LEAP Gifted & Talented

Prerequisite Skills for LEAP Testing: Students Entering Kindergarten

All kindergartners enrolled in CFBISD are screened for GT services in the fall semester. LEAP testing is only recommended for students who are reading 1-2 grade levels advanced and have mastered basic math concepts. Testing is a process that may require two or more visits.

Students should demonstrate high academic ability and should have already mastered many kindergarten concepts. Examples of mastery are listed below.

Students entering kindergarten should have the ability to:

• Read and comprehend beyond phonetic/early reader text such as Go Dog Go, Hop On Pop, and Bob books
• Retell short stories without referring to the text
• Share the main idea of a story
• Verbally formulate ideas in complete sentences. Write sentences to express their thoughts and ideas with rich vocabulary and beginning understanding of writing conventions
• Demonstrate basic understanding of advanced math concepts, such as:
  • Recognizing fractional parts
  • Pattern recognition
  • Addition and subtraction
  • Measurement- inch, foot, centimeter and Money- penny, nickel, dime, and quarter
  • Charts and graphs, interpreting simple data
  • Problem solving, including extrapolating important information from word problems
  • Identify and classify 2D and 3D shapes
  • Tell time to the hour and half hour
  • Skip count by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s
  • Place value of whole numbers: ones, tens, hundreds

Students must be fluent readers to be successful in the spring/summer testing. The following is an example of a passage they should be able to read without help. They should also be able to correctly answer questions about the story.

Bob’s class went to visit a fire station. One of the firemen was at the door. He said he was happy to see the class. He showed the class a big fire truck. Then, he showed them a car. The car and the truck were both red. The big truck had a long ladder on it. Then the class went back to school. They were very happy. They told their teacher they wanted to go again.

If your child has mastered the above concepts, he or she may be a candidate for LEAP testing.

Prerequisite Skills for LEAP Testing: Students Entering First Grade

All first graders enrolled in CFBISD are screened for GT services in the fall semester. LEAP testing is only recommended for students who are reading 1-2 grade levels advanced and have mastered basic math concepts. Testing is a process that may require two or more visits.

Students should demonstrate high academic ability and should have already mastered many first grade concepts. Examples of mastery are listed below.

Students entering first grade should have the ability to:

• Read and comprehend beginning chapter books, such as Magic Tree House, Magic School Bus, A to Z Mysteries, etc.
  • Some features of this level of text include but are not limited to:
    • Full pages of text, with an average of approximately 10 words per sentence
    • Complex sentences with more specialized vocabulary
    • Illustrations are often used to extend meaning, rather than to make meaning of the text
    • Breaks in characters’ dialogue
  • Retell short stories without referring to the text
  • Share the main idea of a story
  • Verbally formulate ideas in complete sentences
  • Write several sentences to express their thoughts and ideas with advanced vocabulary and beginning understanding of writing conventions
  • Demonstrate basic understanding of advanced math concepts through computation, as well as through explanation, such as:
    • Recognizing fractional parts
    • Geometry beyond basic shapes, including pattern recognition, classify 2D and 3D shapes
    • Solve one-step and multi-step addition and subtraction problems
    • Measurement- inch, foot, centimeter, meter, etc.
    • Time and Money- hour, half hour, penny, nickel, dime, and quarter
    • Charts and graphs, interpreting simple data
    • Problem solving, including extrapolating important information from word problems
    • Place value of whole numbers: ones, tens, hundreds
    • Understands that multiplication is repeated addition

Students must be fluent readers to be successful in the spring/summer testing. Following is an example of a passage they should be able to read without help:

The Friendly Dolphin
I’m a friendly dolphin living in the sparkling blue waters near the coast. My beautiful gray mother and I swim in the water side by side. Our sleek bodies turn with a flick of our powerful flippers. One day, my mother and I swam near a white sandy beach filled with happy families. “Mom, let’s see how fast we can go!” I exclaimed. As we sped just below the surface, our top, or dorsal, fins sliced through the water. “Eek! Look out!” screamed the children swimming nearby. The children and their parents turned in terror and splashed in panic toward the beach. “Why did the families bolt for the beach, Mother?” I asked sadly. “All they saw was your fin. I think it’s time to use your strong tail to propel you from the water,” she added. “When they see you leap in a graceful arc, they’ll see that you are a dolphin.”

