Agenda Item
d. Testing Assessments, Licenses, and Materials for Gifted Education (Not to Exceed $905,000)
Summary: Presented by: Mrs. Kiana King, Interim Chief of Student Services, Division of Student Services
Request: It is requested that the DeKalb County Board of Education approve the purchase of assessments, licenses, and materials for the gifted identification process from Riverside Insights, Scholastic Testing Services and NCS Pearson in an amount not to exceed $905,000.
Why: In compliance with the Georgia Department of Education SBOE Rule 160-4-2-.38 Education Programs for Gifted Students Evaluation and Eligibility, the use of state approved assessments in DeKalb County School District’s gifted identification process will increase the number of students considered for gifted services thus closing the gap of the underrepresentation of minority, Special Education, English Learners, and/or low socio-economic groups for placement in state funded programs.
Details: The DeKalb County School District will purchase assessments, licenses, and materials to support the academic success of students served through the Division of Student Services in accordance to Board Policy DJE (III.D.3.g).
Financial impact: The total financial impact for SY2026-2027 is not to exceed the amount of $905,000.00. General funds will be used to purchase these resources.
Charge code:
100.2213.553200.00011.7340.2021.8010.094.0000
Contact: Presented by: Mrs. Kiana King, Interim Chief of Student Services, Division of Student Services, (678) 676-0418
Mrs. Emmika Atkinson, Senior Coordinator for Gifted Education
Mrs. Kristen Drake, Senior Coordinator for Gifted Education
Effective: Upon Board Approval
Status: Approved by the Office of Legal Affairs
Riverside Insights Overview and Data Usage
Riverside Insights is a leading educational and clinical assessment publisher that provides research-
based tests and learning tools to educators and clinicians. Their tools are used to measure cognitive
abilities, academic achievement, and social-emotional growth to help identify student potential and
learning challenges.
In the 2024–25 school year, DeKalb County School District broadened its gifted referral process by
offering additional ‘at bats’ for underrepresented students to be considered for gifted screening with the
goal of improving fair access to gifted eligibility testing in the mental ability and achievement domains by
administering either the CogAT which measures students learned reasoning abilities to identify
giftedness and advanced academic potential through verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal acquisition or
the Iowa Assessments which is a standardized achievement tests that monitors student growth across
core academic subjects in Reading and Mathematics.
Data Usage