TAG IDENTIFICATION PROCEDURES
The Prince George's County TAG program focuses upon general intellectual ability and is based on the definition of gifted by both Maryland and United States Departments of Education: "Gifted and talented children are those... who, by virtue of outstanding abilities, are capable of high performance. These are the children who require differentiated educational programs and/or service beyond those required by the regular program." Students are identified by one of the following procedures: global screening, multiple criteria, multiple opportunities or committee decision.
 global screening |
all students are considered |
| multiple criteria |
selection is based on a variety of objective and and subjective factors. |
| multiple opportunities |
students are automatically screened in grades one and three. |
| committee decision |
placement is made by a group of professionals who evaluate all of the available data. |
Global Testing
|
During first and third grades, all students are considered in the following ways:
| First grade students take the Otis Lennon School Abilities Test (OLSAT), Primary I, Form R. |
| All students in grades three take five subtests of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, Survey Form. |
| Third graders also take the OLSAT, Primary II, Form R. |
|
Student Nomination
Students in the first grade may be nominated for TAG Committee consideration by scoring at the eighth or ninth stanine on the OLSAT, and by further testing using the Cognitive Abilities Test. Students in the third grade who score as follows are nominated for the TAG program:
 1. |
Composite score of 270 or above on the OLSAT, Primary II Form R (grade three), plus the subtests of either Reading Vocabulary or Reading Comprehension (the higher of the two scores,) plus Mathematics Concepts and Applications of the Survey Form of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS.) |
| 2. |
Any two scores of PR - 90 or above from the three items mentioned above, but composite score below 270. |
| 3. |
Score of PR - 94 or above on the Otis Lennon or the Cognitive Abilities Test. |
| 4. |
Comparable test data from another school system. This test data is particularly important for students new to the school system. These students may be nominated from any grade. |
ADDITIONAL DATA COLLECTION
Further data is collected for consideration. Teachers complete the Teacher Checklist for all nominated students, while parents are requested to complete the Parent Checklist and Survey Form. Pertinent data collected from the student's record include: grades, previous school experience, instructional levels, previous TAG identification from another school system, student work samples, or checklist from community mentor.
TAG COMMITTEE REVIEW OF MULTIPLE CRITERIA
The local school TAG Committee meets to review all students referred for the TAG Program. All data is assessed using the TAG Assessment Matrix. Each student's ranking is determined by totaling the separate scores for each category. First grade students whose total score from the TAG Assessment Matrix is 27 or above are recommended for TAG placement. Third graders whose total is 33 or above are recommended for TAG placement.
For more information, check the Prince George's County Talented and Gifted Office.