Los Alamitos GATE and OLSAT guide.

Los Alamitos Unified School District identifies GATE students with the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT), which has verbal and nonverbal sections. The district identifies students in three categories: General Intellectual Ability, High Achievement, and Specific Academic Ability. GATE identification is recognized beginning in 4th grade.

What Los Alamitos says about identification

All 3rd graders are screened, with parental consent, as part of the district's universal screening program. Parents give written consent during fall parent-teacher conferences. Students in grades 4 through 7 can be screened each year at a teacher's or parent's request.

The district uses what it calls a two-tier screening model, run by a site GATE coordinator and the Director of Assessment and Accountability over about five months. After OLSAT results return, a GATE Identification Committee of the eight site coordinators and the director reviews each student's data, including work samples, achievement records and standardized achievement scores. Private testing is considered as one piece of evidence, not as automatic identification.

The OLSAT's nonverbal section, with figure analogies, patterns and series, is the part closest in style to the NNAT®. The verbal section asks children to follow spoken directions and reason with words and numbers, which NNAT practice does not cover.

How the points forms work

The district posts its screening forms, and they show that the OLSAT is scored as points, not a single cutoff. On the Grade 3 initial screening form, a total OLSAT score at the 96th percentile or above earns 5 points and the 92nd to 95th earns 2, with similar points for the verbal and nonverbal scores. A Fountas & Pinnell reading level of Q or above adds 2, and up to 3 points come from special considerations such as a second language or a verbal and nonverbal score gap.

On that form, 10 or more points qualifies without further documentation, 3 or more moves a student to the second tier, and 2 or fewer ends screening for the year. The Tier II form for grades 3 to 5 adds CAASPP scores, GPA, student work, and teacher and parent surveys, and requires 16 points for identification. The posted forms are marked revised in 2015, so confirm with your school that they are current.

How to prepare

If you want your child to be comfortable with the format, keep it short: 10 to 15 minutes a day of listening, pattern and picture puzzles, plus at least two full timed practice tests before January so the length is not a surprise. Practice teaches your child what the questions look like and gives them ways to approach and think through them, so test day feels familiar instead of surprising. Our guide to preparing a young child covers how to keep it low pressure.

Questions Los Alamitos parents should ask

1. What is our school's OLSAT date this year, and when is the make-up?
2. Did I sign consent for my 3rd grader at fall conferences, and how do I check?
3. Are the screening forms posted on the district site still the ones in use?
4. For a 4th to 7th grader, how and by when do I make a request?
5. When will OLSAT results and the committee decision be sent home?
6. What GATE services start in 4th grade at our school?

Our broader questions to ask your school guide can help you turn those into one clear conversation with your site GATE coordinator.