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Gifted testing takes place in accordance with the Arizona State Mandate. Paradise Valley Unified School District primarily uses the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) and the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT2) to identify gifted students.
PV Schools gifted assessments ensure fairness to the District’s ethnically diverse population. The assessment battery includes tools that are language-free and culturally unbiased to provide equal opportunities for identification of the District’s English language learners and culturally diverse students:
Testing is offered three times each year as follows:
Testing for students in the middle and high schools can be arranged at specific times throughout the school year. All gifted testing takes place during the school day by trained testing technicians.
Testing accommodations are made for students with disabilities according to the students’ IEP or Section 504 Accommodation Plan. This testing takes place in June if any special accommodations need to be met.
Make-up testing is available in June for students who were unable to complete testing during their school's regularly scheduled testing dates due to illness. Students must have had a signed permission slip and been on the original list for gifted testing.
Arizona State Approved Identifying Tests
PV Schools Director of Gifted Education and the Gifted Specialist at each school are available to guide staff members and parents through the gifted testing nomination process at staff meetings and parent meetings. Parent, students, teachers, school administrators, Special Education staff members, and Language Acquisition staff members may nominate students for gifted testing. Parent permission is required for individuals nominated for gifted testing. Nomination forms are available at each school and on the Gifted Education website.
A “Parent’s Gifted Testing Nomination Packet” is available in English and in Spanish. This packet includes the following resources:
2018-2019 Testing Dates by School
Parent Nomination Packet - Spanish
Students qualify for gifted services by scoring in the 97th percentile or above on any one, or combination, of the verbal, quantitative, or nonverbal sections of a state approved test beginning in kindergarten
The PVSchools Gifted Education Department will mail written notification of test results to parents and guardians within three weeks of test administration. Parent notification is provided in English and in Spanish on the NNAT. Test results are available in Spanish for the CogAT upon request. Translation services are available for families who speak other languages.
Parent notification of testing results includes:
PVSchools is unable to provide gifted testing for students residing outside the PVSchools boundaries that do not attend one of our schools. Please contact your home school district for gifted testing information or parents may choose to have their child privately tested.