Student Identification Process
Based on state guidelines for identifying highly capable students, Lake Washington School District uses multiple criteria to determine placement.
Applicants must:
- be residents of Lake Washington School District;
- demonstrate high academic achievement and cognitive ability in both literacy and math;
- go through the district’s Quest assessment process for selection*;
- complete the online application.
*Private testing outside of the school district cannot be used to substitute for Lake Washington School District testing.
Students currently enrolled in the enrichment pull-out program and not on the wait list must apply to the full-time program if they wish to be considered for full-time placement.
Application Screening Criteria
Elementary applicants must meet the following criteria in order to be considered for Quest assessment:
Elementary Quest provides programs for students in grades two through five. Kindergarten students may not apply to Quest.
Current second and third grade students (applying for third and fourth grade Quest)
Final report card data from the previous school year:
- Reading: 3.5 mean of all strands
- Math: 3.5 mean of all strands
Fourth grade (applying for fifth grade Quest)Final report card data and Washington Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) from the previous school year:
- Reading: 3.5 mean of all strands
- Math: 3.5 mean of all strands
- Washington Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) results from Spring – reading: level 4; and math: level 4
Elementary applicants who meet the application screening criteria are scheduled for Quest assessment.
Assessment criteria
Round I |
Screening Procedures Must Be Met |
|
Ability
Cog AT |
Enrichment Pull-Out |
131 – 134
Composite Standard Age Score
(98th – 99th percentile) |
Full-time Quest |
135 or higher
Composite Standard Age Score
(99th percentile) |
Round II |
Achievement
ITBS
(Cog AT composite score must be 98th percentile or higher) |
Enrichment
Pull-Out |
98th percentile in both total reading and total math |
Full-time Quest |
98th percentile in total reading
99th percentile in total math |
Both |
80th percentile on Renzulli Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics for Superior Students, completed by classroom teacher |
Lottery and Placement Process
Space is limited at every site. Not all students meeting the assessment criteria may actually be placed in the Quest program. Placements are made on a space available basis at the site that serves your home address. In the event that space is not available, a waiting list is created. Students on the waiting list are rank ordered, based on their test results at the time of their identification.
Students for each site are placed in rank order, using the Cog AT standard age score and then the ITBS achievement scores. Should there not be enough room to place all students who have the same rank order, a random number lottery will be used to determine who is placed, and also the order of the wait lists. If a student declines an offer for placement or moves out of the district, that place is offered to the next student on the rank-ordered list.
Once the wait list is established, it is not re-ordered when students leave the district and return or when new students transfer into the district. Returning and transfer students are placed at the end of the wait list, regardless of score, after students who are already on the rank-ordered list.