nonverbal 94 percentile Composite 98th percentile
TAG Scenarios for Role Playing
Achievement
Reading 96th percentile Math 99th percentile
No other scores are in his transferring records.
His current GPA is 3.9
Since Larry was already found eligible (with amazing scores!) for the gifted program in another
public school-system in Georgia and was already receiving the services, he will continue to be
considered eligible to receive the service in Fulton County upon verification of his records. He
will not be placed in gifted classes until eligibility has been verified and parent permission has
been received.
3. Terry Jerserski (11th grader; Self-referral)
Cognitive Abilities Test from the 8th grade systemwide testing:
Verbal 95th percentile Quantitative 90th percentile
th
Nonverbal 85 percentile Composite 94th percentile
Achievement from 8th grade systemwide testing:
Reading 95th percentile Math 90th percentile
GPA is 3.5
When Terry first took the assessments in the 8th grade, he was not eligible based on his results as
he only satisfied the requirement of achievement. However, both his assessment data for mental
ability and achievement is > 2 years old, so I would recommend he take another mental ability
test (CogAT and/or NNAT) and achievement test (IOWA or STAT-10). He currently meets the
motivation requirement with his GPA, so I would also recommend a creativity assessment
(TTCT) as a back-up to the mental ability and achievement assessments for him to have a fair
chance at eligibility with Option B.