005.15.09 Ark. Code R. 003
OVERVIEW
Responding to the concern for educational programming for gifted and talented students, the Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 106 of 1979. This legislation established the Office for the Education of Gifted and Talented Children, headed by an administrator to direct the state program. Funds were appropriated to provide financial assistance to school districts operating programs for gifted and talented students.
Guidelines were developed to provide information to assist districts in planning, implementing, and evaluating programs for gifted and talented students. This document, Education of Gifted and Talented Students: Guidelines for Local Education Agencies, was approved by the State Board of Education in 1981.
Since that time, a number of pieces of legislation enacted have had a profound effect on gifted education.
Act 445 of 1983, the Quality Education Act, established minimum standards for accreditation of public schools and authorized the State Board to name a committee to recommend regulations, criteria, and minimum standards. The Standards for Accreditation of Arkansas Public Schools, which were adopted by the State Board of Education February 22, 1984, included a provision that all districts must provide a program for gifted and talented students.
Act 34 of 1983, First Extraordinary Session, the School Finance Act, provided funding for districts which were developing or operating programs for gifted and talented students. The Department of Education was directed to set aside annually, beginning in 1984-85, funds for program development, not to exceed $6 million. Districts which were operating approved programs were eligible to receive funds based on an "add on" weight of .25 for each student identified as gifted and talented (funding was based on no more than five percent of the district's average daily membership).
The original guidelines developed to assist districts were then refined and updated and became the Rules and Regulations for gifted education in Arkansas. This document, Gifted and Talented Program Approval Standards, was approved by the State Board of Education in 1987, revised in 1999 and 2009.
Act 917 of 1995 changed the funding process to local school districts regarding gifted and talented students. The new law now stipulates an expenditure requirement replacing the funding provision that had previously existed. This expenditure requirement reads: Local school districts shall expend from state and local revenues not less than the following amounts on gifted and talented programs, in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the State Board of Education - the previous year's average daily membership participating in gifted and talented programs, up to five percent (5%) of the previous year's average daily membership, multiplied by fifteen hundredths (.15) times the base local revenue per student. The following definition shall guide districts in providing services and opportunities for students identified as gifted and talented in Arkansas:
Gifted and talented children and youth are those of high potential or ability whose learning characteristics and educational needs require qualitatively differentiated educational experiences and/or services.
Possession of these talents and gifts, or the potential for their development, will be evidenced through an interaction of above average intellectual ability, task commitment and/or motivation, and creative ability.
PURPOSE OF THE DOCUMENT
The purpose of this document is to establish the minimum standards for approval of programs which meet the requirements of the Standards of Accreditation adopted by the State Board of Education February 22, 1984, and have been effective since June 1, 1987.
Included are guidelines, which enable school districts to:
School districts may choose to work cooperatively to develop and operate programs for their gifted students. Any mention of "district" in this document applies also to a group of districts working as a cooperative. This definition does not include Educational Service Cooperatives established under Act 349 of 1985.
Standards for approved programs are listed on the following pages. Evidence verifying compliance should be kept on file in the district so that it will be available for review by the Department of Education when the district is monitored.
Please note that these are minimum, not optimum, standards. Districts are encouraged to go beyond them in providing educational opportunities for their gifted and talented students. No school district may establish criteria which are less than the standards required in this document and the Arkansas Department of Education's Rules and Regulations for Gifted and Talented Program Approval.
The written policies required by these Rules should be approved by the local Board of Education, made available to all stakeholders and reviewed annually for updates and revisions.
ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
RULES AND REGULATIONS
GIFTED AND TALENTED PROGRAM APPROVAL STANDARDS
Revised June 1999, 2009
The purpose of these regulations is to establish the minimum standards for approval of gifted programs which meet the requirements of the Standards of Accreditation adopted by the state Board of Education February 22, 1984, and have been in effect since June 1, 1987.
A working partnership between school personnel and other members of the community will benefit a gifted and talented program. The district should encourage open communication with parents and community members, making them aware of the characteristics and needs of the gifted, the program goals of the district, and student activities. The Advisory Committee for Gifted and Talented Education must include parents, as well as professional educators.
Community members can play an important role in the education of gifted students by serving as speakers or mentors. Groups in the community whose cooperation may be sought include colleges and universities, museums, theater groups, civic clubs, libraries, industries, and businesses.
Each district should develop an inventory of community resources that can be used to meet the needs of gifted and talented students.
