Coweta County · GA

What matters most here

The earliest test that affects placement is REACH gifted program — automatic and reported referral, starting in Kindergarten.

The bar: Published, restating the state rule: at or above the 99th percentile (grades K-2) or 96th percentile (grades 3-12) on a composite, full-scale, or appropriate component score of a norm-referenced mental-ability test; OR at or above the 90th percentile on the total battery, total math, or total reading of a norm-referenced achievement test. Coweta also publishes a near-miss rule not found in the other four districts: a student scoring at the 95th percentile on the composite mental-ability score who meets one or more other criteria receives further mental-ability testing.

≈ Typical practice — not verified for this district

What schools usually do with these scores

Placement. Advanced-track decisions almost never hang on one test. Districts combine an ability test, an achievement measure, and teacher input into a matrix — which is why each score below earns its keep.

The path to the advanced track

K–12 · REACH gifted program — automatic and reported referral

Your kid's grade

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What 8th Grade takes

1 of Coweta County's 1 assessments apply to 8th Grade. Tap a test for what it measures and why it matters.

REACH gifted program — automatic and reported referral
K–12 · Referral windows are set per school and advertised locally (school doors, signs, websites, newsletters). East Coweta Middle School publishes September for January placement and January for August placement, with its grades 6-8 window for 2025-26 running August–September 2025.
What it measures: REACH is Coweta's gifted program. An automatic referral is triggered by scores on a norm-referenced mental-ability or achievement test, and data is then gathered in mental ability, achievement, creativity, and motivation. Coweta names no test instrument anywhere in its published materials — only "a norm-referenced test of mental ability" and "a norm-referenced achievement test."
Affects placement: District's own wording: students scoring at the specified levels "shall be considered automatically for further assessment to determine eligibility for gifted program services." A reported referral may come from teachers, counselors, administrators, parents or guardians, peers, or the student. An Eligibility Team of the classroom teacher, gifted teacher, and a counselor or administrator then decides whether to evaluate, gather more information, or "wait and watch." Kindergartners found eligible in the spring are served starting in first grade. Note a discrepancy between two official Coweta sources, recorded as found: the district REACH Manual states 99th percentile for grades K-2 and 96th for grades 3-12, while a Coweta school-site page restating the same automatic-referral rule gives 96th percentile for K-12 with no K-2 distinction.
Threshold: Published, restating the state rule: at or above the 99th percentile (grades K-2) or 96th percentile (grades 3-12) on a composite, full-scale, or appropriate component score of a norm-referenced mental-ability test; OR at or above the 90th percentile on the total battery, total math, or total reading of a norm-referenced achievement test. Coweta also publishes a near-miss rule not found in the other four districts: a student scoring at the 95th percentile on the composite mental-ability score who meets one or more other criteria receives further mental-ability testing.
⏱ Last confirmed 2020-21cowetaschools.org (REACH Manual, revised June 2020)checked Aug 2026

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Is my kid near the gifted bar? →

Not every test here has a published benchmark — where there isn't one, we won't invent a bar. And one score is one data point: schools decide from several measures across the year, plus the teacher's judgment.

How GAdecides who's gifted — the state rule

Georgia sets gifted eligibility statewide. A student qualifies either on test scores alone, or by meeting three of four categories.

Option 1: Test scores alone
Mental ability at or above the 99th percentile (grades K-2) or 96th percentile (grades 3-12) on a norm-referenced composite or full-scale score, plus one achievement criterion.
Option 2: Three of four categories
Qualify through a multiple-criteria process by meeting the criteria in any three of the four categories below.

Mental ability:: 96th percentile or above, composite or full-scale, on a norm-referenced test
Achievement:: 90th percentile or above on total battery, total math, or total reading
Creativity:: 90th percentile or above on a standardized rating scale
Motivation:: 90th percentile or above, or a 3.5/4.0 GPA for grades 6-12

✓ OfficialGa. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 160-4-2-.382025-26

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