Do you know a student who…
- Is going into 4th or 5th grade?
- Learns easily and quickly?
- Thinks up unusual ways to solve hard problems?
- Has a clever sense of humor?
- Dislikes doing the same thing over and over?
- Thinks logically and wants things to make sense?
- Is open to new ideas?
- Is persistent and wants to keep trying with difficult tasks?
Open House | To be determined
Program Overview
Project Excel is a self-contained, highly capable program offered in a central location, Brookdale Elementary. Transportation is available for students who attend an elementary school other than Brookdale. Project Excel provides appropriately challenging curriculum and assessments requiring research through accelerated study and intensive reading and writing. Students are supported to set goals with high cognitive demand, develop and sustain inquisitiveness in learning, and create opportunities for reflection and growth.
Eligibility and Enrollment
Universal Screening
The Cognitive Abilities Test will be administered to all third-grade students (universal screening) in March. The CogAt measures general reasoning abilities in three domains: verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal. The verbal domain tests a student’s vocabulary, comprehension, memory, and ability to discover word relationships. The quantitative domain tests a student’s reasoning and problem-solving ability. The nonverbal domain tests a student’s ability to make sense of a sequence of images using geometric shapes, paper folding or figures. Sample CogAt questions are available here. Scores are reported in national percentiles by age using the most current norms and provide a snapshot of students’ reasoning abilities.
Purpose
The purpose of universal screening is to administer the assessment to create a pool of students to refer for highly capable placement. Highly capable students are students who perform or show potential for performing at significantly advanced academic levels when compared to their peers. The CogAt is one tool for identification of highly capable students. While there is not a hard cut-score for program placement, a highly capable student would score in the 90th percentile in one or more areas.
Placement
For placement consideration, families must complete the referral form for our highly capable program, Project Excel. The family referral from, along with teacher rating scale and narrative, student writing sample, report card data (most recent), state assessment (SBA, ELPA/WIDA), and district assessment data (FastBridge) will be considered for placement. A single score or indicator will not prevent a student’s placement in highly capable programs. Click here to complete the family referral form in English or in Spanish.
Multidisciplinary Selection Committee
A Multidisciplinary Selection Committee (MSC) will review the above to determine placement in the highly capable program. The MSC is composed of the highly capable program teachers, an elementary school principal, a counselor, a community director, and the Director of Teaching and Learning Services. The MSC will refer for placement students with strong evidence and need for highly capable services. The MSC will also note students who have demonstrated high performance and for whom differentiated instruction, in their grade level classroom, would be beneficial.
Notification
Students and families will be notified of highly capable placement by the end of the school year. Notification will be sent via family email on file and mail, if no email is on file. Families must confirm and indicate a need for transportation to Project Excel at Brookdale or reject their student’s placement.
Appeals
Appeal
Families have the right to appeal the multidisciplinary selection committee’s determination of placement. A written request must be submitted with in 10 school days of the notification. Families may include other evidence to support the appeal. Click here to access the appeal form. Families will be notified of the appeal decision within 30 days of receiving the appeal.
Please send appeal forms to:FAQs
- How do I refer a student for highly capable programs?
- What are some characteristics of a highly capable student?
- My student was referred in the past and was not eligible for highly capable services, can I refer them again?
- My student was referred by a teacher, do I (as the parent or guardian) need to do anything else?
- What is the CogAT?
- Should my student study before taking the CogAT?
- Does my student need to requalify for services every year?
- I am transferring my student(s) to Franklin Piece Schools next year, can I refer my student for testing?
- Does the district provide transportation to Brookdale for Project Excel?
- How can I be involved in my student’s highly capable program success?
How do I refer a student for highly capable programs?
Please see our Eligibility and Enrollment page, here, for students entering 4th – 8th grade. For all other grades, connect with your student’s counselor.
What are some characteristics of a highly capable student?
Highly capable students perform or show potential for performing at significantly advance academic levels when compared with others of their age, experience and environments. Click here for a chart of characteristics which help identify characteristics of highly capable students.
My student was referred in the past and was not eligible for highly capable services, can I refer them again?
My student was referred by a teacher, do I (as the parent or guardian) need to do anything else?
What is the CogAT?
The Cognitive Abilities Test measures a student’s reasoning skills in three parts. The first is verbal and tests a student’s vocabulary, as well as their comprehension of ideas, efficiency and verbal memory, and ability to discover word relationships. The second part tests student’s quantitative reasoning and problem solving ability and provides an appraisal of their general level of abstract reasoning. The third part is non-verbal and uses geometric shapes, paper folding and figures and requires students to construct analogies based on a sequence of images. Click here to view sample CogAT items.
Should my student study before taking the CogAT?
Does my student need to requalify for services every year?
I am transferring my student(s) to Franklin Piece Schools next year, can I refer my student for testing?
We can only assess students currently attending Franklin Pierce Schools. Transfer students may be referred when they begin attending and will be assessed during the next selection process. If your student is currently participating in a highly capable program and is transferring to Franklin Pierce Schools, please let the school know when you register your student. Your student’s documentation of participation in previous highly capable program, testing data and academic achievement support data will be reviewed by the committee to determine placement and if selection criteria are met, your student will be enrolled as program space allows.