Jamie Allen
Director of Operations
Brings deep expertise in Gifted and Talented education to districts across South Carolina. Works closely with school teams to support equitable identification practices and strengthen GT program implementation.
About Us
Dedicated to Gifted and Talented education in South Carolina
Carolinian Consultancy partners with the state of South Carolina and school districts to manage the Performance Task Assessment — the primary instrument for identifying Gifted and Talented students across the state.
Company Profile
Statewide experts in GT identification
We are the managing organization for the South Carolina Performance Task Assessment — the statewide instrument used to identify Gifted and Talented students. Our work touches every district in the state.
Get in touchCarolinian Consultancy was founded to bring rigorous, equitable assessment practice to Gifted and Talented education in South Carolina. We believe that every student with exceptional potential deserves a fair and accurate identification process — and that the quality of that process depends on the quality of the assessment instrument behind it.
As the managers of the SC Performance Task Assessment, we oversee the design, administration, scoring, and continuous improvement of the primary identification tool used by districts across the state. We work directly with the South Carolina Department of Education and local district teams to ensure consistent, high-quality implementation.
Beyond assessment management, we provide consulting and professional development to help districts build the internal capacity to identify and serve their Gifted and Talented students effectively — from referral practices to program design.
"Every Gifted and Talented student in South Carolina deserves an identification process that sees them clearly."
The Assessment
The SC Performance Task Assessment
Developed by the South Carolina Department of Education and the Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary, the Performance Task Assessment is the primary instrument for identifying intellectually advanced elementary students for inclusion in gifted education programs. A central goal throughout its development was to limit bias related to gender, minority group membership, and socioeconomic status.
Origins and development
The assessment development process was led by Dr. Joyce Van Tassel-Baska of the Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary — a noted authority in the field of gifted education.
Dr. Huynh Huynh of the University of South Carolina and Dr. Thomas Ward of the College of William and Mary guided the statistical analysis of the assessment's psychometric properties.
The steering committee included the SCDE State Coordinator for Gifted Education — first Ms. Suzette Lee, then Dr. Wayne Lord — and the Director of the Office of Assessment, Dr. Paul Sandifer.
What sets it apart
Hands-on manipulatives
Physical materials bring a tactile, problem-solving dimension that traditional standardized tests cannot replicate.
Deep reasoning focus
Fewer, carefully chosen items probe a student's ability to combine complex task demands within a domain — depth over breadth.
Preteaching provision
Students are familiarized with task demands and performance expectations before testing begins, ensuring the assessment measures ability rather than test-taking experience.
Assessment Structure
Forms
A, B, C & D
Four forms rotated annually to maintain assessment integrity year over year.
Levels
Primary & Intermediate
Primary for grades 2–3; Intermediate for grades 4–5.
Domains
Verbal & Nonverbal
Each form assesses both verbal and nonverbal reasoning.
Administration window
Mid-Feb to early March
Students in grades 2–5 (for placement in grades 3–6) must qualify via Dimension A or B.
Our Consultants
The people behind the work
Work With Us