Neenah Joint School District - Assessment Criteria

Criteria for Gifted and Talented (GT) Placement

1. A *CogAT Total (VQN), Verbal (V), Quantitative (Q), or combination score (VN, QN, VQ) of 130 or higher plus a percentile rank of 96 or higher in the areas of either reading or math.

2. A *CogAT Total (VQN), Verbal (V), Quantitative (Q), or combination score (VN, QN, VQ) score of 125 - 129 plus a percentile rank of 96 or higher in either reading or math and a GATES (Gifted and Talented Evaluation Scale) of “Highly Probable” or higher in the areas of Intellectual Ability, or Academic Skills, or Creativity.

* A minimum CogAT total score (VQN) of 120 is required for GT evaluation. Nonverbal (N) should be used in conjunction with other CogAT tests. Nonverbal should not be used alone. A full-range IQ test may also be used for identification. Approved full-range IQ tests include CogAT, Sages 1, 2, and 3, Slosson-Frit, Weschler, Stanford Binet, Kaufman, and Woodcock-Johnson. A minimum composite score of 120 is required to be considered for gifted and talented (GT) identification.

Criteria for Magnet Placement

Tier 1: A CogAT Total Reasoning Score of 140 or higher.

Tier 2: A CogAT Total Reasoning Score of 135-139 and a percentile rank of 80th or higher on the Iowa Assessment Total Battery.

Tier 3: A CogAT Total Reasoning Score of 130-134 and a percentile rank of 85th or higher on the Iowa Assessment Total Battery.

Tier 4: A CogAT Verbal or Quantitative Reasoning Score of 130-134 and a percentile rank of 85th or higher on the Iowa Assessment Total Battery.

Students meeting the eligibility requirements will be ranked within each tier through a process that combines achievement and ability scores.
Total CogAT x2 + total Iowa assessment = Rank
The rank-ordered system starts with Tier 1 qualifiers ranked the highest and then continues down through Tier 4 qualifiers. This means placement of Tier 4 students is dependent on space in the Magnet class.
The NJSD Administration will determine enrollment caps, students placed on waitlists, and numbers of Magnet class sections on an annual basis.