Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 16, March 25, 2024
A. Each school
board shall submit a comprehensive plan for the education of gifted students to
the Department of Education (DOE) for technical review on a schedule determined
by the department. Each school board shall approve a comprehensive plan for the
education of gifted students that includes the components identified in these
regulations. The development process for the school division's local plan for
the education of the gifted shall include opportunities for public review of
the school division's plan. The approved local plan shall be accessible through
the school division's website and the school division shall ensure that printed
copies of the comprehensive plan are available to citizens who do not have
online access. The plan shall include the following components:
1. A statement of philosophy for the gifted
education program and the local operational definition of giftedness for the
school division;
2. A statement of
the school division's gifted education program goals and objectives for
identification, delivery of services, curriculum and instruction, professional
development, equitable representation of students, and parent and community
involvement;
3. Procedures for the
early and on-going screening, referral, identification and placement of gifted
students, beginning with kindergarten through twelfth-grade in at least a
general intellectual or a specific academic aptitude program; and, if provided
in the school division, procedures for the screening, referral, identification,
and placement of gifted students in visual or performing arts or career and
technical aptitude programs;
4. A
procedure for written notification of parents or legal guardians when
additional testing or additional information is required during the
identification process and for obtaining permission of parents or legal
guardians prior to placement of a gifted student in the appropriate service
options;
5. A policy for written
notification to parents or legal guardians of identification and placement
decisions, including initial changes in placement or exit from the program.
Such notice shall include an opportunity for parents or guardians to meet and
discuss their concerns with an appropriate administrator and to file an
appeal;
6. Assurances that student
records are maintained in compliance with applicable state and federal privacy
laws and regulations;
7. Assurances
that (i) the selected and administered testing and assessment materials have
been evaluated by the developers for cultural, racial, and linguistic biases;
(ii) identification procedures are constructed so that those procedures may
identify high potential or aptitude in any student whose accurate
identification may be affected by economic disadvantages, by limited English
proficiency, or by disability; (iii) standardized tests and other measures have
been validated for the purpose of identifying gifted students; and (iv)
instruments are administered and interpreted by a trained personnel in
conformity with the developer's instructions;
8. Assurances that accommodations or
modifications determined by the school division's special education
Individualized Education Program (IEP) team, as required for the student to
receive a free appropriate public education, shall be incorporated into the
student's gifted education services;
9. Assurances that a written copy of the
school division's approved local plan for the education of the gifted is
available to parents or legal guardians of each referred student, and to others
upon request;
10. Evidence that
gifted education service options from kindergarten through twelfth grade are
offered continuously and sequentially, with instructional time during the
school day and week to (i) work with their age-level peers, (ii) work with
their intellectual and academic peers, (iii) work independently, and (iv)
foster intellectual and academic growth of gifted students. Parents and legal
guardians shall receive assessment of each gifted student's academic
growth;
11. A description of the
school division's program of differentiated curriculum and instruction
demonstrating accelerated and advanced content;
12. Policies and procedures that allow access
to programs of study and advanced courses at a pace and sequence commensurate
with their learning needs;
13.
Evidence that school divisions provide professional development based on the
teacher competencies outlined in
8VAC20-542-310 related to gifted
education; and
14. Procedures for
the annual review of the effectiveness of the school division's gifted
education program, including the review of screening, referral, identification,
and program procedures toward the achievement of equitable representation of
students, the review of student outcomes and the academic growth of gifted
students. Such review shall be based on multiple criteria and shall include
multiple sources of information.
B. Each school division may establish a local
advisory committee composed of parents, school personnel, and other community
members who are appointed by the school board. This committee shall reflect the
ethnic and geographical composition of the school division. This committee
shall have two responsibilities:
(i) to
review annually the local plan for the education of gifted students, including
revisions, and
(ii) to determine
the extent to which the plan for the previous year was implemented. The
findings of the annual program effectiveness and the recommendations of the
advisory committee shall be submitted annually in writing to the division
superintendent and the school board.
C. Each school division shall submit an
annual report to the Department of Education in a format prescribed by the
department.