Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) is exploring new ways to recognize students' abilities and ensure more students have opportunities to be considered for gifted education services.

This fall, LCPS will pilot the Naglieri General Ability Tests (NGAT) with second-grade students to evaluate whether the assessment could strengthen the division's gifted identification process.

The NGAT measures general reasoning skills and is designed to assess students across different reading levels and language backgrounds. By exploring additional assessment tools, LCPS hopes to better identify students whose abilities may not be fully reflected through existing measures.

The pilot, led by the LCPS Offices of Gifted Education and Assessment Services, will take place Nov. 4-24, 2026. Second-grade students will complete three online assessments over three consecutive school days.

NGAT scores from this pilot will not be used for gifted identification during the current school year. Instead, LCPS will analyze the results to determine whether the assessment could play a role in future gifted identification processes.

The pilot will not replace the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT), which will continue as part of the division's established gifted identification process.

Families of participating students will receive additional information about the assessment, including testing details. Individual score reports will be available through ParentVUE in spring 2027.

The NGAT pilot is part of LCPS' ongoing efforts to evaluate its practices and explore ways to ensure students' abilities and potential are recognized.