Examples of comprehension questions students should be able to correctly answer and justify:

• How did the young dolphin feel when the people bolted for the beach? How do you know? (Text evidence)
• Why do you suppose the dolphin was sad when the people bolted? (Inference)
• What were the families thinking when they first saw the fin at the surface of the water? (Inference)
• What do you think the young dolphin will do the next time he sees people in the water? (Prediction)

If your child has mastered the above concepts, he or she may be a candidate for LEAP testing.

Prerequisite Skills for LEAP Testing: Students Entering Second Grade

LEAP testing is only recommended for students who are reading 1-2 grade levels advanced and have mastered basic math concepts. Testing is a process that may require two or more visits.

Students should demonstrate high academic ability and should have already mastered many second grade concepts. Examples of mastery are listed below.

Students entering second grade should have the ability to:

• Fluently read and comprehend chapter books
  • Identify characters’ feelings and how characters change throughout the story
  • Identify the author’s purpose
  • Cite text evidence when justifying answers
  • Make meaning beyond the text, such as drawing conclusions, making inferences and predictions, and making generalizations
• Share the main idea of a story, as well as supporting details
• Verbally express ideas in complete sentences
• Write several sentences to express their thoughts and ideas with advanced vocabulary and with strong command of writing conventions
• Demonstrate basic understanding of advanced math concepts, such as:
  • Beginning computation with fractions
  • Geometry, including vocabulary such as “vertices”
  • Pattern recognition and extension
  • Memorized addition and subtraction combinations of numbers that make 20 without using fingers to count
  • Demonstrate multiple ways to solve addition and subtraction problems
  • Multiplication and division, developing fluency with basic multiplication and division facts
  • Telling time on digital and analog clocks, to the five minutes
  • Calculating elapsed time
  • Measurement- inch, foot, centimeter, meter, etc.
  • Money- penny, nickel, dime, quarter, etc.
  • Charts and graphs, interpreting data
  • Problem solving, including extrapolating important information from word problems

If your child has mastered the above concepts, he or she may be a candidate for LEAP testing.

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Non-CFB Students will be charged a non-refundable fee of $100 to cover the cost of testing materials and proctors for screening.

• Applicants will be emailed instructions on how to pay online

If a parent wishes to appeal the decision made by the ARE placement committee, a request may be submitted in writing by letter or email to the Executive Director of Advanced Academic Services, Stacy Carroll at  carrolls@cfbisd.edu or by calling 972-968-4371, 14 calendar days from the postmark on the envelope of the placement decision letter. Conditions for appeals:

• A parent believes misinterpretation of data has occurred
• An inappropriate application of the identification process is alleged
• Parents have substantial evidence that, when added to the existing information, creates a compelling “preponderance of evidence” regarding the student’s need for program services

Inquiries related to the LEAP program should be directed to Advanced Academic Services at 972.968.4370 or 972.968.4373.

In some extenuating circumstances, it may be determined by the campus Admission, Review and Exit Committee to be in the best interest of the student to remove him/her from the program temporarily by granting a “furlough” status for a specific period of time up to a year. The campus ARE committee will review the student’s placement status at the end of the furlough period, at which time the student should be returned to the gifted and talented program or formally exited. If the student exits, the exit procedure will be followed. Parent/s or guardian/s are notified of all procedures and signature is required.

Once a student is placed in the gifted and talented program, he/she will most likely continue in the program. If, however, it becomes evident that an error has been made in the placement of a student, the student is consistently non-productive, or exhibits behavioral problems inhibiting the learning of other students, it may be in the best interest of the student to exit him/her from the program. All methods of intervention must be utilized before the Admission, Review, Exit Committee determines and proceeds with formal exit. Parent/s or guardian/s are notified and involved in intervention strategies. The final exit decision should be based on educational, psychological and personal reasons with no single criterion as the determining factor for exiting the students. If formal exit is deemed appropriate by the ARE committee, parents are notified and signature is required.

Students new to the district who are nominated for the gifted and talented program may be screened after a six-week waiting period. Students entering the district from another gifted program must meet the criteria established by the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. Those transferring from another gifted program may expedite the process by providing assessment information from their previous school.
Participation in any program or service offered for gifted and talented students is voluntary on the part of each student and requires written permission of their parent/s or legal guardian/s.