Overview
In accordance with WAC 392-170-055, Northshore School District uses multiple objective criteria for identification of highly capable students.
Important: The information on this page only pertains to students who are currently enrolled in Northshore School District. If your student will not be enrolled in Northshore by the Mid-October cutoff date, you may submit a portfolio review in spring or apply to participate in the screening and assessment process. Learn more about the options for Non-Northshore students.
If your student is in kindergarten, no action is required at this time. For all other Northshore students, your first step is to complete an online permission form.
Northshore School District universally screens grades 1 and 5. Our department does not require parent permission to screen students. However, there is a very short turnaround time between the end of screening and the beginning of assessment. Because of this, we encouraged all parents to give permission before screening. This way, if your child moved to step 4 below, we already have your permission to administer the Iowa Assessments. You may fill out the Permission form to allow your student to be assessed if and when that may be needed.
For students who are not in grades 1 and 5, you will need to Refer your student for screening and assessment. If your student is currently receiving Highly Capable services in math or reading, and you would like them to be considered for a dual qualification, complete the Referral form. By completing the Referral Form, you are referring your child for screening (if necessary), and giving permission for any further assessing needed.
Eligibility Process Overview: First Grade and Beyond
Note for kindergarten families: Because our kindergarten students do not take the Iowa Assessments, their eligibility process is different. To learn more about Highly Capable Eligibility Process for kindergarten students, visit our page on Holistic Services: Holistic Services.
Step 1
If you would like your student to be evaluated for Highly Capable Services, your first step is to complete an online Referral Form. By law, we must have written permission from a student's legal parent or guardian prior to administering Highly Capable tests. Deadline to Refer a student in grades K, 2, 3, 4, 6, or 7 for screening and assessment is October 11th at 4:00 pm.
Step 2
Screening
Step 3
Screening Results
After screening is complete, our department will notify families of their students' screening results. If the department administered the NNAT3 to your student this year, you will receive their score.
In order to move forward in the process, students need to meet at least one of the screening criteria, and they must have permission to assess (see Step 1).
Step 4
Testing
If our department needs to collect additional reading and math achievement data on your student, they will take the Iowa Assessments.
Students with exemplary performance (95th percentile or higher) on the Smarter Balanced Assessments may be exempt from one or both Iowa Assessments. For example, a student who scores in the 95th percentile on the Math portion of the Smarter Balanced Assessments will not need to take the Iowa Assessment in Math.
Step 5
Data Analysis
Throughout the screening and testing stages, our department is hard at work collecting information about every eligibility process participant. After testing, we look at each student's academic and test history to determine eligibility.
Step 6
Eligibility Notification
After our department has finished reviewing each student's scores, our department will send letters to all students who passed screening and moved on to assessment. This letter will be sent home with students.
This letter will include the results of any tests that our department administered, as well as your student's qualification status. For students who qualified for Highly Capable Services, the letter will provide instructions on how to accept services.
Step 7
The letters that were distributed in Step 6 will indicate a deadline for accepting services. Parents and guardians may accept services by completing an online form.
When parents accept services, our department will update the student's electronic record. This will allow teachers, administrators, and departments like Transportation and Student Services to see the student's new qualification status.
Around this time, Northshore's Transportation department may follow up with families in Elementary Advanced Placement (EAP) to discuss bus routes.