Trumbull's Academically Gifted (TAG) Program

Consistent with Connecticut General Statutes §10-76a, Trumbull's  Academically Gifted Program (TAG) identifies and services the top 5% of those fourth-grade and fifth-grade students in the District identified at the end of their third-grade year as having “extraordinary learning ability.” The mission of the TAG Program is "to address the intellectual and social needs of the identified and academically gifted students, to provide the identified students with learning opportunities to explore and expand their knowledge base to further develop their talents, and to provide relevant parent education and awareness for a comprehensive educational experience."

To identify those children, the District employs the following steps in sequential order in the spring of the third-grade year. The steps balance standardized measurements of abstract thinking and reasoning ability (e.g., the OLSAT) with district measurements of learning achievement (e.g., the DRP, the mathematics assessments) and classroom teacher ratings based on published metrics for identifying gifted students.

1. Students who have received a 130 or higher as a subscore on either the Verbal or the Non-Verbal section of the OLSAT (Otis-Lennon School Ability Test) given in January of the third-grade year are selected for further analysis. (If this criterion does not generate at least 5% of the District’s third-grade population, a score of 125 or higher on either section will be used.)

2. For each student meeting the criterion of Step (1), the following verbal and non-verbal assessment data points are combined according to the percentages indicated below.

   • OLSAT Verbal total subscore: 35%

   • OLSAT Non-Verbal total subscore: 35%

   • Third-grade end-of-year DRP (Degrees of Reading Power) total score: 12.5%

   • Third-grade mathematics Trimester 1, 2, & 3 assessments total score average: 12.5%

   • Third-grade classroom teacher total rating on Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students: 5%

3. Consistent with State regulations, a District team of "certified and/or licensed professionals, who represent each of the teaching, administrative and pupil personnel staffs," will review the data to certify the top five per cent of students, who will then be those eligible to participate in Trumbull's Academically Gifted (TAG) Program. Parents of eligible students will be notified in August, prior to the beginning of the school year, of the planning and placement team process.

On occasion, a student enters the District in grade 3, 4, or 5 subsequent to the administration of the data points referenced above. If a parent of a student in such a situation believes that his/her child may be qualified for TAG, he/she should contact the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessments.

Trumbull's Enrichment Program

Within each elementary school, the TAG specialists also service the top 15% of students, excluding those who are already serviced within the TAG Program. The Enrichment program provides students the opportunity to broaden their academic experiences through extensions of the reading, writing, mathematics, and science programs via a STEM-based instructional approach.

To identify those children, the District employs the following steps in sequential order in the spring of the third-grade year to identify students for grade 4 enrichment, and then again in the spring of the fourth-grade year to identify students for grade 5 enrichment. The steps balance standardized measurements of abstract thinking and reasoning ability (e.g., the OLSAT) with district measurements of learning achievement (e.g., the DRP, the mathematics assessments).

1. Students who have met Criterion 1 for TAG identification (having received a 130 or higher as a subscore on either the Verbal or the Non-Verbal section of the OLSAT (Otis-Lennon School Ability Test) given in January of the third-grade year) but who were not within the top 5% of the grade-level District population, are selected for further analysis. (If this criterion did not generate at least 5% of the District’s third-grade population, a score of 125 or higher on either section will be used.)

2. For each student meeting the criterion of Step (1), the following verbal and non-verbal assessment data points are combined according to the percentages indicated below.

   • OLSAT Verbal total subscore: 35%

   • OLSAT Non-Verbal total subscore: 35%

   • Third-grade (or fourth-grade) end-of-year DRP (Degrees of Reading Power) total score: 15%

   • Third-grade(or fourth-grade) mathematics Trimester 1, 2, & 3 assessments total score average: 15%

3. The top 15% of students in each elementary school, excluding those already serviced through the TAG Program, are thus identified as eligible to participate in Trumbull's Enrichment Program. (If Steps (1) and (2) did not generate at least 15% of each school's third-grade (or fourth-grade) population, then the OLSAT 130/125 subscore filter of Step (1) will be reduced, in additional 5-point intervals, and the process regenerated, until the 15% threshold is achieved.) Parents of eligible students will be notified in August, prior to the beginning of the school year.

