Gifted and talented testing explained: the federal definition, how US districts identify (ability tests, achievement, teacher ratings, portfolios), the CogAT, NNAT and OLSAT compared, what percentile is gifted, California's GATE categories, New York City's no-test process, what to ask the district, and a printable sheet

"Gifted and talented testing" is a parent's phrase for a process that has no single test behind it. Federal law defines who is gifted and leaves identification to the states; states mostly leave it to districts; districts choose a screener, a cut-off and a second step, and publish them, usually on a page nobody reads until the letter comes home. This page is that page, in general: the definition, the way identification works, the three screeners, the lines districts draw, two large examples (California and New York City) and the questions that get a straight answer from any district.

Download the gifted identification sheet (PDF) (the definition, the identification steps, the three screeners compared, the percentile lines with their standard scores and the questions to ask the district; two pages, free).

The definition

Federal education law, 20 U.S.C. 7801(27): students, children, or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities. Two things in it matter for a parent. "Areas such as" means ability tests are one route, not the definition; a district may identify in art or leadership with no test at all. And "need services not ordinarily provided" is the purpose: the label exists to change what the school does, which is the question to ask once a child is identified.

How a district identifies

The common sequence, with variations:

1. Universal or nominated screening. Many districts test every child in one grade (kindergarten, 1st, 2nd or 3rd, sometimes again in 5th) with a 30-to-45-minute group ability test; others test only children nominated by a teacher or a parent. Universal screening finds more children from families who did not know to ask, which is why states have moved towards it.
2. The screener. One of three tests in nearly every case: the CogAT, the NNAT or the OLSAT. All three report standard scores with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 16, by age, with percentile ranks.
3. The second step. Children above the screening line are looked at with more evidence: an achievement test (the state test, MAP, i-Ready, Iowa), a teacher or parent rating scale of gifted behaviours, a portfolio or performance task, and in some districts an individual IQ test given by the district psychologist (the WISC-V).
4. The decision and the service. A committee applies the district's criteria, which may be a single cut-off, a matrix of points across the measures, or local norms. The service ranges from a pull-out hour a week to a full-time programme or a different school.

The three screeners

What percentile is gifted

The district's line, and it varies more than parents expect:

Three refinements appear in district policies. A line on the composite, or on any one battery, or on two of three. Local norms, where the child is compared with children in the same school or district, which finds able children in schools where few score high nationally. And a second measure that can substitute for a near-miss, such as a 95th-percentile achievement score with a 90th-percentile ability score. The policy document names which; the number alone is not the answer.

California: GATE

California's programme is Gifted and Talented Education under Education Code sections 52200 to 52212 and Title 5 of the state regulations. District policies written to the code identify in these categories: intellectual, creative, specific academic or leadership ability, high achievement, talent in the performing and visual arts, and other areas the district's board approves. The state does not fix a test or a score for identification except for the highly gifted, so each district's GATE page sets its own: many use the CogAT or the NNAT in 2nd or 3rd grade with a line in the 90s, some add teacher ratings and achievement. The separate state GATE funding was folded into general district funding in 2013, which is why GATE in one district is a full programme and in the next a differentiated classroom.

New York City: no test

New York City is the large example of the other direction. Until 2021 the city tested four-year-olds with the OLSAT and the NNAT for gifted and talented kindergarten places. For admissions in 2027 there is no test: children entering kindergarten are considered on behaviours that may indicate readiness for accelerated learning, with pre-K teachers or the Department of Education's early childhood experts nominating eligible children after interviews; children entering grades 1 to 4 are eligible with report-card grades of 3 or 4 (or the equivalent) in math, reading and writing, with no ranking among eligible children, and places go by lottery among the eligible.

What to ask the district

1. Which test, which grade, and is every child tested or only nominated children?
2. What is the cut-off, on which score (composite, any battery, two of three), and are local norms used?
3. What is the second step, and can a private evaluation (a WISC-V report) be submitted?
4. Can a child be re-tested, and when?
5. What does the programme actually do differently, how many hours a week, and from which grade?

The last question is the one the federal definition was written around, and the one that tells a family whether to pursue identification at all. A child who reads three grades ahead needs a classroom that lets them, with or without the label; the IQ test page has what the individual tests measure, and the three screener pages what each test asks.

Download the gifted identification sheet (PDF) (the definition, the steps, the screeners, the lines and the questions; two pages, free).

Where to get help

A 1-on-1 online class with a tutor who holds a master's degree and teaches the US curriculum from Grade 1 number work to AP Calculus, chemistry and physics, at 7 am before school, after 4 pm and on weekend mornings, US time, for US$10 to $13 an hour: the report read together in the free 30-minute first class, the domain or the skill the score is really pointing at found, and the term spent on exactly that, with the method written out the way the school marks it. How online tutoring from India to the USA works, or the 1-on-1 online tutoring page.

Sources: 20 U.S.C. 7801(27), the definition of gifted and talented; California Education Code sections 52200 to 52212 as applied in district board policy 6172 (the identification categories), and the California Department of Education's statement that statute defines no score cut-offs except for the highly gifted; New York City Public Schools, Gifted and Talented admissions page for 2027 (kindergarten nominations after interviews; grades 1 to 4 eligibility on report-card grades of 3 or 4 in math, reading and writing; no ranking among eligible students); Pearson's NNAT3 and OLSAT 8 pages and Riverside Insights' CogAT materials for the screeners. The standard scores for each percentile are the normal-curve reading of a scale with mean 100 and standard deviation 16. Fetched 9 November 2026.

Questions parents ask

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