RELATES TO:
KRS
157.196,
157.200(1)(n),
157.224,
157.230
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
KRS
157.200(1)(n) includes
within the definition of "exceptional children" a category of "exceptional
students" who are identified as possessing demonstrated or potential ability to
perform at an exceptionally high level in general intellectual aptitude,
specific academic aptitude, creative or divergent thinking, psychosocial or
leadership skills, or in the visual or performing arts.
KRS
157.224(1) commits the state
to a comprehensive educational program for its exceptional school-aged
children.
KRS
157.230 requires all school districts to
operate programs for resident exceptional children, primary - grade twelve
(12). This administrative regulation establishes the requirements for programs
for gifted and talented students.
Section
1. Definitions.
(1) "Acceleration
options" means various forms of advancing through material or grade levels
prior to the prescribed time based on early mastery, such as pretesting in
content and being excused to go onto higher level activities, curriculum
compacting or linear acceleration, simultaneous or dual enrollment in courses
at different grade levels including postsecondary, early exit from school, and
grade-skipping.
(2) "Advanced
placement and honors courses" means courses emphasizing college-level content
based on college board curricula and tests (advanced placement), or the
provision of more challenging material through higher levels of content,
process and product (honors courses).
(3) "Cluster group" means a group usually
consisting of four (4) or more identified students placed in a heterogeneous
classroom or other instructional setting with a teacher trained in the
appropriate instruction of special needs students, specifically gifted and
talented, for the purpose of receiving a differentiated educational experience
matched to the student's needs, interests, and ability.
(4) "Collaborative teaching" means a gifted
education teacher provides differentiated direct instruction in a regular
classroom to a cluster group of identified gifted students in conjunction with
the regular classroom teacher.
(5)
"Consortium" means a collaboration of schools or districts that pool resources
to provide appropriate services for gifted and talented students.
(6) "Consultation services" means the
provision of instructional information and materials by the gifted teacher to
the regular classroom teacher so that he may provide appropriate and adequate
services to the gifted student while in the regular classroom
setting.
(7) "Counseling services"
means effectively-based counseling assistance planned in coordination with the
gifted teacher and provided by a counselor familiar with the characteristics
and socioemotional needs of gifted and talented students.
(8) "Creative or divergent thinking ability"
means possessing either potential or demonstrated ability to perform at an
exceptionally high level in creative thinking and divergent approaches to
conventional tasks as evidenced by innovative or creative reasoning, advanced
insight and imagination, and solving problems in unique ways.
(9) "Diagnosis" means the evaluation and
determination of the appropriate type and level of service options which would
meet a given individual child's interests, needs, and abilities.
(10) "Differentiated service experiences"
means educational experiences which extend, replace, or supplement learning
beyond the standard curriculum.
(11) "Differentiation" means a method through
which educators shall establish a specific, well-thought-out match between
learner characteristics in terms of abilities, interests, and needs, and
curriculum opportunities in terms of enrichment and acceleration options which
maximize learning experiences.
(12)
"Disadvantaged" means operating under conditions detrimental to normal
cognitive or affective growth due to socioeconomic limitations, cultural
factors, geographic isolation, or various combinations of these factors to a
degree that requires special considerations.
(13) "Distance learning" means learning
opportunities offered through the use of computer technology and satellite
transmission or optical fiber transmission.
(14) "Extracurricular enrichment
opportunities" means differentiated, academically-based activities that
supplement classroom instruction and are often after school and competitive in
nature, such as academic teams.
(15) "Formal identification" means a process
by which a student in grades four (4) through twelve (12) is identified and
diagnosed as having gifted characteristics and behaviors using a balanced
combination of criteria specific to a category of giftedness - intellectual
aptitude, specific academic aptitude, creativity, leadership, or visual and
performing arts, and by which a student may be determined eligible for various
levels of services in each category in which the student meets the
criteria.
(16) "General
intellectual ability" means possessing:
(a)
Either the potential or demonstrated ability to perform at an exceptionally
high level in general intellectual ability, which is usually reflected in
extraordinary performance in a variety of cognitive areas, such as abstract
reasoning, logical reasoning, social awareness, memory, nonverbal ability and
the analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of information; and
(b) A consistently outstanding mental
capacity as compared to children of one's age, experience, or
environment.
(17)
"Gifted and talented identification and placement committee" means a school or
district committee made up of the gifted education coordinator or a gifted
education teacher and representatives from classroom teachers, administrators,
counselors, special education teachers and other appropriate personnel who
follow district policies and procedures to formally identify and determine
level and type of service options.
