Talented and Gifted (TAG)

By Oregon State law all schools are required to formally identify all students who are “intellectually” or “academically” gifted. By state definition, “talented and gifted children” means “those children who require special educational programs or services, or both, beyond those normally provided by the regular school program in order to realize their contribution to self or society and who demonstrate outstanding ability or potential...” This includes those students who rank in the top 3% on nationally standardized tests of mental ability or achievement in reading and/or math.

Characteristics of intellectually gifted students include:

• Advanced vocabulary, ease of communication
• Interest in solving problems
• Asking many complex questions
• Learning/remembering information easily
• A keen sense of observation
• Curiosity and interest in many things

Teachers will soon be screening to identify a group of students who will receive further testing for possible TAG identification. If you believe that your child is in the top 3% of his/her class in mental ability, reading, or math, a good first step is to talk with his/her teacher and review any testing data available. If after talking to the teacher, you would like to refer your child for the testing pool, contact Brian Hills, to request a parent checklist at 503-665-0148.

Students who qualify are served in the regular classroom through modifications to the curriculum, which are designed to meet the child's assessed level and rate of learning.