Oakley Union Elementary School District GATE testing and NNAT® guide.

GATE is Oakley Union Elementary 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 OUESD families in Oakley. The district’s public GATE page is short, so this guide separates what the district says from what you will need to ask.

What Oakley Union says about GATE testing

All 2nd graders take the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, which the district uses as a screen for GATE identification. Students may qualify for GATE beginning in 3rd grade.

The district’s description of who is identified is general: most students identified for GATE would score in the top 2% on nationally normed achievement tests or show special talents. It does not publish a specific NNAT cutoff or list the other measures it reviews.

Because the NNAT is described as a screen, a strong score is likely one step in the process rather than the whole decision. Ask how the screen result is combined with other information before GATE placement in 3rd grade.

What GATE looks like in OUESD

The district’s goal is for teachers to differentiate instruction for all students throughout the day. In grades K-5, a half hour each day is set aside for universal access, when students are grouped for instruction and GATE students can work with other GATE and high achieving students. In grades 6-8, GATE students are offered after-school enrichment classes.

Questions Oakley Union parents should ask

1. When will my child’s school give the NNAT to 2nd graders this year?
2. What NNAT result moves a student forward in the GATE process?
3. What other information does the district review before identifying a student?
4. Can a parent or teacher refer a student in a later grade?
5. Can a student be screened again if they are not identified?
6. When and how will we hear the results?

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

Since the district does not publish a date, start early and keep it relaxed. 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.