SD308

Placement & Appeals

Appeals

Elementary Appeals Process

The parent/s or guardian/s must complete the Gifted Education Identification Appeals Form.
All appeals must be submitted between June 1-June 30.
No appeals will be accepted after June 30.
Appeals are considered for potential services to begin the subsequent school year.
The Executive Director of Elementary Education or designee will contact the parent to acknowledge receipt of the appeal.
The district’s Gifted Education Identification and Services Panel will review and gather any additional evidence to support the indicators of giftedness. This may require additional assessment(s).
Once the review of evidence is complete, the Executive Director of Elementary Education or designee will notify parents or guardians of the results of the review.

For additional clarification, please contact your student’s school administrator.

6th Grade Appeals Process

For current parents/guardians of 5th-graders who are appealing their placement into 6th-grade classes for next year:

Please complete the following form and identify the placement you wish to appeal on your child's behalf. We will begin the appeal process in April. You will not be contacted until after the Appeal window closes- May 1st of the previous school year.
Please understand that each child will be reviewed extensively, and we will not make any placement decisions lightly. To make sure we are giving an appropriate amount of time to review each child, this process may take anywhere from 4-6 weeks.

Once a decision is made by the District, a parent/guardian will be contacted by phone and a formal letter. Someone will reach out if we need any documentation beyond what is being submitted for this form. Please do not send anything else.

For any questions, please reach out to your child's current school administration.

Appeals for 6th Grade Math and ELA Placement Form - English

Apelaciones para la colocación de Matemáticas y Lengua y Literatura Inglesa de 6to grado forma - Español

7-8th Grade Appeals Process

Honors Science and Social Studies Appeals

Honors Science and Social Studies classes are enriched grade-level content. Families should contact their building Principal to request placement review by May 31.

Math & ELA Appeals

Family completes the Appeal Form between May 1 and May 31.
Committee reviews the decision by the end of the first week in June.
Final placement decisions will be communicated to families and principals by a district office representative by the end of the second week in June.

Click here for the Honors Appeal Process Flowchart

Appeals for 7th and 8th Grade Math and ELA Placement Form

Proceso de apelación del Distrito Escolar 308 para la identificación de estudiantes superdotados en educación primaria

Placement

Oswego SD 308 ensures that all students are given an opportunity to be screened for placement into gifted education services. Oswego SD 308 identifies and places students into services using a blind screening process, inclusive of formal assessments and a teacher rating scale (HOPE Scale).

Grade K-2

In Kindergarten through 2nd grade, enrichment and differentiation are offered across core subject areas in their on-grade level classrooms.

Grade 3-5

Timeline for Third-Grade Gifted Education Identification

ALL second-grade students will be administered the FastBridge assessments in both fall and winter.
During the second trimester, ALL second-grade students will be administered the CogAT assessments.
Following the administration of the aforementioned assessments, all second-grade students will be screened for gifted education services.
After the screening process is complete, letters of identification will be sent home to newly identified students at the end of May.
Gifted education services will begin the following school year. Third-grade teachers will provide enrichment opportunities and continue flexible grouping in the general education classrooms to address the needs of the newly identified students.

Timeline for 4th and 5th Grade GE Identification

During the first and second trimesters, all 3rd and 4th-grade students will be administered the FastBridge assessment in both math and reading.
Those students that scored at or above 90th percentile on the fall and/or winter Fastbridge math and/or reading assessments in the content for which they are not currently receiving gifted education services will be administered the CogAT assessment.
Students that are administered the CogAT will be screened for gifted education services.
After the screening process is complete, letters of identification will be sent home to newly identified students at the end of May.
Gifted education services will begin the following school year.

If you have any questions, please contact your building administration.

Assessments

Fastbridge

is a nationally-normed, computer-adaptive test that measures the student's ability level in reading and mathematics. FastBridge is an achievement and aptitude test.

The assessment is used:

To drive classroom instruction
To measure student growth
For elementary and junior high screening and identification of gifted education services. (The reading portion is used for ELA identification and the math portion is used for math identification)
Acceleration screening

CogAT

is a nationally-normed test that provides a description of the student's own cognitive resources for learning by measuring verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal abilities. This assessment is used:

To drive classroom instruction
To inform parent(s)/guardian(s) about their child's reasoning
For elementary identification of gifted services. The verbal (V) is used for ELA identification. The quantitative (Q) or quantitative/nonverbal (QN) is used for math identification.
Acceleration screening

This assessment is given to:

All 2nd-grade students as SD308 universally screens all 2nd-grade students for gifted education services.
3rd and 4th-grade students who score at or above the 90th percentile on the Fastbridge assessment in the fall and/or winter in a content area for which they are not already receiving gifted education services.

The HOPE Scale

is a standardized, observational instrument that is completed by the student's current teacher.