Ability - The potential to perform at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared to other students of a similar age, experience, and/or environment.

Achievement – Typically measured by performance on nationally norm-referenced assessments designed to measure what students have already learned, mostly in specific content areas. Examples of norm-referenced assessments of achievement include, but are not limited to, the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), American College Testing (ACT), Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP), i-Ready, and/or Measure of Academic Progress (MAP).

Advanced Learners - One of three levels of formal identification within Baltimore City Public Schools (“City Schools”): typically determined by nationally norm-referenced assessment scores of ability and achievement that fall in the 80th to 89th percentile range.

Analogical Reasoning - A kind of reasoning or thinking that relies on finding a common relational system between two or more images, situations, or exemplars and then transferring that information/rationale to a new scenario. It is considered a core component of learning and problem-solving in everyday situations, and this type of reasoning forms the core of the most commonly used ability screeners like the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) and the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT). Families can support their children in developing this type of logic by regularly selecting various objects or images and asking their children to select those that share the most in common and share their rationale for their choices.

Equity index - A calculation used to determine how well represented a subpopulation of students is among formally identified Gifted, Advanced, and Talent Development Learners as compared to their overall representation within the general student enrollment. A factor of 0.8 is typically used as a minimum threshold to determine equitable representation.

Gifted learners - One of three levels of formal identification within City Schools: typically determined by nationally norm-referenced assessment scores of ability and achievement that fall in the 90th to 99th percentile range.

Individualized Learning Plans - An ILP is asset-based and interest-based in nature and typically features a long-term, problem-based or project-based learning opportunity. ILPs are required for all formally identified Gifted, Advanced, and Talent Development Learners and are created in tandem with educators, parent(s)/guardian(s), and the student, who are collectively referenced as the student-specific stakeholders. The goal of the ILP is to make sure that formally identified students are regularly supported by providing them with more appropriate work rather than just more work.

Talent development learners - One of three levels of formal identification within City Schools: determined by nationally norm-referenced assessment scores of ability that typically fall in the 75th to 99th percentile range

Twice-exceptional - A term used to describe a student who is both gifted and also eligible for special education services; the terms “dual exceptionalities” or “gifted with learning disabilities” are also used. Examples include, but are not limited to, students who are gifted with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (“ADHD”) or gifted with autism.

Universal screening - Screening all students eliminates any requirement for parents/guardians or teachers to make an initial referral, thus removing one of the most common barriers to formal identification. In City Schools, all kindergarten students are given a nationally norm-referenced assessment of ability as part of the formal identification process. In addition, a wide array of norm-referenced assessments of achievement are regularly administered to students while enrolled in City Schools, and those assessments also serve as universal screeners for the formal identification process.