Mustang Public Schools is committed to providing gifted education for its identified gifted students, through differentiated instruction focused on problem-solving and creating lifelong learners providing for their unique needs, interests, skills and talents.

Definition of Gifted and Talented Programs:

"Gifted and talented child educational programs" means those special instructional programs, supportive services, unique educational materials, learning settings, and other educational services which differentiate, supplement, and support the regular program in meeting the needs of the gifted and talented child. (70.O.S.1210.308A)

Definition of Gifted and Talented Students:

"Gifted and talented students: refers to those students identified as having demonstrated potential abilities of high performance capability, requiring differentiated or accelerated curriculum or educational programs." For the purpose of this definition, "demonstrated abilities of high performance capability" means those identified students who score in the top three percent on any nationally standardized test of intellectual ability.

Students are initially identified for GATE, (Gifted and Talented Education), through assessment of the Cognitive Abilities Test or CogAT.

 ABILITY TESTS assess cognitive and motor skill sets that have been acquired over a long period of time and that are not attributable to any specific program of instruction. Ability tests are descriptive in that they assess people’s knowledge and skills, but they are also predictive because they measure qualities that are presumed to influence the person’s ability to learn new skills and to solve novel problems. 

Examples: 

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Third Edition (WAIS-III) 

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition (SB5) 

Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) 

ACHIEVEMENT TESTS are descriptive - to measure the extent to which an examinee has mastered a motor skill or area of knowledge. Typically, an achievement test is administered following a period of instruction designed to teach the motor or cognitive skill to be examined. 

Examples: 

ACT 

SAT 

Classroom examinations 

State tests 

APTITUDE TESTS often attempt to measure certain abilities that a person may possess, such as verbal or numerical skills. Aptitude tests typically reveal what sort of tasks a person may be best able to perform regardless of any previous course of study in that area. The primary purpose of aptitude tests is prediction. In fact, the most common use of aptitude tests is to predict future performance in an educational program or occupational setting. 

Examples: 

Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) 

Ball Aptitude Battery (BAB) 

In summary, psychologists distinguish among achievement, aptitude, and ability tests at a theoretical level. Achievement tests describe people’s present status, aptitude tests predict their future behavior, and ability tests assess their innate potential.