(18) "Gifted and talented student services
plan" means an educational plan that matches a formally identified gifted
student's interests, needs, and abilities to differentiated service options and
serves as the communication vehicle between the parents and school
personnel.
(19) "High potential
learners" means those students who typically represent the top quartile
(twenty-five (25) percent) of the entire student population in terms of the
degree of demonstrated gifted characteristics and behaviors and require
differentiated service experiences to further develop their interests and
abilities.
(20) "Independent study"
means a self-directed course or study of a selected topic under the supervision
of a teacher or the auspices of a university.
(21) "Informal selection" means a process by
which a student in the primary program is documented as having the
characteristics and behaviors of a high potential learner in one (1) or more
categories using a series of informal measures for the purpose of determining
eligibility for the talent pool.
(22) "Instructional grouping" means the
temporary grouping of students for the purposes of addressing specific
continuous progress skill development, socioemotional needs, and
interests.
(23) "Magnet school"
means a school which is organized around an area of interests, draws students
from an entire community, and has no specific entrance standards except
interest in the focus of the school (e.g., a magnet school for the arts or a
magnet school for science and mathematics).
(24) "Mentorship" means specialized studies,
such as an internship, with an adult mentor in the community and under the
direction of an educator knowledgeable in gifted education.
(25) "Primary review committee" means primary
teachers, counselors, administrators, gifted education personnel, and other
appropriate personnel familiar with the child's potential or demonstrated
abilities.
(26) "Psychosocial or
leadership ability" means possessing either potential or demonstrated ability
to perform at an exceptionally high level in social skills and interpersonal
qualities such as poise, effective oral and written expression, managerial
ability, and the ability, or vision, to set goals and organize others to
successfully reach those goals.
(27) "Resource services" means a service
delivery option that:
(a) Entails a part-time
grouping of students with gifted characteristics based on the interests, needs
and abilities of the students;
(b)
Is designed for accelerated content, special interest groups, process skills
development or various combinations of all; and
(c) Is provided in a pull-out classroom or
other appropriate instructional setting.
(28) "Seminars" means discussion-based
sessions on specific topics focusing on advanced content and higher level
process skills.
(29) "Special
school" means a specialized school designed to:
(a) Serve gifted students in grades four (4)
through twelve (12) in specific academic areas (such as a magnet school in
science and mathematics); or
(b)
Develop specific areas of giftedness such as visual and performing
arts.
(30) "Specific
academic aptitude" means possessing either potential or demonstrated ability to
perform at an exceptionally high level in one (1), or very few related,
specific academic areas significantly beyond the age, experience or environment
of one's chronological peers.
(31)
"Talent pool" means a group of primary students informally selected as having
characteristics and behaviors of a high potential learner and further diagnosed
using a series of informal and formal measures to determine differentiated
service delivery needs during their stay in the primary program.
(32) "Travel study options" means
academically-based United States and overseas travel which may result in high
school or university course credit.
(33) "Underachieving" means the development
of a significant gap between a student's potential ability and demonstrated
achievement to a degree that there is an overall diminished ability to achieve
at the expected level of ability.
(34) "Visual or performing arts ability"
means possessing either potential or demonstrated ability to perform at an
exceptionally high level in the visual or performing arts and demonstrating the
potential for outstanding aesthetic production, accomplishment, or creativity
in visual art, dance, music, or drama.
Section 2. Policies and Procedures. A local
school district shall have in operation and available for public inspection
local board approved policies and procedures which address each requirement in
this administrative regulation and are consistent with
KRS
157.200,
157.224,
157.230
and
703 KAR 4:040.
Section 3. Identification and Diagnosis of
Gifted Characteristics, Behaviors, and Talent and Determination of Eligibility
for Services.
(1) A district shall adopt
policies and procedures which shall provide for identification and diagnosis of
strengths, gifted behaviors and talents through:
(a) Informal selection and diagnosis in the
primary program;
(b) Formal
identification and continuous diagnosis of a student in grades four (4) through
twelve (12); and
(c) Provision of
multiple service delivery options in primary through grade twelve
(12).
(2) A local school
district shall establish a procedure that identifies students displaying gifted
and talented behaviors and characteristics as defined in
KRS
157.200 and Section 1 of this administrative
regulation and allows for determination of eligibility for services based on
the student's individual needs, interests and abilities. This procedure shall
include a combination of informal measures, formal measures and objective-based
eligibility criteria. Determination of appropriateness of level and type of
services provided to a student shall be subject to continuous
assessment.
