POLICY: GIFTED AND TALENTED

The Chief School Administrator shall develop and the Board shall approve criteria for identifying all gifted and talented students in kindergarten through grade 12. Gifted and talented students shall be provided with appropriate instructional adaptations and services to encourage development of their special abilities in achieving the Core Curriculum Content Standards. Programs shall provide educational challenges to students identified as gifted and talented and shall be reviewed annually. Such programs shall be designed in terms of the individual learning styles of each student as well as the capacity of a gifted student to create concepts, respond to stimuli in a unique and creative manner, develop higher levels of thinking and influence the behavior of others. “Gifted and talented students ” shall mean those exceptionally able students who possess or demonstrate higher levels of ability in one or more content areas, when compared to their chronological peers in the local district and who require modifications of their educational program if they are to achieve in accordance with their capabilities. Because early discovery of a gift or talent is important, it is essential that the identification of these students be carried on as a continuing process, since special abilities and skills appear at different times in the development of many children. The Chief School Administrator shall coordinate development of appropriate curricular and instructional modifications used for gifted and talented students indicating content, process, products, and learning environment. He/she shall devise indicators of achievement to evaluate success of each program presented to the Board for adoption