My son scored 139 in NNAT, whereas the benchmark score in second grade GT is 132.He had also got many "O"'s in his report card and he is also a good artist and his art is also been published in newspaper. Apart from this there are many other qualities to be considered for GT.

But we have received a letter stating he is not selected for GT. There is no proper reason mentioned. Will anyone let me know how they grade gifted talent? How should I proceed?

There is no standard from one state to another or even from one district to another. You will probably have to contact the district office to find out why your son was not accepted.

I think you have to look at the program and see what kind of students they are trying to service. I did a quick search of NNAT and the Wikipedia article was not positive. I know many places use it. It's a non-verbal test so if you have a highly verbal kid, it might not be a true reflective of his abilities. Given that he was above the cutoff, I would at least ask why he was denied.

I agree, it's worth asking questions. Identification is a delicate thing. It's much harder than I ever thought it could be! No matter what your criteria, there will always be those that are darn close, and those that miss there, but hit other clearly "gifted" benchmarks.

If I were making the cut, and forced to use the NNAT (which I haven't heard great things about), I would surely consider it, but I would also consider standardized achievement measures. I think certain different ways of looking at gifted are important, but for me anyway, it boils down to school being about academics, and so many GT children truly need things at a faster and more in-depth pace.

I'm guessing your school is using some sort of "top secret" rubric criteria, but now that they've shared his NNAT score, they do owe you a little more insight into the selection process. Is there a particular person you could meet with that would give you both program insights and entrance criteria?

Unfortunately, sometimes it just comes down to numbers. Not all the eligible kids get all the services offered in our district - in particular, the once/week pullout to another school. You'll have to talk to the district to find out how the decision is made. In our district office this is the person who is also responsible for special ed.

139 is actually a very high score for the NNAT. I believe it above the 99%. The NNAT ceilings out at 150 and anything above 140 is considered in the "ceiling zone". We use it in our district and I've talked to lots of people on the NNAT. I've heard about it testing kids low, but never high. The people I know who've done further tested have only had HIGHER results. Of course that's not a scientific survey, but just an observation I've had in the past year.

Anyway - I would definitely follow up with the school! Find out why exactly he was denied. In our school district, you wouldn't only have access to GT services, you may even have grounds to ask for services above and beyond the standard ones. We live in an urban district and have a pretty liberal GT definition.

What does the GT program do for you? In our district, in 1 - 3 grade, it means 1 1/2 hours a week of pullout from the classroom. They are "studying" Ancient China. It really seems more like an arts and crafts day where they make things relating to China (Wall, Bamboo hats) and they watch movies and read books about China. It's all well and good, but, in my opinion, it's not something for which it would be worth fighting. Think about why you want him identified as GT and if the program is not very good you might want to wait until he retests. Sometimes you have to pick your battles.

I also have a similar case. My daughter has scored 138 in NNAT and 128 in COGAT. Her work is also published in newspaper and she has got very good grade in her report card and from her teacher also. Even then they have refused GT.
They are suggesting me to take another test(psychological) in GMU,
which is optional to appeal for GT board. I do not understand why she should take this test, if she had surpassed the benchmark score already.

Even if they deny GT, why can't they give some proper explanation such as what factors they considered, what is she missing?
If they just say gifted skills why do they need a benchmark score to test the intelligence of kids rather than gifted skills alone?
Who is the responsible person to give me a proper figure as I strongly feel as a parent I should know more info about my kid?

The NNAT is a good enough test for what it tests, but I don't think generalities can be made about scoring higher or lower on more in-depth testing. A full blown IQ test will always include a verbal portion, that may or may not be equally stong. The NNAT doesn't get into verbal abilities whatsoever.

I'm surprised about parent1 too though, as a 139/128 combo on the two tests mentioned is clearly a strong candidate. I would push for more reasoning and clear cut criteria on their entrance policies.

For us, "cheesy pullout" aside (which is actually quite good this year), getting a GT label is additionally desirable for many reasons. Here in PA of course it gives us legal ground to ask for more, but it also paves the way for future placement opportunities in middle school and beyond.

