Gifted and Talented program open for referrals
The Darlington County School District’s (DCSD) referral window for the 2025-2026 Gifted and Talented program opened Thursday, Aug. 1, and will close Friday, Sept. 6.
If you would like your child in grades 3-11 to be screened for the Gifted and Talented program, you must complete the online screening referral form by Sept. 6. Every child is tested as a second grader. In order to be retested, your child must have scored in the 70th percentile or higher on the last administration of the approved tests for Gifted and Talented.
DCSD will administer the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) and the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) to second grade students and any other eligible grade-level students that have been referred for testing. The testing is a screening for placement in the district’s Gifted and Talented program for the 2025-26 school year.
The testing will be administered in two areas: achievement and aptitude. The ITBS will be administered for achievement, and the CogAT will be administered to determine the aptitude criteria. Students who meet the required criteria (Achievement: 94th national age percentile in reading comprehension or math concepts and problem solving; Aptitude: 93rd national age percentile in either verbal, non-verbal, quantitative, or total) may be eligible to participate in the Gifted and Talented program beginning in the 2025-26 school year. Students who meet one-half of the criteria will be eligible to participate in the Performance Task Assessment in late February and March.
If parents would like students in grades 3-11 to be retested, please use the following link (or visit the DCSD website) to visit the Gifted and Talented webpage and complete the Screening/Testing Referral Form by Sept. 6: https://sites.google.com/darlington.k12.sc.us/arts-innovative-programs/district-innovative-programs-magnet-gt/gifted-talented
The district will notify parents of a student who qualifies for Gifted and Talented by letter in the late summer of 2025.
For more information about the Gifted and Talented Program, please contact the Office of Arts and Innovative Programs at 843-398-2242.
