Referral & Identification Process

Student referral opportunities will be available during designated referral windows each school year. Gifted & Talented referral windows are included below.  Staff members and parents can refer students for GT testing. 

The NEISD Gifted & Talented assessment process includes both qualitative and quantitative data collected through three (3) or more measures and used to determine a need for gifted and talented services. Qualitative data includes parent and teacher surveys. Quantitative data includes both ability and achievement scores. Students are assessed in languages they understand to the extent possible, or with non-verbal assessments. 

A committee of at least three district personnel who have been trained in the nature and needs and identification of gifted students will determine the placement services of each child.  This committee could include the GT teacher, counselor, administrator, GT Instructional Specialist, Assistant Director of GT, or other trained district personnel. 

Referral Deadlines for 2024-2025

Referral periods vary for each grade.  

Traditional Calendar Campuses: 

• September 13, 2024 for 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades
• October 18, 2024 for 2nd grade
• December 31, 2024 for Kindergarten*
• January 31, 2025 for middle school (current 6th-8th graders)
• March 1, 2025 for high school (current 9th-12th graders)
• March 7, 2025 for 5th graders entering 6th grade (GT Math and/or GT English)

Castle Hills:

• August 16, 2024 for 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades  
• October 4, 2024 for 2nd grade 
• December 31, 2024 for Kindergarten
• March 7, 2025 for 5th graders entering 6th grade (GT Math and/or GT English)

Current NEISD students not referred by the above deadline will be asked to wait for next year's referral period. 

*Kindergarten referrals will open in September.  Please contact your campus GT teacher to learn more about their Parent Awareness Meeting. 

Click here to refer your child for gifted & talented testing.**  

**Please note that the above online referral link will not allow you to submit outside of the above referral window deadline.

***Newly enrolled students should wait at least 24 hours to complete the referral form so that student information systems have time to sync student records. 

Testing Windows for 2024-2025

• August: Grades 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th (Castle Hills)
• September - October: Grades 1st-5th Grades (5th New-to-District/Transfer)
• January: Kindergarten
• January - February: 5th Grade for Secondary (6th-12th GT English and/or GT Math)
• February: Middle School, 6th-8th, for the following school year. 
• March: High School, 9th-12th, for the following school year.

If students are transferring from another NEISD campus and are receiving GT services, they automatically begin GT services at their new NEISD school.

If students are transferring from another district with a GT status, please provide the necessary documentation and have the other school send testing data to the campus GT Teacher (elementary) or counselor (middle and high school). The GT teacher and central office personnel will review the data and inform parents if the testing is parallel to NEISD and scores are at the district standard. Additional testing may be needed. Scores older than 2 years are considered outdated and new tests will need to be administered. 

Military students, whose parents are active military and students have GT status documentation from a GT program, will qualify automatically due to the Interstate Compact Act on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, as long as there is documentation. Please reach out to the GT office to complete the paperwork if this applies to your child. 

My child didn’t qualify...can my child retest?

Students can be tested once a year.  However, some of the assessment data collected is valid for up to 2 years and will be used for the next year’s evaluation. 

GT campus teachers will review previously tested students/data and determine what testing is needed.