Gifted and Talented Education
Purpose
The purpose of the Oneida Nation School System GATE Program is to identify gifted and
talented students and meet their special educational needs. Students may qualify in grades
K-12 at ONSS.
Per 25 CFR 39.111, the term gifted and talented means students, children, or youth who:
a) Give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic,
or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields; and
b) Need services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those
capabilities.
Areas of Education
To locate and identify gifted and talented students, Oneida Nation School will identify students
in at least one of the following five areas:
1) Intellectual Ability – Scoring in the top 5% on a statistically valid and reliable measurement.
2) Creativity/Divergent Thinking – Scoring in the top 5% of performance on a statistically valid
and reliable measurement tool of creativity/divergent thinking.
3) Academic Aptitude/Achievement – Scoring in the top 15% of academic performance in a
subject area on a statistically valid and reliable measurement tool of academic
achievement/aptitude such as a state or national standardized achievement test.
4) Leadership – Possessing the ability to lead, guide, or influence the actions of others as
measured by objective standards that a reasonable person of the community would believe
demonstrates that the student possesses leadership skills. These standards may include
evidence from surveys, supportive documentation portfolios, elected or appointed positions in a
school, community, club, or organization. No more than 15% of the student population may be
certified as gifted through the leadership category.
5) Visual/Performing Arts – Outstanding ability to excel in any imaginative art form including, but
not limited to, drawing, painting, sculpture, jewelry making, music, dance, speech, debate, and
drama as evidenced by awards from judged and juried competitions. No more than 15% of the
student population may be identified through the Visual/Performing Arts category.
Student Identification
IDENTIFICATION OF A GIFTED AND TALENTED STUDENT
Screening is completed annually during the second and third semesters of each school year to
identify potentially eligible students. A student may be nominated for GATE using the criteria in
39.114 by any of the following: a teacher or other school staff, another student, a community
member, a parent or legal guardian or the student.
Students can be nominated based on information regarding the student’s abilities from any of
the following sources per 39.115: collections of work, audio/visual recordings, school grades,
judgment of work by qualified individuals knowledgeable about the student’s performances,
interviews or observations, information from other sources.
To collect sources from an eligible, written parental/guardian consent is required.
DETERMINATION
Per 39.116, to determine who receives gifted and talented funding, ONSS uses qualified
professionals to perform a multidisciplinary assessment along with the parent/guardian’s
permission.
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAM REVIEW
A multi-discipliary team will review the assessment results to determine eligibility for gifted and
talented services. The multi-disciplainary team for ONSS consists of a classroom teacher,
qualified professional who conducted the assessment, local expert as needed and school
leader. The multi-discipliary team membership is made up of at least three members and will
design the specific education plan to provide gifted and talented services related in the areas
identified.
REFERRALS
Referrals will be made using the Oneida Nation School System’s GATE Nominatoin Form found
on the district’s website. The referrals are reviewed by the multi-discipliary team, to review the
nomination, evidence, and meet with the student. After a decision is made to admit the student
in the GATE program, parental/guardian permission is acquired and additional assessments are
administered, if necessary. If eligible, the GATE Team develops a Specific Education Plan.
Specific Education Plan are reviewed yearly and re-assessment occurs every three years for
the categories of Intellectual Ability, Creativity/Divergent Thinking, and Academic
Aptitude/Achievement. The categories of Leadership and Visual/Performing Arts must be
re-assessed annually
Student Identification Process
