ABSTRACT
The identification and programming for students who are significantly beyond grade level is a current challenge facing many educators. Even with a desire to educate highly gifted students to their potential, measuring the nature and extent of achievement, aptitude, and cognitive abilities is complex. One strategy that can be used to measure the performance of students beyond grade level is called off-level or above-grede-level testing. Off-level testing as an assessment practice within gilted education is not widely used by educators, particularly to analyze a student's knowledge before instruction or to evaluate growth as a result of a program or intervention. Talent search is predicated on the belief that gifted children need to be assessed with tests commensurate with their abilities, developmental rates, and preexisting knowledge and skills, not their chronological age or grade.
