Elk Grove Unified School District GATE testing and NNAT® guide.

GATE is Elk Grove Unified School District’s Gifted and Talented Education program. The NNAT® is the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, a visual reasoning assessment that uses shapes and patterns instead of reading passages, vocabulary, or math computation.

This guide is for EGUSD families who want to know when testing happens, what the district’s published criteria say, and how to appeal a decision.

What Elk Grove Unified says about GATE testing

GATE identification begins in 3rd grade. The district’s GATE department page lists two areas: Cognitive Ability, measured by the NNAT that every 3rd grader takes, and Academic Ability, with new identifications made each fall. The district communicates identification results directly to families.

EGUSD does not move students to a different school for GATE. Each school builds its own program with its principal and GATE coordinator.

The district’s GATE Identification Criteria document (updated July 2023) is the most detailed public source. For Cognitive Ability it lists an NNAT score of 9, or a minimum of 8 for a student who meets an equity factor, and says other cognitive assessments are accepted at equivalent levels. The document does not name the scale; NNAT results are often reported as stanines from 1 to 9, so ask your school to confirm what the 9 refers to.

For Academic Ability, a student needs two consecutive years at the highly advanced level (95% and above) in English Language Arts or math on SBAC, SBAC Interim, or other standardized tests, or 90-94% with an equity factor. Equity factors include free or reduced price lunch eligibility, parents who are not college graduates, English Learner status, foster youth status, special education eligibility, and belonging to a group underrepresented in GATE.

How appeals work

An appeal must be in writing. It starts with the site GATE coordinator, then goes to the principal, and finally to the district GATE coordinator, who makes the final decision. The 2023 criteria document also describes portfolio review for creative, leadership, and visual or performing arts ability, but the current GATE department page lists only Cognitive and Academic Ability, so ask your school which areas it is reviewing this year.

Questions Elk Grove Unified parents should ask

1. When will my child’s school give the NNAT this fall?
2. Is the NNAT score of 9 in the criteria a stanine, and how will we see our child’s score?
3. Does my child meet an equity factor that changes the cutoff?
4. Is my child being reviewed for Academic Ability too?
5. Can a student who misses the cutoff in 3rd grade be tested again later?
6. What does the GATE program look like at our school?

Our broader questions to ask your school guide can help you turn those into one clear conversation with the teacher, GATE coordinator, or principal.

How to prepare without adding pressure

With testing finished by winter break, the useful prep window is late summer and early fall of 3rd grade. Keep practice short and calm: about 10 to 15 minutes a day is plenty for a young child. Start with format familiarity, showing your child the kinds of shape and pattern puzzles the NNAT® uses, then talk through the reasoning after each question instead of only marking it right or wrong.

Once the format feels familiar, add at least two full timed practice tests so pacing on test day is not a surprise. Practice will not change a child’s underlying ability, but it can make the format and the time limit feel less strange. Our guide to how to prepare for the NNAT® lays out that progression in more detail.