Jamie Lee presented changes to the Yakima School District’s Highly Capable identification process on May 20, telling the board the district reduced wholesale testing and used data-driven screening to increase both efficiency and demographic representation.

Lede: The district targeted second and sixth grades for screening this year and reduced the number of students tested from historical whole-grade-level tests (about 1,300) to 442 students; 62 students qualified for the program in 2025, up from a historical average of 40–50 qualifiers.

Nut graf: The screening change aimed to identify students who may have been missed previously (particularly at middle school) and to improve representation across schools and demographic groups. District presenters said the new process is documented for replication and freed resources for future testing and services.

What changed and why
- Screening focus: district teams selected second and sixth grades to capture students who might have been missed earlier or later in the pipeline; state law requires testing two grade levels, presenters noted.
- Smarter targeting: staff used multiple data sources (WIDA scores for multilingual learners, kindergarten screening, Smarter Balanced results, science assessments and growth data) and teacher/parent referrals to recommend students for the CogAT cognitive assessment rather than testing all students.
- Results: Of 442 students tested this year, 62 qualified; demographic representation rose, including 11 students with disabilities, 10 multilingual students, 3 with 504 plans and 5 migrant students. Presenters said they increased Hispanic representation among qualifiers and reduced the number of students needing mass testing.
- Cost and process gains: the district estimated about $20,000 savings in timesheet costs and said it created a Skyward form for service plans to make individualized service plans accessible to teachers.

Board questions and program details
Board members asked how identified students are served. Jamie Lee described a cluster model and PLC differentiation, honors classes at secondary levels, and differentiated enrichment at elementary level while noting services vary by grade and qualification area.

Ending: The board praised the effort to increase access and representation. Presenters said the process will be documented and repeated in future years and that further work will include interviewing students about program needs.