(3) A local school
district shall provide a system for diagnostic screening and identification of
strengths, gifted behaviors and talents which provides equal access for racial
and ethnic minority children, disadvantaged children, and children with
disabilities.
(4) District
identification and diagnosis procedures for appropriate services shall be based
upon a balanced multiple criteria approach, continuous and multiple long-term
assessment, and early identification and diagnosis of strengths, gifted
behaviors and talents.
(5) A local
school district shall implement a procedure to obtain parental or guardian
permission prior to the administration of an individual test, given as a
follow-up to a test routinely administered to all students, used in formal
identification and prior to official identification and placement.
(6) Beginning with the 2001-2002 school year,
a local school district shall implement a procedure to obtain information
related to the interests, needs, and abilities of an identified student from
his parent or guardian for use in determining appropriate services. A parent or
guardian of an identified student shall be notified annually of services
included in his child's gifted and talented student services plan and specific
procedures to follow in requesting a change in services.
(7) In the primary program, formal, normed
measures may be used for diagnosing the level of instructional service needed
by a student and for evaluation of student progress. Data from formal, normed
measures shall not be used for the purpose of eliminating eligibility for
services to a child in the primary program but may be used to discover and
include eligible students overlooked by informal assessment.
(8) A single assessment instrument or measure
shall not be the basis for denying services once a child has been informally
selected and placed in the talent pool.
(9) For children in the primary program, the
procedure for selecting a high potential learner for participation in the
primary talent pool shall include use of a minimum of three (3) of the
following recognized or acceptable assessment options to assess the degree of
demonstrated gifted characteristics and behaviors and to determine level of
need and most appropriate service interventions:
(a) A collection of evidence (e.g., primary
portfolios) demonstrating student performance;
(b) Inventory checklists of behaviors
specific to gifted categories;
(c)
Diagnostic data;
(d) Continuous
progress data;
(e) Anecdotal
records;
(f) Available formal test
data;
(g) Parent interview or
questionnaire;
(h) Primary review
committee recommendation;
(i)
Petition system; and
(j) Other
valid and reliable documentation.
(10) Exit from the primary program shall be
based on criteria established by
703 KAR 4:040.
(11) For a student in grades four (4) through
twelve (12), a local school district's procedure for identifying and diagnosing
gifted and talented behaviors, and the level of services needed, shall include:
(a) A valid and reliable combination of
measures to identify strengths, gifted behaviors and talents which indicate a
need and eligibility for service options;
(b) At least three (3) of the following
recognized or acceptable assessment options for identification and diagnosis:
1. A collection of evidence from portfolios
demonstrating student performance;
2. Inventory checklists of behaviors specific
to gifted categories;
3. Continuous
progress data;
4. Anecdotal
records;
5. Peer
nominations;
6. Formal testing data
specific to gifted categories;
7.
Parent interview or questionnaire;
8. Primary review committee recommendation
for those entering the fourth grade;
9. Self-nomination or petition
system;
10. Student awards or
critiques of performance or products specific to gifted categories;
and
11. Other valid and reliable
documentation;
(12) To qualify as a gifted and talented
student in grades four (4) through twelve (12), the following criteria shall be
met in one (1) of these gifted and talented categories:
(a) General intellectual ability shall be
determined by a student score within the ninth stanine on a full scale
comprehensive test of intellectual ability. If a student scores low on formal
group measures of intellectual ability, yet other documentation shows
potential, the district shall administer an individual mental ability test.
Evidence of general intellectual ability also may include:
1. High performance on additional individual
or group intellectual assessment;
2. Observation of applied advanced reasoning
ability; or
3. Checklist
inventories of behaviors specific to underachieving or disadvantaged gifted
learners.
(b) Specific
academic aptitude shall be determined by composite scores in the ninth stanine
on one (1) or more subject test scores of an achievement test. If a student
scores low on a formal group measure of academic strength, yet other
documentation shows potential, the district shall administer another
standardized normed achievement test. Evidence of specific academic aptitude
also may include:
1. High performance on an
additional individual or group test of academic aptitude;
2. Student awards or critiques of
performances;
3. Off-level
testing;
4. Portfolio of high
academic performances; or
5.
Student progress data.
(c) Creativity shall be determined through
the use of informal or formal assessment measures of a child's capacity for
originality of thought, fluency, elaboration, and flexibility of thought.
