Gifted and Talented Education

Canyon Charter School provides an exceptional program for all learners. Our students participate in several weekly enrichment programs that support and enhance their standards based curriculum. Teachers regularly participate in professional development and team meetings in order to be best prepared to meet the needs of their students. Canyon also provides parent education seminars to address the needs of our parent community.

Gifted and Talented Identification

GATE stands for LAUSD’s program for Gifted and Talented Education. The GATE program creates high end learning opportunities which allow students to flourish in stimulating academic and social environments. Read more about LAUSD’s info on the GATE program.

AREA OF IDENTIFICATION: HIGH ACHIEVEMENT ABILITY*

Eligibility & Requirements:

Grade 4 and above – Students who consistently function for two consecutive years at highly advanced levels (as determined by SBAC) in BOTH English-Language Arts and Mathematics.

Grade 2 only – Students who demonstrate high achievement on a nationally standardized, norm-referenced, group administered measure of verbal and/or non-verbal school abilities. A score a 95 percentile or above of the total “Age Percentile Rank” (APR) score on the achievement test, Otis-Lennon School Ability Test, Eighth Edition (OLSAT-8), administered by the classroom teacher. A score of 90 to 94 percentile on the total “APR” score of the OLSAT will be considered along with eligible Grade 2 CST scaled scores in English-Language Arts and mathematics as indicated below. NOTE: Because the OLSAT is not a measure of IQ, it does not identify students as “highly gifted.” Students may not take it twice. Therefore, reassessment requests will not be considered.

AREA OF IDENTIFICATION: SPECIFIC ACADEMIC ABILITY*

Eligibility & Requirements: Grade 4 and above are eligible for identification in this category; requires THREE consecutive years of scoring at highly advanced levels (as determined by SBAC) in either English-Language Arts or Mathematics.

AREA OF IDENTIFICATION: INTELLECTUAL ABILITY

Eligibility & Requirements: Students whose general intellectual development is markedly advanced in relation to their chronological peers. Students can only be tested one time. Eligibility criteria for identification in the Intellectual category are as follows:

Designation as Gifted— Students who score 95 to 99.8 percentile on a standardized administration of an intelligence test given by a LAUSD school psychologist.

Designation as “Highly Gifted Applicable”— Students who score between a 99.5 to a 99.8 percentile are considered “eligible to apply” to a highly gifted magnet program; selection is based upon space availability.

Designation as Highly Gifted— District criterion for identification status for the highly gifted program is the score of 99.9 percentile.

AREA OF IDENTIFICATION: TALENTED

Eligibility & Requirements: Grade 4 and above are eligible for identification in this category. Talented Education Programs include Visual Art, Music, Theatre, Dance, Creative and Leadership categories. Students are to demonstrate exceptional talent in one of these areas. A district assessment is done by a specialist for each specific area.

*These areas are automatically identified by the district and are based on the student’s Smarter Balance Test data