Fulton County Talented and Gifted Program (TAG)

Alpharetta, Georgia’s Fulton County Talented and Gifted Program

The Fulton County talented and gifted program in Alpharetta, Georgia, known as Talented and Gifted (TAG) provides intellectually gifted students with specialized educational opportunities to nurture their potential and address gifted students’ unique interests, needs and abilities. The Fulton County talented and gifted program places a focus on the importance of gifted students interacting with other intellectual peers. Specially-trained teachers lead gifted students through a curriculum designed to maximize gifted students’ growth and talents.

Programs and services are designed to supplement the educational experiences students receive in the classroom with individual projects, advanced placement courses, directed studies, internships and joint enrollment.

Fulton County offers enrichment through the TAG program for intellectually advanced, exceptionally creative students in kindergarten through grade 12 in all Fulton County schools. Children will qualify for the program based on mental ability, creativity, achievement and motivation.

Further information about the Fulton County Talented and Gifted Program

In elementary school, students participate in Fulton County Talented and Gifted program classes once a week, studying science and social studies topics to enhance their general curriculum learning. In middle school, an array of advanced classes provide students with additional enrichment. High School students in TAG are able to engage in seminars, individual projects, directed studies and internships, as well as Honors, Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) classes.

The Fulton County School System screens all students for eligibility in the TAG program twice a year. During the testing process, the TAG Eligibility Team may request parental consent to administer one or more of the following tests, with each test only administered once every two years:

Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)
Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT)
Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT)
Stanford Achievement Test (SAT-10).

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Eligibility Requirements for the Fulton County Talented and Gifted Program

Elementary students may also receive the IOWA Assessments of Achievement, and/or the Gifted Rating Scales-Motivation tests (GRS-M).

For the CogAT test as well as the NNAT, a child must receive at least a score in the 96th percentile in the mental ability category in order to qualify for gifted services. On the TTCT, IOWA Assessment andGRS-M tests respectively, a child must score in the 90th percentile for gifted services.

Elementary school students will also be given the Creativity Product test, which is an untimed, open-ended scripted lesson delivered by the regular education classroom teacher. It is not identified to students as a TAG test, and the qualifying score for gifted services in 90%.

For students in grades 6 through 12, class grades are also considered in both the Achievement and Motivation sections towards the student’s eligibility for the Fulton County Talented and Gifted Program; however, each grade can only be used in one section, and not both. In both the areas of Achievement and Motivation respectively, the cumulative average of qualifying scores for middle school students is 90 or greater out of 100, and 85 or greater for high school students in an honors, AP or IB course.

For students in grades 8-12, a qualifying score for the Fulton County Talented and Gifted Program is a cumulative average of 85 or greater out of 100 in their core content subjects.

Students must also score at specified levels on a norm-referenced test in order to qualify for gifted services, with eligibility requirements as follows: Fulton County Talented and Gifted Program teachers review existing test scores from each students’ record at the start of each academic year. Students who score in the top percentiles are flagged in what is known as “automatic screening.” For each of the following consideration categories, supporting data is needed.

Standardized Achievement Tests

Students must have a combination of at least 85th percentile and 90th percentile scores in 2 of 3 areas: Total Reading, Total Math, and Complete Battery.

iRead assessment

(Grades K-2): Students must score 90% or above on the iRead test for Literacy.
(Grades K-8) Students must score 90% on the iRead test for Math.
(Grades 3-9) Students must score 90% or greater on the iRead assessment for Math.

Acceleration Assessment

(Grade K-3) Students must score 80% or greater on the Acceleration Assessment in English/Language Arts or Mathematics.

Georgia Milestones End of Grade Assessment

Students must score at least at the Distinguished Learner achievement level in English/Language Arts or Mathematics.

Grades

Students must have an overall cumulative average of at least 95 or greater.

Other Data for the Fulton County Talented and Gifted Program

Other data that may be considered towards Fulton County Talented and Gifted Program eligibility includes receiving an individual first place or win in a district level academic competition–this would count towards the Creativity or Motivation section, and would include competitions such as the Fulton County spelling bee, technology fair, and science fair. To be considered, this win must be on the basis of individual, rather than team work, and it can only be used towards one section, and not any others.

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