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