On occasion, a student enters the District in grade 3, 4, or 5 subsequent to the administration of the data points referenced above. If a parent of a student in such a situation believes that his/her child may be qualified for Enrichment, he/she should contact the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessments.

Advanced Course Placement in Mathematics

Courses in Trumbull's middle schools are grouped heterogeneously with the exception of mathematics. Within the heterogeneous context of each of the other subject areas, teachers are trained to differentiate appropriately for all students with special learning needs, including those with accelerated skills in the content area.

In mathematics, select students may begin a seven-year advanced mathematics course sequence beginning in grade 6. This course sequence begins with pre-algebra in grade 6 and leads to calculus in grade 11, and then additional advanced mathematics courses in grade 12. The selection criteria are designed to identify and support the students whose data suggest a clear cognitive readiness for mathematical rigor that can sustain over time. Students are identified based on meeting either or both of the following criteria:

• exceptional performance (80+) on the District-created mathematics assessment given in April of the fifth-grade year; and/or

• exceptional performance (130+ subscore) on the Non-Verbal section of the OLSAT (Otis-Lennon School Ability Test) given in January of the fifth-grade year, supported by standard or higher performance (60+) on the District-created mathematics assessment given in April of the fifth-grade year.

The fifth-grade District-created mathematics assessments asks students to use mathematical reasoning in order to solve computation and problem-solving questions based on these Connecticut Core Standards for Mathematics:

• Understand ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to solve problems;

• Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division;

• Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication to multiply and divide a fraction or whole number by a fraction;

• Understand ordering and understanding the value of rational numbers;

• Apply and extend previous understandings of arithmetic to algebraic expressions;

• Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving volume; and

• Understand the place value system.

Additional opportunities for mathematical advancement occur:

1. at the end of September of grade 6, for students who have demonstrated exceptional performance in mathematics (Late Grade 6 on the Numbers & Operations and Algebra Thinking sections of the September iReady assessment, or Late Grade 6 overall, plus high Level 4 on the May grade 5 Smarter Balanced Assessment in Mathematics);

2. at the end of grade 6, for students who have demonstrated exceptional performance in mathematics (Late Grade 6 on the Numbers & Operations and Algebra Thinking sections of the June iReady assessment, or Late Grade 6 overall, plus either high Level 4 on the May grade 6 Smarter Balanced Assessment in Mathematics or 125+ subscore on the Non-Verbal section of the OLSAT given in January of the fifth-grade year, in addition to mastery on an examination of the prerequisite skills for first-year algebra);

3. at the end of September of grade 7, for students who have demonstrated exceptional performance in mathematics (Late Grade 7 on any two subscores of the September iReady assessment with no subscore lower than Mid Grade 7, or Level 8 or higher on any subscore with no subscore lower than Mid Grade 7, plus high Level 4 on the May grade 6 Smarter Balanced Assessment in Mathematics).

Beginning with the Trumbull High School Class of 2023 (sixth-graders in 2016-17), students not in pre-algebra in grade 6 will take pre-algebra in grade 7, and will then begin algebra in grade 8, potentially leading to calculus in grade 12.

Course Placement in Grade 8 Algebra 1

Beginning with the Trumbull High School Class of 2023 (sixth-graders in 2016-17), students in grade 8 will be placed into either a one-year Algebra 1 course or a two-year Algebra 1 Extended course.

Placement in the grade 8 one-year Algebra 1 course is based on meeting any of the following criteria:

• Above-grade-level performance (80% or higher) on the Grade 7 midyear Algebra Assessment, supported by approaching-grade-level performance (Early Grade 7 or higher) on both the Numbers & Operations and the Algebra & Algebraic Thinking subscores of the June iReady assessment; or

• Approaching-above-grade-level performance (75% or higher) on the Grade 7 midyear Algebra Assessment, supported by grade-level performance (Mid Grade 7 or higher) on either the Numbers & Operations subscore or the Algebra & Algebraic Thinking subscore of the June iReady Assessment, with neither score lower than approaching-grade-level performance (Early Grade 7 or higher); or

• Grade-level performance (70% or higher) on the Grade 7 midyear Algebra Assessment, supported by grade-level performance (Mid Grade 7 or higher) on both the Numbers & Operations and the Algebra & Algebraic Thinking subscores of the June iReady assessment.

Information regarding all courses is available in the Trumbull High School Program of Studies.