The Escondido Union School District is pleased to continue to offer the Gifted and Talented Education program. For GATE identification, all 2nd-grade students will participate in universal screening in November.

For students in grades 3 through 8 who have not been screened for GATE, parents may request an assessment by submitting the Parent Background and Input Form to their school by Friday, October 13. The forms will be available in the front office of every school beginning Monday, September 25. A school team will review requests and determine which students will be eligible for GATE screening in November. For more information, contact your school principal or visit your school office.

Yes. If there are students in grades 3 through 8 who are possible candidates for screening, a process has been established at the school sites to allow for screening of those select students:

1. A parent can request that their child be considered for testing by completing the GATE Parent Background Form located in the school office and returning it to the school.

2. After reviewing pertinent data and teacher/parent feedback, if the site team concludes the student should be assessed, the student will be given the universal screener.

3. Sites then will make a recommendation and eligibility determination will be made at the district level.

The principal at your child’s school can provide further information about GATE and the identification process.

Every school year, all 2nd-graders will be given the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT). This universal screening tool is a digital, non-reading assessment designed to measure the cognitive abilities of students. The results of this assessment will be one piece of information used in the GATE screening process.

Parents of students who have met the established referral criteria, based on the results of the universal screening tool, will receive a parent background and input form to be used as an additional piece of information to determine eligibility.

Qualifying students then will be referred to a school team that will review all screening data and other pertinent information. Sites then will make a recommendation, and eligibility determination will be confirmed at the district level.

Please start by reviewing our frequently asked questions page. If you have any additional questions, please contact the principal at your child’s school; Rick Oser, Director of Teaching and Learning, at roser@eusd.org or at 760-432-2400 ext. 10221; or Dr. Lisa Umekubo, Coordinator of Data and Assessment, lumekubo@eusd.org or ext. 18911.