Advanced Learner Services

CFB Student GT Assessment Application Window

• Advanced Learner Campus Grades 2 - 10:  October 1, 2023 – December 15, 2023
• Advanced Learner Campus Grades K - 1:  October 1, 2023 – March 1, 2024
• LEAP (already Advanced Learner identified) Grades K - 5:  October 1, 2023 – March 1, 2024

Non CFB Student GT Assessment Application Window

• (Advanced Learner Elementary Grades K – 5: Request GT assessment after student begins school in CFB
• Advanced Learner Secondary Grades 6 - 10: Apply January 3, 2024 – May 24, 2024 (Test date 6/6/2024)
• LEAP Grades PK – 5: Apply December 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024

STEAM Academy

Apply  through our Programs of Choice application Grades 1-5: February 24, 2024 - March 31, 2024

• For more information about our gifted and talented services, please visit Gifted & Talented Services.
• Families who express interest in GT assessment (including LEAP) after the application deadline will be asked to make a request for assessment to the student’s CFB school counselor at the start of the next school year.

GT Assessment Procedures for CFB students:

To request GT assessment Advanced Learner for your CFB student please contact your child’s campus counselor. See assessment application window.

If your child has participated in any standardized testing within two calendar years from another district, it is important that you provide us with those results prior to testing.

Middle and high school students seeking GT Advanced Learner placement for 2024 -25 year after December 15 should see their counselor to request testing held on June 6, 2024.

GT LEAP assessment may be considered following Advanced Learner placement in mathematics and language arts.  Recommendation can be made by the campus, the student, or the parent.  The LEAP program is designed to meet the needs of students in the highly gifted range; evidence that the student may be functioning in that range is required prior to LEAP assessment.  To request LEAP evaluation for your child please submit a LEAP INTEREST form (found on Gifted & Talented Services) by March 31, 2024.

• Pre-Kindergarten students applying for LEAP assessment will be required to attend a short pre-screening to determine readiness for GT evaluation. 
• In order to start the process and to be scheduled for a pre-screening appointment please submit a LEAP INTEREST form for your child (found on Gifted & Talented Services) by March 31, 2024.

GT Assessment Procedures for students NOT ENROLLED in CFB:

FOR ALL NEW STUDENTS:  Be sure to start your child’s application for school. Apply Now

If your child has participated in any standardized testing within two calendar years from another district, it is important that you provide us with those results prior to assessment.

GT Advanced Learner assessment K – 5: after child starts CFB school, request assessment from campus counselor. See assessment calendar for application window.

GT Advanced Learner assessment for secondary students entering grades 6-10 not enrolled in CFB who desire GT services for the next school year will occur on Thursday, June 6, 2024. Please email Michelle Wilson: wilsonm@cfbisd.edu at least one week in advance of this date.

If you wish to have your current pre-K through 5^th grade child evaluated for entry into the GT LEAP program, please fill out and submit the LEAP INTEREST form (found on Gifted & Talented Services) December 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024.

• Pre-Kindergarten students through first grade students applying for LEAP assessment will be required to attend a short pre-screening to determine readiness for GT evaluation. 
• In order to start the process and to be scheduled for a pre-screening appointment please submit a LEAP INTEREST form for your child (found on Gifted & Talented Services) December 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024.

Each school has a site-based gifted and talented Admission, Review, Exit (ARE) committee composed of teachers, counselors and/or administrators trained in gifted education who review data and make placement decisions based on the following:

• selection of potentially gifted students who would function near the top of the district’s population when compared to their peers, and demonstrate educational need for the learning environment provided by the gifted and talented classes,
• ability to function in an environment which requires self-motivation and independence.

Multiple criteria are used which include both quantitative and qualitative measures. The following are used to determine eligibility for the Advanced Learner Services program:

• Age appropriate testing data
• observable characteristics of the gifted and talented student
• classroom performance as evaluated by the ARE committee
• student portfolio
• parent inventory or student inventory
• interview if needed

All elementary campuses in CFBISD offer Advanced Learner Services.

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 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.