Bibb County · GA

What matters most here

The earliest test that affects placement is Amira, starting in Kindergarten.

The bar: Published for pre-screening: a 90th-percentile composite, total reading, or total math norm-referenced percentile puts a student under consideration for gifted testing.

≈ Typical practice — not verified for this district

What schools usually do with these scores

Grouping. Screener results sort kids into small skill groups for reading and math. Groups are re-dealt after each testing window — fall, winter, spring — so a score follows your kid for about a trimester, not a year.
Extra help and enrichment. Kids below benchmark usually get small-group support, checked every week or two. Kids far above it are the pool schools draw on for enrichment.
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–3 · Amira
K–12 · CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) Form 7 or 8
K–12 · Creativity and motivation rating scales
K–12 · DRC Beacon
K–12 · Iowa Assessments
K–12 · STAR Reading / STAR Math / STAR Early Literacy
K–12 · TABs (Traits, Attitudes, and Behaviors) Observation Instrument
3–8 · Georgia Milestones End of Grade

Named by the district as one of the norm-referenced results schools review when pre-screening students for gifted referral.

Your kid's grade

Pick a grade — the page narrows to what your kid actually takes.

K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Show all

What 8th Grade takes

7 of Bibb County's 10 assessments apply to 8th Grade. Tap a test for what it measures and why it matters.

CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) Form 7 or 8
K–12 · System-wide testing begins in January, after the December referral deadline
What it measures: Verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal reasoning ability. This is the district's mental-ability measure for gifted eligibility; the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT3) is the approved alternate.
Why it matters: Measures reasoning, not what was taught — the test type gifted and advanced-placement decisions lean on most.
Affects placement: Referred students only — Bibb does not give the CogAT to every student. Only students forwarded by a school gifted eligibility team after the November TABs observation are tested. Each school's testing coordinator runs the administration, and parents are notified of eligibility by mail before the end of the school year.
Threshold: Published. Option A: 99th percentile composite for grades K-2, or 96th percentile composite for grades 3-12. Option B (qualifying in three of four categories): 96th percentile, K-12, on the composite or an appropriate component score. A second mental-ability test may be given at the eligibility team's discretion to students scoring at or above the 90th percentile on one or more CogAT sections.
✓ Officialbcsdk12.net (26-27 Gifted Education & Advanced Academics Manual)2026-27checked Aug 2026
Creativity and motivation rating scales (Renzulli-Hartman, Hawthorne GES, TTCT)
K–12 · Completed alongside the January testing window
What it measures: Renzulli-Hartman Creativity and Motivation Characteristics scales for grades K-5 and the Hawthorne Gifted Evaluation Scale for grades 6-12, completed by classroom teachers. The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking is added when the school eligibility team or the gifted director requires it.
Affects placement: Only one rating scale may be used per student: if a scale establishes creativity it may not also establish motivation, and vice versa. Product/performance portfolios are the alternate in both categories, and grades are the motivation alternate in grades 6-12.
Threshold: Published: rating scales must equate to the 90th percentile. A superior product/performance portfolio must score 90 or above on a 100-point scale, judged by a panel of three or more qualified educators. For motivation, grades 6-8 need an A average in core content areas and grades 9-12 a 3.5 on a 4.0 scale (or a 90 numeric average), taken as a two-year average of core subjects.
✓ Officialbcsdk12.net (26-27 Gifted Education & Advanced Academics Manual)2026-27checked Aug 2026
DRC Beacon
K–12 · Not published
What it measures: Interim assessment of reading and math progress against the Georgia Standards of Excellence.
Why it matters: Tracks your kid's growth against national norms through the year. Often one of the numbers behind advanced-placement decisions.
Affects placement: Pre-screener only. The district's own wording: Milestones scores and "Beacon Assessment cut scores may be used as pre-screeners only." Beacon cannot establish gifted eligibility on its own. The district names Beacon cut scores as a pre-screening trigger but does not publish what those cut scores are.
✓ Officialbcsdk12.net (26-27 Gifted Education & Advanced Academics Manual)2026-27checked Aug 2026
Georgia Milestones End of Grade (EOG)
3–8 · Main administration April 20–29, 2027; retest for grades 3, 5, and 8 May 12–17, 2027
What it measures: State assessment of English language arts and mathematics achievement against the Georgia Standards of Excellence, plus science in grade 5 and science and social studies in grade 8.
Why it matters: The state's own test of grade-level mastery. Schools report it, and some programs use it for eligibility.
Affects placement: Pre-screener only. The district's gifted manual states that Milestones scores "may be used as pre-screeners only" for gifted referral — a Milestones score can help get a student referred but cannot establish eligibility. No Milestones score that triggers referral is published.
✓ Officialbcsdk12.net (2026-27 State Assessment Calendar)2026-27checked Aug 2026
Iowa Assessments (Iowa Test of Basic Skills)
K–12 · With the January gifted testing window
What it measures: Reading, math, and complete-battery achievement. This is the district's achievement measure for gifted eligibility; STAR Reading, STAR Math, STAR Early Literacy, and PSAT total reading are the approved alternates.
Affects placement: Administered to students referred for gifted testing. Achievement scores from the prior two years may be entered on the referral form instead of a fresh administration.
Threshold: Published: 90th percentile or higher on total Reading, total Math, or total battery of a norm-referenced achievement test. A second achievement measure may be administered to students who score at the 88th percentile on the first (Iowa Form E, F, or G).
✓ Officialbcsdk12.net (26-27 Gifted Education & Advanced Academics Manual)2026-27checked Aug 2026
STAR Reading / STAR Math / STAR Early Literacy (Renaissance)
K–12 · Reviewed by schools during the fall pre-screening pass; the district does not publish STAR administration windows
What it measures: Norm-referenced reading, math, and early-literacy screening, reported as national percentiles.
Why it matters: A quick skills check, not a graded test. Schools use it to catch kids who need extra help — or a bigger challenge — early, and to set reading and math groups.
Affects placement: Used as a gifted pre-screener, and separately as an approved alternate achievement measure for establishing eligibility. Schools review existing STAR percentiles alongside the TABs observation to decide who is referred.
Threshold: Published for pre-screening: a 90th-percentile composite score, 90th-percentile total reading (including comprehensive reading), or 90th-percentile total math puts a student under consideration. For middle and high schools, any non-identified student scoring at or above the 90th percentile on STAR is also considered.
✓ Officialbcsdk12.net (26-27 Gifted Education & Advanced Academics Manual)2026-27checked Aug 2026
TABs (Traits, Attitudes, and Behaviors) Observation Instrument
K–12 · One to two weeks in November
What it measures: Structured teacher observation of ten traits, attitudes, and behaviors associated with giftedness, completed for every student.
Why it matters: A quick skills check, not a graded test. Schools use it to catch kids who need extra help — or a bigger challenge — early, and to set reading and math groups.
Affects placement: This is the universal entry point to gifted screening — every student is observed. Schools notify parents about the screening process at the end of October or beginning of November, school gifted eligibility teams submit recommended names to the district gifted office by December, and system-wide testing begins in January. A student goes into full referral only every other year.
Threshold: Published: a child who demonstrates five of the ten identified Traits, Attitudes, and Behaviors shall be considered for gifted testing. A student is also referred with documented above-grade-level performance, qualifying achievement test scores, documented outstanding products or performances, or a GPA at or above 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.
✓ Officialbcsdk12.net (26-27 Gifted Education & Advanced Academics Manual)2026-27checked Aug 2026

Got a score report?

Your kid's scores come home without context. Check one against the published bar — free, no account.

Is my kid on track? →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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