STANDARD | EVIDENCE VERIFYING COMPLIANCE |
4.01 Ongoing opportunities for community awareness and involvement are provided. | One or more of the following Newspaper clippings Copies of letters to parents Meeting agendas and handouts Brochure/handbook describing gifted programs Newsletters Column in local or school publication Radio/TV spots PowerPoint presentation(s) District/building websites |
4.02 Parent and community members are informed annually of the program opportunities for gifted and talented students, and have the opportunity to ask questions and make suggestions. | Meeting agendas and/or announcements Sign-in Sheets/Rosters |
4.03 Parents and other community members are included on an advisory committee for gifted education that meets annually. | List of members, minutes of meetings, meeting agendas, and names of those in attendance |
To design a successful staff development program, the district allocates sufficient time and money. Plans for ongoing training in gifted and talented education are incorporated into the district's total staff development plan.
Planning for staff development is based on the data obtained from periodic needs assessments conducted by the district. All personnel must be made aware of the results of the assessments and the district's plan for serving gifted and talented students. Other areas of training which are appropriate for the entire school staff but specifically necessary for all new staff are:
Staff development is also encouraged by adding books and journals on gifted education to the school's professional library; placing reprints of pertinent articles in teachers' boxes; presenting short, specific classroom demonstrations and teaching techniques at regular building-level faculty meetings; and sharing gifted students' projects with all staff.
STANDARD | EVIDENCE VERIFYING COMPLIANCE |
5.01 There is a written plan for gifted talented staff development specific to the needs of gifted students that includes all faculty, when appropriate, based on local educational needs of gifted students. | Copy of plan |
5.02 Opportunities to increase knowledge of the education of gifted and talented students are provided for continuing and new school board members, school and district administrators, teachers and support staff on a continuing and regular basis. | Meeting attendance rosters and programs |
Persons associated with the gifted and talented program need special qualifications in the areas of training, experience, and personal qualities. Selection of personnel is critical to the quality of the program. A process to ensure the selection of appropriate teachers of the gifted must be established and clearly articulated. At least one person serves as district administrator or coordinator of the gifted program. The percentage of time assigned to duties associated with the program will necessarily vary depending on the size of the district. In small districts it is likely that the same person will be the teacher of gifted students and the administrator or coordinator of the program. Training requirements for a coordinator are the same as those for an approved teacher of the gifted. It is strongly recommended that the district gifted and talented coordinator have training in administration.
The minimum standards for an approved teacher of the gifted are licensure, pass appropriate state approved assessments, and meet standards as set by the Arkansas State Board of Education through the Arkansas Department of Education, Professional Licensure Department, for add-on endorsement in gifted education. Persons holding the position of administrator or coordinator of gifted programs will also meet state certification requirements. Specific courses are not stipulated; however, the following areas should be included:
Any teacher holding gifted and talented licensure is an approved teacher of gifted and talented students.
Job descriptions are on file for curriculum/program administrators and/or coordinators and teachers of the gifted. Duties in the job description for the administrator or coordinator should include 1) planning and administrating of the district's gifted program in consultation with teachers, administrators, and parents, 2) preparing a local gifted and talented budget for the school district, and 3) recommending purchase of supplies and materials
In addition to time spent in direct services to gifted students, teachers and administrators or coordinators in gifted programs have a variety of duties that will promote integration of the gifted program with the regular education program.
Time must be provided for:
A minimum equivalent of five periods a week for duties specific to the job responsibilities associated with gifted education is expected.
STANDARD | EVIDENCE VERIFYING COMPLIANCE |
6.01 Persons who teach identified students in homogeneous groups must hold current Arkansas initial or standard teaching licensure, pass appropriate state approved assessments, and meet performance standards as set by the State Board of Education through the Arkansas Department of Education Professional Licensure Department for add-on endorsement in gifted education. | License, transcript |
6.02 Persons who coordinate a program for gifted students kindergarten through grade twelve must hold current Arkansas teaching licensure, pass appropriate state approved assessments and meet performance standards as set by the State Board of Education through the Arkansas Department of Education, Professional Licensure Department for add-on endorsement in gifted education. | License, transcript |
6.03 Persons who administer a program (Curriculum/Program Administrator) kindergarten through grade twelve must hold current Arkansas licensure, pass appropriate state approved assessments, and meet performance standards as set by the State Board of Education through the Arkansas Department of Education, Professional Licensure Department for add-on endorsement in gifted education. | License, transcript |
6.04 A process for selection of administrators/coordinators and teachers of the gifted are clearly defined and established. | Copy of Policy and Procedures |
6.05 Job descriptions are developed for administrators/coordinators and teachers of the gifted. | Written job description |
6.06 Regularly scheduled time is provided for administrators/coordinators and teachers of the gifted who perform administrative duties beyond direct services to identified students | Schedule |
The purpose of careful and comprehensive identification procedures is to find and serve as many students as possible who need special programs to develop their exceptional abilities. It is important to identify students with potential for outstanding achievement. The emphasis in identification should be on student need for qualitatively differentiated educational services beyond what is provided through the classroom curriculum.
