Special Education Services: A Manual of Policies, Procedures and Guidelines

E.4 Gifted

Definition
A student is considered gifted when she/he possesses demonstrated or potential abilities that give evidence of exceptionally high capability with respect to intellect, creativity, or the skills associated with specific disciplines. Students who are gifted often demonstrate outstanding abilities in more than one area. They may demonstrate extraordinary intensity of focus in their particular areas of talent or interest. However, they may also have accompanying disabilities and should not be expected to have strengths in all areas of intellectual functioning.

Identification and Assessment
Early identification of students who are gifted is an important element in planning and delivering appropriate educational programs for these students. Some gifted students whose abilities are not identified and addressed early may exhibit secondary emotional and behavioural difficulties. District screening and identification procedures should be in place to ensure consistency of access to programs designed to support gifted students. Every effort should be made to ensure that screening and identification procedures are unbiased with respect to language, culture, gender, physical ability, learning or other disability.

No single criterion should be established for access to or exclusion from services for students who are gifted. Rather, identification and assessment should be carried out using multiple criteria and information from a variety of sources, all of which are valid components for identification. These should include several of the following:

• teacher observations including anecdotal records, checklists, and inventories;
• records of student achievement including assignments, portfolios, grades and outstanding talents, interests and accomplishments;
• nominations by educators, parents, peers and/or self;
• interview of parents and students; and
• formal assessments to Level C of cognitive ability, achievement, aptitude and creativity. A student who is talented in areas other than academics should also have an assessment of intellectual abilities, as it is important information for educational planning.

Planning and Implementation
Districts should provide differentiated services to meet the diverse needs of the exceptionally capable learner. Since students who are gifted form a heterogeneous population, their individual needs, experiences, aptitudes and interests vary.

Programs for students who are gifted often require a blend of opportunities available both in the school and in the community. The more extraordinary the abilities of the student, the more necessary it becomes to expand the options beyond the regular classroom. Differentiated curriculum opportunities need to be designed and programming needs to be varied and flexible (classroom-based, school-based, district-based). Since no single program modification model can provide strategies that will apply to content, process, product, pacing, and learning environment, teachers of gifted students will need to draw from one or more models in order to provide an appropriate educational program that meets the individual needs of the student. This should be reflected in the student's IEP.

Regardless of how services are delivered, there are some common elements that characterize an individualized program appropriate for a student who is gifted:

• it is different in pace, scope, and complexity, in keeping with the nature and extent of the exceptionality;
• it provides opportunities for students to interact socially and academically with both age peers and peers of similar abilities;
• it addresses both the cognitive and affective domains;
• it incorporates adaptations and/or extensions to content, process, product, pacing and learning environment; and
• it goes beyond the walls of a school and into the larger community.

Supplemental services for a gifted student should contain some of the following elements, but are not limited to these:

• independent guided education;
• specialist teachers in resource centres or resource rooms;
• district and community classes;
• special groupings which provide opportunities for learning with intellectual peers;
• mentorships;
• consultative services to assist teachers in expanding experiences in the regular classroom;
• accelerating/telescoping/compacting some or all of the student's program;
• opportunities to challenge courses when appropriate; and
• opportunities to take enriched courses and to participate in Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or honours courses.

It is important to recognize the individual characteristics of school districts and their communities in designing services for gifted students. For example, students who are gifted may benefit from the use of information technology, which will increasingly facilitate access to information sources not readily available in all communities.

Evaluation and Reporting
Evaluating student progress
It is expected that districts and schools will include gifted students in regular evaluation and reporting. If there are extensive program modifications, evaluation should be based on the degree to which the individual learning outcomes are achieved. Reports of student progress should be based on the instructional objectives and procedures outlined in the student's IEP. Reports should indicate the adaptations and modifications made to the student's educational program, as well as performance relative to widely held expectations. All personnel directly involved in the ongoing educational program should report on student progress.

Personnel
Teachers
The ministry expects that with sufficient training and experience classroom teachers will be capable of including most students who are gifted, and providing a program in which they can be successful, provided that specialized support is available when needed. Inservice training opportunities and a collaborative team approach are recommended to support and encourage the development of the necessary skills and understandings which the classroom teacher may require.

Support teachers with specialized training and experience in gifted education may serve as helping teachers/consultants, and may work in resource centres or with specialized cross-school groupings or special courses. Teachers with responsibility for supporting programs for gifted students should fulfill the qualifications described for learning assistance (see Section D.1 Learning Assistance Services).

In addition, these qualifications should include coursework in:

• the nature of giftedness and the needs of gifted students; and
• strategies for meeting the educational and affective needs of gifted students.
  

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