Talented And Gifted

Not all gifted children look or act alike. Start by having a conversation with your child’s teacher about what you are noticing or what they are experiencing. Gifted and talented children are present in all student groups, regardless of gender, disability, English language proficiency, economic status, ethnic or cultural background. Because gifted children are so diverse, their characteristics may vary. 

The following resources may help you determine whether or not your child demonstrates typical characteristics of giftedness:

• Bright Child vs. Gifted Learner

• Universal Characteristics of Giftedness

• Characteristics of Gifted Learners with Other Factors

• Characteristics of Gifted English Language Learners

• The Underachieving Gifted Learner

• Bett’s Profiles of Giftedness

Start with speaking with the student’s teacher(s) about what you are noticing or what they are experiencing to gather more information about the student's capabilities and characteristics. Then, please fill out the TAG Referral Form and contact your building’s TAG Specialist/Coordinator. 

A student must demonstrate outstanding capability or potential that requires special educational services beyond those normally provided by the regular school curriculum in comparison to others of their age, experience, or environment. This is determined by data that is collected from a variety of sources, including but not limited to student and parent interviews, file reviews, teacher checklists, nationally or state-normed assessments, observations, in-class tests and quizzes, work samples, etc. After all data has been collected, a team of educators familiar with the student will meet to discuss all the evidence and determine whether or not the student qualifies for services.

The evaluation team will need to gather enough data to gain a complete picture of the student, including learning needs and behavioral characteristics. Every effort will be made to complete this process in a timely manner (a minimum of six weeks), and families will be notified if there are any changes that may impact this timeline.

Services that address the rate and learning of TAG students will begin within six weeks of a student being identified.

In Oregon, TAG services may be offered in grades K-12. If a primary aged student (K-2) demonstrates academic needs that are vastly different from their peers, a TAG referral may be appropriate. An early identification could help ensure that their unique needs are being met. The same is true for students in grades 3-12; even an identification later in a student’s educational career can help ensure that their unique learning and social-emotional needs are being met.

A TAG identification alerts your child’s teacher that your child may have unique learning needs in the classroom. The identification ensures that their teacher will support their unique rate and level learning needs, as well as be on the alert for social-emotional needs typically associated with gifted students.

Yes. Students who demonstrate the need may be eligible for both services.

Yes. There are a variety of reasons gifted students may not be performing up to their highest potential, and may have poor grades as a result. The evaluation process is designed to collect enough evidence related to a student’s language, learning, social, and cultural characteristics that their giftedness will still be recognized even if they are underachieving. Please refer to the Underachieving Gifted Learner document.

Each student’s TAG identification records are placed in their student files at their current school. You can call the school’s registrar (grades 6-12) or office secretary/TAG Specialist (elementary) for access. The names and contact information of the committee members are included on the student’s TAG ID form. Contact any of them to learn more about their findings and determination.

The student’s file will be transferred to TTSD from their former district and it should include their TAG ID form. Once identified through a defensible process in another district in Oregon, students are considered as TAG for their K-12 education. We would conduct a parent and student interview to learn more about the student’s unique abilities and learning needs in order to ensure appropriate services. Students identified in other states will also be interviewed and we will do a file review to ensure qualifying criteria correlate with TTSD’s.

To request a review of a student’s TAG identification, contact your child’s school’s TAG Specialist (elementary) or Secondary TOSA Alison Heath (middle and high school). They will reach out to you to schedule any needed interviews, further testing, etc.

If a family member or student wishes to appeal the identification decision, a written communication is sent to the Associate Director of T&L, the District Liaison serving TAG students, who will review the steps that were taken during the identification process, along with the data considered by the site-based team, and render a final decision.

Assessments are only one data point among many that are considered for TAG eligibility.

Tigard-Tualatin School District uses universal screeners in grades 3-8 and 11 to find students who may be eligible for TAG services. Universal screeners are a best practice used in gifted identification, because all students have the opportunity to take the assessments. 