A comprehensive identification plan should be based on the best available research and recommendations of experts in the field. It must take into account the local student population and should ensure inclusion of potentially gifted and talented students from all cultural and economic backgrounds. The list of nominated students must be representative of the entire student population in terms of race, sex, and economic status.
Each district's written identification procedures must include the following:
OBJECTIVE | SUBJECTIVE |
Standardized mental ability test Standardized achievement test Test of creative ability | Behavioral checklists (Parent and/or teacher) Rating Scales Evaluations of products Student interviews Biographical inventories Grades Auditions |
STANDARD | EVIDENCE VERIFYING COMPLIANCE |
7.01 The process for identifying students has several stages. | Copy of written procedures |
7.02 Identification procedures are clearly stated, uniformly implemented, and communicated to the entire school staff. | Copy of written procedures |
7.03 A committee of at least five members chaired by a trained specialist in gifted education and including administrators, teachers, and/or counselors collects and analyzes data, maintains appropriate records, and makes professional decisions on placement of students. This committee can be per campus within the district and/or district level with representatives of each campus involved. | List of members |
7.04 The identification process yields information obtained through a variety of procedures and from multiple independent sources. | List of instruments and procedures for use |
7.05 Student placement decisions are based on multiple criteria. No single criterion or cut-off score is used to include or exclude a student. | Copy of written procedures and data on nominated students |
7.06 Procedures used in the identification process are non-discriminatory with respect to race, cultural or economic background, religion, national origin, sex, or handicapping condition. | List of procedures |
7.07 Instructionally useful information about individual students obtained during the identification process is communicated to the instructional staff regardless of final placement decisions. | Copy of procedures for dissemination of information |
7.08 Written identification and placement procedures include parental involvement. | Copies of consent forms Written appeals procedures |
7.09 Identification of gifted/talented students is an ongoing process extending from school entry through grade 12. | Copy of written procedures Records of placement |
Gifted children are as different from each other as they are from other children. They have needs for differing amounts of homogeneous grouping, and at various stages of development their interests differ. No single program option can ever meet all of the needs of all gifted children. However, approved programs must meet for a total of 150 minutes a week during the regular school day.
Programs should be systematically developed, with long-range goals that are coordinated to guide the development of gifted students from the time they are identified through graduation from high school. There must be consistency among the program's components; curriculum objectives and evaluation procedures need to be based on the district's philosophy of education.
Most program alternatives will include some kind of combination of enrichment (experiences which supplement the regular curriculum), acceleration (activities designed to allow students to progress at a rate faster than average), and guidance (planned activities that promote understanding of the self and one's relationship to others). Districts are encouraged to be innovative in designing programs that combine these elements in ways that best meet the needs of their gifted students.
In whatever form the program for the gifted is organized, there must be clear delineation of roles, responsibilities, and coordination procedures. A written table of organization outlining lines of responsibility and authority must be developed.
Possible administrative arrangements for providing programs for the gifted are listed below. They represent the organizational patterns used in gifted programs across the United States. Please note that these are descriptions of ways to organize program options, not prescriptions.
No matter which administrative arrangement of program options is used, a minimum of 150 minutes a week direct instruction must be provided. Exceptions to the 150 minutes requirement will be considered and may be granted upon written request to the Department of Education, Office of Gifted and Talented, on an annual basis provided there is a written management plan and written statement verifying that activities are developed and supervised by an approved teacher. Exception requests must be submitted to the Office of Gifted and Talented no later than July 1 prior to the school year for which the exception is requested. However, if the need for this request occurs after July 1, the request should be submitted at that time.
ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS:
Instruction is provided for partial or full acceleration of content and/or grade levels for any student presenting appropriate needs. It is strongly recommended that a district policy be written and approved by the local school board to fully implement this option (ELEMENTARY/SECONDARY).
