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Steamboat Springs presents year‑end gifted education report; district to shift staffing and review screeners
Summary
Director Kristen Atwood told the board the district has 264 identified gifted secondary students and will make gifted staff fully student‑facing next year; the presentation outlined cluster grouping methods, screener evaluation (CogAT vs. Naglieri) and plans for parent engagement and a state monitoring audit next year.
Kristen Atwood, the district’s director of Exceptional Student Services, presented a year‑end report on gifted education June 16 and described immediate staffing and screening changes the district plans for 2025–26.
Atwood said the district currently counts 264 gifted secondary students, with 160 at Steamboat Springs High School, 78 at the middle‑school level, 23 at Sleeping Giant Middle School and two at Yampa Valley High School. To increase student‑facing supports, the district will move to make all four gifted‑education FTE positions student facing next year and will place the gifted coordinator at the middle school to support fifth‑to‑sixth grade transitions; Atwood said Maggie Bruske will take over a recently vacated position.
The presentation detailed the district’s cluster‑grouping approach: staff triangulate multiple data sources (including i‑Ready and other measures) to group high‑performing students into cohorts so targeted resources and a 0.5 FTE interventionist can be deployed where the needs are concentrated. "We pull the data…we triangulate that data and we look at some of the highest percentiles… and we cluster kids that are at similar percentiles," Atwood said, describing the process used at the middle‑school level.
Board members pressed on screener validity and equity. Atwood said the district piloted the Naglieri and previously used CogAT; the Naglieri pilot did not yield the most valid results in their experience. She told the board the team will consider a hybrid approach — using the CogAT and a Naglieri subtest — along with teacher and parent recommendations, balancing cost and accuracy. "We moved to Naglieri two years ago…we've found that it's not showing the most valid of results," Atwood said.
The presentation also covered outreach and committee work: GIAC parent involvement will continue, and Atwood plans one‑on‑one follow‑ups with GIAC members. She said the district will be audited as a standalone administrative unit under state gifted‑education monitoring next year and that scheduling for JEAC/SEAC/GEAC/DAC will be coordinated to avoid conflicts.
Atwood and Superintendent Celine Wicks emphasized professional development, earlier identification in K–2 and attention to twice‑exceptional and emerging bilingual learners. No formal policy changes were adopted at the June 16 meeting; the board asked staff to finalize staffing and screening recommendations for fall implementation.