Thanks for your response. But I do not understand what you mean by"Cheesy pullout"

Sorry for the "slang"! Many parents lament that after finally getting their kids ID'd for gifted, all they get for their efforts is 1-2 hours per week of non-academic "fun and games" (in a pullout setting). I think Squirt hinted to this above with her "studying" comment. Granted, these outings can be life savers for bored GT children, but they are often not what we envision when we start this process.

Ours was like this in the past, but I do think our new GT teacher is doing a fantastic job, and truly making the best of her limited time with the GT children. Still, kids are gifted for 7 full days a week, not just an hour here and there.

In our school though, GT kids are no better off than bright ones when it comes to in class requirements and differentiation. The bright child has no reason to feel like they are missing out.

I also apologize for possibly bad mouthing what for some might be the ideal setup. At its "cheesiest", our pullout was almost ideal for DD11's needs at the time. Pullouts can be wonderful, and ours is quite good at the moment.

"Cheesy pullout" has become too easy to throw out there at times, kind of like "plain vanilla". There is nothing plain and ordinary about our gifted children, even the ones that land just short of their particular school's cutoffs. Vanilla can be quite tasty all on its own, !

And I do love cheese!

"Cheesy pullout", here's an example. 2 or 3 times a week(alternates), for 1 hour, GS8 goes to the pullout. They were supposed to build some model planes, but no funding. They never even asked if we parents would kick in $20 a piece. So, they've done some stuff with Roman Numerals & different Bases in math. That was a let down, but still OK. Now, here's the real cheesy part; they are measuring their room. GS8 is frustrated because he really doesn't want to use a 12" ruler to measure the room, then record the measurements. I think that's worse than 'drill & kill'. He'd rather sit in his regular classroom and read.

Oh yes, one more thing. He's in for the whole semester, or he's out. And if he opts out when it gets boring then he might not be allowed back in next year.

Vanilla is tasty, too! :P

What GT service are offered really depend on the district. I mention this because I didn't know what the term "pull-out" was reffering to when I first read of them on these boards. Pinky and parent1 might be in big enough school districts like we were where there is a large enough student population to allow for fulltime self-contained gifted classes for each grade (beats the heck out of a pullout!)

If that's the case, they really need to fight for their cause!

...and for info about why so many of us are so much more in love with full-time GT programs and perhaps not so much the hour-or-two-a-week pull-out programs, you might want to take a look at this article. It's one of my two favorites for explaining why GT kids require services:

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/harm.htm

(The other one I love is this one: http://www.stephanietolan.com/is_it_a_cheetah.htm )

I think by "pullout" means the students who are in school based GT(the ones not in regular GT) they can attend regular GT class for few hours in a week. But, I checked with my friends circle and they say it is not so effective like the regular GT class.

But, my only concern is that even though my kid is intelligent and talented enough deserve in GT, why is the denial without any proper explanation and facts.

I agree, you are owed an explanation. First of all, ask what the criteria are and then ask how your child failed to meet those criteria. Also, in many districts there is a way to appeal these decisions. Ask about the appeals process. You may be able to get them to change their minds.

For us "pullout" IS the GT class....no one gets in under 130 (full scale), and there are no higher levels for HG+. I would love a full time self-contained option!

Parent, I would definitely pursue the entrance criteria, along with a more in-depth look at your son's qualifications, etc. They at least owe you that.

Has anyone faced the same situation and applied for an appeal? I want to know how I should contact Central GT Team, Is there any particular person to meet? Should I have to take GMU test?
Will I get a proper answer from the central team? Please discuss your experience.

I didn't know what GMU was, and after googling, landed here....does this fit? It claims the cutoff is typically in the 130's.

http://www.fcps.edu/DIS/gt/faqsprocess.htm

There are a lot of good Q&A's at that link.

Dear parent, to my knowledge a score above 138 in the NNAT automatically qualifies a child into the GT curriculum. I very strongly feel that you should approach the concerned officials and get an explanation as to why your son was denied GT. Ask them what is the rubric with which they measure the Gifted Potential in a child ? Do press for a proper reasoning for the denial.

As our friend Dottie has said, with such good scores of 138 and 128, your child is a very strong cnadidate for the GT curriculum.