Oregon’s state assessments in Math and English Language Arts (OSAS) are the universal screeners used as evidence for an identification as Academically Talented. Other tests that may be used for an identification as Academically Talented in Reading or Math include, but are not limited to, the Stanford 10 and the WIAT-IV.

The Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) is the universal screener used in 3rd grade to find students who demonstrate high cognitive abilities and may be used as evidence for an identification as Intellectually Gifted. The NNAT was chosen to remove the barriers of language and background contextual knowledge from the assessment device.

Tests are only one measure we use to determine TAG eligibility. We consider student work artifacts; conduct interviews with families, the referred student, and teachers; observe students in lessons; examine results from SIGS surveys (Scales for Identifying Gifted Students); and more. During the identification process, the team will contact the student’s family if there is a need to conduct additional testing to make a determination.

Before a student takes any of these assessments, you can explain that they will answer questions that allow them to show their unique ways of thinking and problem solving. They should arrive well rested and well-nourished. They do not need to study or complete any preparation/practice.

Students in Oregon are provided TAG services in the general education classroom through differentiated instruction. The TAG law states that the instruction provided to identified students must address each student's assessed level of learning and rate of learning in the student’s area(s) of TAG identification. Ref: OAR 581-022-1330 (4).

Level of learning is the student's instructional level in the curriculum and the place where the student will be successful but will also encounter knowledge and skills not yet learned or mastered. Level is more than advanced grade level; it involves complexity and sophisticated concepts. Rate is a measure of the pace at which the student successfully progresses through the curriculum after being placed at an appropriate instructional level. A student's rate of learning will vary, depending on the subject, point in the learning process, degree of interest, level of difficulty, and area(s) of TAG identification.

At TTSD, we also recognize the unique and critical social emotional learning needs of our TAG students. It is our vision to offer structured and frequent opportunities for dedicated SEL opportunities to all students, including specific SEL instruction tailored to TAG students’ distinct SEL needs. 

Access the ODE’s TAG parent brochure here.

Every student in TTSD should feel supported to achieve challenging work in their classes. Any student who is not sufficiently challenged or engaged can connect with teachers to improve their learning experience. For support, families can reach out to the teacher, TAG Specialist (elementary), and/or Secondary TOSA Alison Heath (middle and high school). If you are curious about a student’s eligibility for TAG, review the characteristics of giftedness across populations (see earlier question) and submit a TAG referral to the elementary TAG Specialist or Secondary TOSA Alison Heath.  TAG Referral Form

TAG students are to be taught at their assessed rate and level of learning in each class. If your child feels they are not challenged in a class, then their rate and level of learning might not have been met. Contact the teacher with questions to learn more about the learning experiences offered to your child. You might ask questions like: How do you determine what assignments to provide to students with different learning needs? What opportunities do students have to show that they are proficient with concepts, material, or skills? What are students provided if they demonstrate a rate and level of learning that is different from their peers? Involve your child in these discussions and ask them to think about their learning needs and ideas for challenging learning opportunities. For secondary students, support them to self-advocate and participate and even initiate the conversations with teachers. 

For guidance on supporting your child with self-advocacy skills, view the TAG Community Meeting from April 2021 (beginning around minute 23).

You can also choose to contact the elementary TAG specialist or Secondary TOSA Alison Heath for support with these conversations.

Every TTSD TAG student will be taught according to their assessed rate and level of learning. If you want to learn more details about your Virtual Academy student’s daily learning experience, connect with their teachers. For added support, reach out to the TTVA principal, Jenifer DeWolfe, and/or the Secondary TOSA, Alison Heath.

A child may receive student services to support other areas of their education (IEP, ELD, 504 Plan, etc.) as well as TAG services. A team from each specialized area will partner with the child’s teacher and family to discuss all needed academic and social-emotional supports to optimize the educational success for the student.

