Files
Abstract
This study is a non-experimental descriptive analysis of historical data for 674 referred and evaluated students at Logwood Elementary, a Title I school. From 2004-2017, the researcher was directly involved in the referral, evaluation, identification processes and instruction of students. The study was designed, primarily, to examine the six pathways by which students can become eligible for gifted education services based on multiple criteria (mental ability, achievement, creativity, and motivation) of the Georgia State Board of Education Rule 160-4-2-.38. The goal of analysis was to reveal demographic profiles of eligible and non-eligible students and to identify patterns of performance of evaluated gifted students at Logwood. First, the demographic profiles of students eligible for gifted education were assessed by race and gender. Second, using Georgias multiple criteria for identifying students for gifted education services, the pathways of students eligible for gifted education services was compared to students who were referred, but not eligible. Third, the students eligible for the gifted program who were referred in primary grades were compared to students who were referred in upper elementary grades. A series of cross tabulations were conducted in SPSS. Binomial logistic regression was used to predict the probability that a student would become eligible for the schools gifted program. Predictors included gender, ethnicity (White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian), the referring teachers ethnicity, and the grade range at the time students were evaluated (K-2 or 3-5). The results, presented in 38 Tables, establish baseline data on the pattern of eligibility at Logwood.