Routledge UTAGS Administration Manual

This is the technical manual for the Universal Talented and Gifted Screener. Universal Talented and Gifted Screener (UTAGS) features up-to-date national norms, is effective with twice-exceptional learners, includes bias-free items, and provides a fair assessment regardless of student demographic characteristics. The UTAGS offers schools a time-saving screener for identifying gifted and advanced learners. Designed to be culturally and linguistically fair, the UTAGS is ideal for schools seeking a nationally normed, statistically sound identification screener. Additionally, the UTAGS includes specific considerations for identifying twice-exceptional learners. UTAGS is designed to screen potentially gifted students in six important areas of school success: cognition, creativity, leadership, literacy, math, and science. This theoretically sound instrument provides easily interpretable scores in the IQ metric (i.e., Mean = 100; SD = 15) and identifies student strengths/weaknesses in a quick, accurate, and cost-efficient format. UTAGS provides interpretation norms based on a standardization sample of 2,492 participants from 22 states; student demographics closely reflect the United States population. The authors also provide a guide for local norming. Assessment fairness was a strong consideration during the UTAGS development, and teacher raters are requested to focus on effective examinee communication strategies rather than addressing the particular language/communication mode employed by the student. Consequently, examinees from other cultures, those who have speech limitations, or those who use nonstandard English are not unfairly penalized. Ages 5 years 0 months-17 years 11 months About the Author R. Steve McCallum, Ph.D., professor at the University of Tennessee, has authored numerous books, book chapters, journal articles, tests, and national/international conference presentations. He is cofounder and consulting editor of the Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Georgia, and Chancellor's Research and Creative Achievement Award from the University of Tennessee, among others. Bruce A. Bracken, Ph.D., professor at William & Mary, has authored numerous articles, books, tests, and related materials. A Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a Charter Fellow of the AERA, Bruce received a Senior Scientist award from the APA and Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Georgia.