In TTSD, we recognize that gifted students are gifted more than one hour or one day a week. Students identified as TAG receive services in the classroom to support their rate and level of learning to ensure that each student has access to evidence-based instruction that is needed to advance their learning. Teachers identify a student’s rate and level of instruction using ongoing formative assessments that inform their instructional plans to ensure they meet students’ rate and level. The TAG Specialists and coordinators are part of a team to help support this as a service by co-planning with teachers, providing resources, strategies, and professional development opportunities, and serving as advocates for the needs of TAG students.

A student is working at an appropriate rate and level when the student is operating in the zone of proximal development. The zone of proximal development refers to the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can achieve with guidance and encouragement from a skilled partner. In other words, the student is challenged, but not overwhelmed. The student pursues deeper and/or more complex work in lieu of work that is not at their rate and level. You can ask your child if they feel capable and supported to succeed with challenging work.

Placement into advanced courses for all students, regardless of their identification, is based on student data that is pertinent to determining the student’s skill level needed for success in the advanced course.

TTSD considers the universal and culturally specific characteristics of giftedness when identifying students for TAG services. Not all gifted children look or act alike. Gifted and talented children are present in all student groups, regardless of gender, disability, English language proficiency, economic status, ethnic or cultural background. As described above (see identification questions), TTSD uses multiple measures, qualitative and quantitative, to learn about the range of qualities and abilities of each student who is referred for TAG services in order to determine their eligibility. Also, our TAG team actively searches for students from historically underrepresented populations who may benefit from TAG services. Additionally, it is TTSD’s mission that all classroom instruction is tailored to each student’s rate and level of learning and the district continues to develop systems of support for teachers. 

At each school a TAG Building Leader has been designated to oversee the provision of TAG services to students. This TAG Building Leader is the primary point of contact for questions about TAG identification and services. Additionally, district Elementary TAG Specialists and the Secondary TAG TOSA advocate for gifted students through facilitating the referral and identification process and supporting TAG Building Leaders, Instructional Coaches, and teachers with the best instructional practices for gifted students. The Director of PreK-5 Principals and Co-Director of Teaching and Learning serves as Tigard-Tualatin's TAG Coordinator and advocates for gifted students across the district by overseeing the implementation of Tigard-Tualatin's TAG Plan.

Many academic issues stem from social and emotional barriers that a student faces.  Understanding gifted profiles and the associated behaviors with each will provide insight and guidance as to ways that will support your student in navigating some of  the challenges faced in school.

You can also connect with the classroom teacher(s), student’s counselor, and/or the TAG specialist, coordinator, or TOSA for support.

National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC):

NAGC works to support those who enhance the growth and development of gifted and talented children through education, advocacy, community building, and research

Oregon Association for Talented and Gifted (OATAG):
Serves Oregon parents and the educational community.

Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG):
To support bright, talented, gifted individuals and their families, and the professionals who work with them, to better understand the nature of giftedness, and to help these individuals reach their personal potential.

World Council for Gifted and Talented Children:
A diverse organization networking the globe with an active membership of educators, scholars, researchers, parents, educational institutions, and others interested in giftedness to focus world attention on gifted and talented children and ensure the realization of their valuable potential to the benefit of humankind.

As a parent, you can support your student's experience as a talented and gifted student by learning about the profiles of giftedness in order to elicit conversations regularly with your student about their school experience. Ask thoughtful and specific questions when having these conversations and provide specific language to your student to use when describing the feelings and emotions that come up. (Watch the TAG Community Meeting from February 2021 for guidance.) Teach your child how to use specific language to communicate needs to the classroom and/or content teacher. (Watch the TAG Community Meeting from April 2021 for guidance.) You can attend TAG community meetings (or view recordings) and other parent groups that encourage and support building a positive home-school relationship. Partnering with teachers and school leaders is the best way to provide opportunities for gifted students throughout their K-12 education.