Documented evidence of creative thinking ability also may include:
1. Creative writing samples;
2. High scores on tests of creative ability
(e.g., Williams or Torrance, etc.);
3. Behavioral checklists or observations
specific to creative behavior; or
4. Observation of original ideas, products or
problem-solving.
(d)
Leadership or psychosocial abilities shall be determined by a variety of
informal measures and the documentation of the willingness of a student to
assume leadership roles in class, in a student organization, and in a community
activity. Evidence of psychosocial or leadership ability also may include:
1. Sociograms (i.e., questionnaires designed
to assess leadership characteristics);
2. Peer recommendations;
3. Behavioral checklists or observations
specific to leadership behavior;
4.
Portfolio entries which display leadership qualities; or
5. Offices held by student in extracurricular
activities and class government.
(e) Visual and performing arts talent shall
be determined through evidence of performance which may include auditions,
letters of recommendations, or product or portfolio assessment by specialists
or professional artists. Evidence of visual or performing arts also may
include:
1. Awards or critiques of
performance; or
2. Portfolio of
visual or performing arts ability.
Section 4. Procedure for Determining
Eligibility for Services.
(1) Identification
of gifted characteristics, behaviors and talent shall be based on the following
process:
(a) Data gathering. A district shall
develop a system for searching the entire school population on a continuous
basis for likely candidates for services using both informal and available
formal, normed, standardized measures, including measures of nonverbal
ability;
(b) Data analysis. A
district shall develop a system for analyzing student data for the purposes of
a comparison of the students under consideration for identification to local or
national norms, including those required in this administrative regulation, and
to district-established criteria of eligibility for each category of
giftedness;
(c) Committee for
determination of eligibility and services. A school district or school shall
assemble a selection and placement committee which shall have four (4)
purposes:
1. To provide feedback on the
adequacy of the district's identification and diagnostic procedure;
2. To ensure that a variety of views are
heard during the selection and placement process;
3. To determine which students meet
identification criteria and which services, at what level, shall be included in
each identified student's gifted and talented student services plan;
and
4. To help provide
communication and support in the schools and community;
(d) Provision of services. A district shall
implement articulated services from primary through grade twelve (12) which
provide multiple delivery options matched to diagnosed behaviors, strengths and
characteristics of individual students; and
(e) Petition and appeal for services. A
district shall provide a petition system as a safeguard for a student who may
have been missed in the identification and diagnosis procedure.
(2) Exceptions and special
considerations for eligibility. School personnel shall take into consideration
environmental, cultural, and disabling conditions which may mask a child's true
abilities that lead to exclusion of otherwise eligible students, such as a
student who qualifies as:
(a) An exceptional
child as defined in
KRS
157.200;
(b) Disadvantaged; or
(c) Underachieving.
Section 5. Program Evaluation.
(1) District policies and procedures shall
ensure that a program evaluation process shall be conducted on an annual basis
and shall address:
(a) Overall student
progress;
(b) Student, parent, and
faculty attitudes toward the program;
(c) Community involvement;
(d) Cost effectiveness;
(e) The incorporation of gifted education
into the regular school program;
(f) Overall quality of instruction and
program personnel credentials; and
(g) Future program directions and
modifications.
(2) Data
collected in the annual program evaluation shall be utilized in the school and
district instructional planning process.
(3) Beginning with the 2001-2002 school year,
local district policies and procedures shall ensure that the school personnel
report to a parent or guardian the progress of his child related to the gifted
and talented student services plan at least once each semester.
Section 6. Service Delivery
Options.
(1) A student diagnosed as possessing
gifted characteristics, behaviors or talent shall be provided articulated,
primary through grade twelve (12) services which:
(a) Are qualitatively differentiated to meet
his individual needs;
(b) Result in
educational experiences commensurate with his interests, needs and abilities;
and
(c) Facilitate the high level
attainment of goals established in
KRS
158.6451.
(2) For a student in a primary program,
services shall be provided within the framework of primary program requirements
and shall allow for continuous progress through a differentiated curriculum and
flexible grouping and regrouping based on the individual needs, interests, and
abilities of the student.
(3)
Emphasis on educating gifted students in the general primary classroom, shall
not preclude the continued, appropriate use of resource services, acceleration
options, or the specialized service options contained in subsection (5) of this
section. A recommendation for a service shall be made on an individual
basis.
