Great effort is made to provide the most appropriate placement for every child attending Gilbert Public Schools. GPS currently utilizes the state approved CogAT Form 7 computer-based assessment to identify students for Gifted Services. 

Students who score in the 95th percentile are eligible for Gifted Services and will receive specific information about the services available to qualified students through their enrolled school site.  

Gilbert Public Schools universally screens all enrolled 2nd graders in early spring.  Screening is completed by your child’s classroom teacher during the regular school day.  Students and their families who qualify for additional testing will be notified individually by the student’s enrolled campus.  

Gifted Contact

Dr. Karen Coleman, Special Area/Gifted Coordinator 480-497-3476

The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) is a group-administered assessment intended to estimate students' learned reasoning and problem-solving abilities. The test is divided into three independent batteries: Verbal, Quantitative and Non-Verbal. All three batteries appraise inductive and deductive reasoning.

Each battery also appraises additional cognitive abilities that specifically relate to that battery:

• Verbal: Picture Analogies--Sentence Completion--Picture Classification
• Quantitative: Number Analogies--Number Puzzles--Number Series
• Non-Verbal: Figure matrices--Paper Folding--Figure Classification

Scores indicate the relative standing of a student in comparison to other students in a particular norm group. The percentile rank designates the percent of students in the norm group who earned scores that were the same as or lower than a particular score. For example, if a fourth-grade student receives a 92 percentile score on the Verbal Battery, it means that 92% of fourth-grade students in the standardization sample received scores lower than the score achieved by this particular student.

Students in grade 2  will be screened as part of their grade level program by their classroom teacher. Families who do not wish to have their child participate in the universal screening may opt out. For students not enrolled in Grade 2, there is an online form (found on the individual school's website under Classrooms, Gifted Education), that may be completed by the parent/guardian to request consideration for Gifted Testing. This request is routed to your student’s elementary school to process and consider. Each individual campus manages these requests and will notify parents and/or guardians. 

Information regarding your school's process can be found by contacting your child's school.

Scores from other districts will be evaluated by the Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment Department. Gifted scores must be a result from an ADE State Approved Test and align with Gilbert Public Schools Gifted Criteria.

To have your student's Out of District Gifted Testing Results evaluated, please send to:

• Contact Lynn Emerson, District Test Coordinator at 480-497-3392 for email instructions
• Mail to:Gilbert Public Schools, Lynn Emerson, District Test Coordinator Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment, 140 S Gilbert RD, Gilbert, AZ 85296

Gilbert Public Schools does not offer summer Gifted Testing.