Highly Capable Services

MISD Highly Capable Services (HiCap) are provided to meet the needs of students who perform or show potential for performing at significantly advanced academic levels when compared with others of their age, experiences, or environments in our District.

Services Provided

Primary Enrichment Services (PES) - Grades 1 and 2

Students who qualify for PES will receive services within their regular classroom from their teacher. (Please note that all teachers have access to PES materials and can provide them to students who have not qualified, but who demonstrate a need for enrichment, rigor, depth, complexity, etc.)

Qualification Criteria:

For students who score in the 97th percentile or higher, in either the age or grade score of the CogAT Screener assessment, we begin a portfolio review process. These students are eligible to complete the Iowa Assessment in math.

Incoming 3rd, 4th or 5th Graders

For students entering third, fourth, or fifth grade for the 2025-2026 school year, we have two types of services:

Code 32 Services: Students qualify in one area (either math or reading). Services are provided in the regular classroom.

Code 33 Services: Students qualify holistically. Services are provided in a unique classroom at Lakeridge Elementary School.

Qualification Criteria:

Code 32: Students must score a “10” or higher in either the Reading/Verbal Domain or the Math/Quantitative Domain.

Code 33: Students must score a "28" or higher on the Identification Matrix. This is a combination of reading, math, science and creative thinking. No single domain eliminates a student's eligibility to receive services.

Incoming 6th, 7th & 8th graders

For students entering sixth through eighth grade for the 2025-2026 school year, we have one service delivery option:

Code 33 Services: Students qualify holistically. Services are provided in a unique classroom for Language Arts/Social Studies, and Science

Qualification Criteria:

For students entering grades 6-8, we use the Iowa reading and science assessments along with the CogAT verbal and non-verbal assessments as the service delivery areas at IMS are language arts, social studies, and science. Students take the TTCT exam so as to provide their teachers with a more holistic picture of their creative thinking and learning needs; however, these scores are not incorporated into a student’s identification.

A student must have either earned an “8 or higher” in one domain AND a “10 or higher” in the Identification Matrix to qualify for services.

Services in math are identified through a separate process as outlined on the MISD Math Pathways webpage.

High School Services

TEST INFORMATION

All MISD Kindergarten and Grade 2 students are universally tested during the school day in their respective classes. Testing occurs during a 2-week window in the middle of January. Each school determines its own testing schedule for these assessments.

Students in grades 1, 3-9 can be nominated by their families for testing.

January 2026 testing will take place on Wednesday afternoons on January 21st, 28th and February 4th, 2026. There will be a single make up date on Wednesday, February 11th.

All tests are timed except for those administered in Kindergarten and Grade 1.

* The Mercer Island School District does not allow students to retest within 12 months. Additionally, students may only test for two consecutive years before a mandatory year off from testing.

Please note that based on students’ graduation classes, different grades complete different assessments. Below is a chart showing which tests are administered at each grade level.

Tests Administered by grade level

Testing Levels for Highly Capable and Primary Enrichment Services

What do the different tests measure?

The CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) helps schools understand how your child thinks and learns, rather than what they’ve been taught in school. It measures three key areas — verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal reasoning — to see how your child understands language, works with numbers, and recognizes patterns. In addition to helping identify students for Highly Capable services, the CogAT also provides information to teachers on how students learn. It’s important to know that the CogAT does not measure academic achievement or readiness for grade-level acceleration — it focuses on potential and reasoning skills, not what a child already knows or can do in the classroom.

The Iowa Assessments (formerly known as the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, or ITBS) are designed to measure what students have learned in school across key academic areas such as reading, language, mathematics, science, and social studies. Unlike the CogAT, which measures reasoning ability, the Iowa Assessments focus on academic achievement — showing how well students understand and apply the skills and knowledge taught at their grade level.

The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) measures a student’s ability to think creatively and generate original ideas. It looks at how well students can use imagination, flexibility, and elaboration when responding to open-ended tasks. The TTCT is scored on several dimensions, including fluency (number of ideas), originality (uniqueness of ideas), elaboration (amount of detail), and flexibility (variety of ideas). Some versions also consider qualities such as resistance to premature closure and abstractness of titles, giving educators a detailed picture of how a child approaches creative thinking and problem-solving.

TEST CALENDARS

Kindergarten and 2nd Grade: All students will test during the school day in their classrooms. Testing will occur in January 2026. Specific dates and times will be determined by the classroom teacher.

Grades 1, 3, 4: Students must be nominated to test. Testing will occur after school on Wednesday afternoons January 21st, 28th, and February 4th, 2026.

Grades 5-11: Students must be nominated to test. Testing will occur after school on Wednesday afternoons January 28th and February 4th, 2026.

Make up date: Students who miss a testing date may make up their missed testing on Wednesday, February 11th. No additional make up testing dates will be scheduled.

TEST NOMINATION

Nominations for January 2026 Highly Capable Services testing will open on Wednesday, November 12th at 8:00am, and close on Friday, December 19th at noon.

PES (K-1) Nomination Form

Hi-Cap (2-11) Nomination Form

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APPEALS

Appeals will only be considered when based on one of the following:

A condition or circumstance believed to have caused a misinterpretation of testing results (example: an incorrect birth date or grade level used in calculating an assessment score).
An extraordinary circumstance occurred during the testing period that negatively affected the validity of the results (example: death in the family or extreme physical ailment of the student).
A misapplication or miscalculation of scores by the Multidisciplinary Committee (MDC).

Private testing is not required. We will accept other measures of readiness such as report cards, Benchmark, or iReady data.

For further information please review Board Policy 2190 P - Highly Capable Services (HCS) Procedure

QUESTIONS? Contact Weston Lucas

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