(4) Grouping for
instructional purposes and multiple services delivery options shall be utilized
in a local district gifted education plan. Student grouping formats shall
include grouping for instructional purposes based on student interests,
abilities, and needs, including social and emotional.
(5) There shall be multiple service delivery
options with no single service option existing alone, districtwide, at a grade
level. These service delivery options shall be differentiated to a degree as to
be consistent with
KRS
157.200(1). Both grouping
for instructional purposes and multiple service delivery options may include:
(a) Various acceleration options (e.g., early
exit from primary, grade skipping, content and curriculum in one (1) or more
subjects from a higher grade level);
(b) Advanced placement and honors
courses;
(c) Collaborative teaching
and consultation services;
(d)
Special counseling services;
(e)
Differentiated study experiences for individuals and cluster groups in the
regular classroom;
(f) Distance
learning;
(g) Enrichment services
during the school day (not extracurricular);
(h) Independent study;
(i) Mentorships;
(j) Resource services delivered in a pull-out
classroom or other appropriate instructional setting;
(k) Seminars;
(l) Travel study options; or
(m) Special schools or self-contained
classrooms, grades four (4) through twelve (12) only.
(6) With the exception of an academic
competition or optional extracurricular offering, services shall be provided
during the regular school hours.
Section 7. Curriculum.
(1) A comprehensive framework or course of
study for children and youth who are diagnosed as possessing gifted
characteristics, behaviors and talent shall be based on a district or school's
curricula required to meet the goals established in
KRS
158.6451.
(2) A school shall differentiate, replace,
supplement, or modify curricula to facilitate high level attainment of the
learning goals established in
KRS
158.6451 and to assist students identified
and diagnosed as gifted and talented to further develop their individual
interest, needs and abilities.
Section 8. Personnel. A local school district
shall ensure that direct services to students identified as demonstrating
gifted and talented behaviors and characteristics shall be provided by
professionally qualified and certified personnel as required by the Education
Professional Standards Board.
(1) A teacher
shall be appropriately endorsed in gifted education in accordance with 704 KAR
20:280 if the teacher works:
(a) directly with
identified gifted pupils in addition to the regularly assigned teacher;
or
(b) For at least one-half (1/2)
of the regular school day in a classroom made up only of properly identified
gifted students.
(2) All
other personnel working with gifted students shall be prepared through
appropriate professional development to address the individual needs,
interests, and abilities of the students.
Section 9. Budget; Funding.
(1) State funds for gifted education shall be
used specifically for direct services to students who are gifted and talented.
Direct services to students identified as demonstrating gifted and talented
behaviors and characteristics shall be provided by professionally qualified and
certified personnel as required by the Education Professional Standards Board
in 704 KAR
20:280. Seventy-five (75) percent of a district's gifted education
allocation shall be used to employ properly certified personnel to provide
direct instructional services.
(2)
A local district budget decision impacting state funds for gifted education
after the annual submission of the local district education plan shall be
coordinated through the district gifted education coordinator. If the change
will cause a major or significant adjustment to the district gifted education
budget, the change shall be submitted to the Kentucky Department of Education
for approval as an amendment.
(3) A
district receiving state gifted education funding shall designate a gifted
education coordinator to:
(a) Oversee the
district gifted education operation;
(b) Serve as liaison between the district and
the state;
(c) Ensure internal
compliance with state statutes and administrative regulations; and
(d) Administer and revise the gifted
education program budget.
(4) State funding to a district shall be
contingent upon:
(a) Employing properly
certified personnel to administer and teach in the program;
(b) The annual submission of a local district
gifted education year-end report;
(c) A summative evaluation of the program and
student progress; and
(d) Complying
with this administrative regulation.
Section 10. Procedural Safeguards. A school
district shall establish a grievance procedure through which a parent, guardian
or student may resolve a concern regarding the appropriate and adequate
provision of talent pool services or services addressed in a formally
identified student's gifted and talented student services plan. This
districtwide grievance procedure shall address:
(1) How, and by whom, the grievance procedure
is initiated;
(2) The process for
determining the need to evaluate or reevaluate the child for appropriate
services;
(3) The criteria for
determining if placement of the child needs revision;
(4) Procedures for ensuring that appropriate
services are provided to all identified students consistent with
KRS
157.200 and
157.230;
and
(5) Procedures for ensuring the
participation of the parent or guardian, a regular education teacher of the
student, a gifted education teacher or coordinator, administrator, and a
counselor in addressing a grievance.