Districts may choose to implement more than one of the foregoing patterns. However, the maximum total of identified gifted students for whom a full-time teacher of the gifted may provide direct services is 75. Waivers from this requirement, based upon program options offered, may be requested annually in writing by individual districts. Districts should make efforts to increase gifted education staff to be in compliance with the case load number.
STANDARD | EVIDENCE VERIFYING COMPLIANCE |
8.01 Program is systematically developed, with long range goals that are coordinated to guide the development of gifted students from the time they are identified through graduation from high school. | Written program goals |
8.02 A table of organization is developed which clearly delineates roles, responsibilities, and coordination procedures. | Copy of table of organization |
8.03 Identified students' placement in program options is based on their abilities, needs and interests, and resources of the district. | Student assessment data |
8.04 Administrative arrangements are used which promote interaction among gifted students and both their intellectual and chronological peers. | Schedule |
8.05 A minimum of 150 minutes a week direct instruction must be provided during the regular school day. | Program Schedule |
Curriculum for the gifted must differ not only in degree, but in kind. It is important to avoid simply "more of the same." It should be in place of rather than in addition to required classroom work. Students should not be penalized for being identified as gifted by being given extra work. Teachers should be sensitive to student interests and talents in planning both cognitive and affective activities.
To assure that curriculum opportunities are appropriate to the abilities, accomplishments, interests, and cognitive and affective needs of gifted students, modifications should be made in content, process and/or product.
Content refers to the body of knowledge presented to the student. Differentiation may be made in level of complexity, pace of learning, or degree of abstractness. Another means of differentiation is the study of topics not ordinarily a part of the regular curriculum.
The process skills, which should be a part of the curriculum for gifted students, include critical thinking, creative thinking, independent learning skills, research skills, problem-solving, and logic. Students in a gifted program should be expected to achieve a greater degree of proficiency in these skills than would be required in the basic curriculum.
Products are the end result of a learning experience. Gifted students should be encouraged to develop products that use new techniques, materials, and forms. They should be encouraged to select a specific area of interest and talent and pursue an intensive study rather than be assigned a prescribed problem. Results of such investigations should be communicated to an appropriate audience.
Curriculum objectives must be carefully sequenced for continuity. Development of a scope and sequence will avoid the "grab-bag" approach.
STANDARD | EVIDENCE VERIFYING COMPLIANCE |
9.01 Curriculum for the gifted extends or replaces the regular curriculum | Written curriculum description |
9.02 Curriculum is differentiated in content, process and/or product. | Written curriculum description |
9.03 Curriculum has scope and sequence to assure continuity. | Written scope and sequence |
Arkansas Standards for Accreditation require that each school use procedures to evaluate the effectiveness of educational opportunities provided for gifted and talented students.
Evaluation, as it is applied to the program for the gifted, involves both a determination of the program's effectiveness and assessment of student growth. The purpose is to provide accurate, timely, and relevant information to decision-makers for improving program options offered gifted students.
The plan for evaluation is based on program objectives and is reviewed annually to determine its effectiveness in providing appropriate information. This ensures that program changes or modifications reflect relevant data. There are two purposes of evaluation: to provide information so that modifications and adjustments can be made in a program as it develops and to examine overall program effectiveness. The evaluation plan must contain procedures for assessment in both these areas. Only if the evaluation is carefully planned is it probable that really useful information can be obtained.
To make reasonable judgments about the effectiveness of various facets of the program, all components should be included in the overall evaluation plan - identification, staff development, program options, curriculum, community involvement, program expenditures, and the evaluation process itself. A variety of procedures including questionnaires, surveys, charts, graphs, statistical analysis, anecdotal data, focus groups etc., should be used because different components of the program call for different techniques. Neither outcomes of the program nor attitudes of any stakeholders should be ignored. Input should come from students, teachers, administrators, parents, school board members, other community members, and statistical analysis of enrollment and achievement data. Program evaluation should also reflect an assessment of how the gifted program contributes to and articulates with the overall district improvement plan.
Evaluation of student growth must be based on appropriate and specific criteria and should include self-appraisal and criterion-referenced and/or standardized instruments. It must be kept in mind that programs for the gifted deal with a unique population. Gifted students' progress cannot be fully assessed by standardized tests, which have been normed on a heterogeneous group because these tests will not present a true picture of student growth in gifted students. In fact, if a student has scored at the top of the scale on a test, the phenomenon of "regression toward the mean" may result in a lower score on the retest. In choosing methods to measure student progress, care should be taken to ensure that the methods chosen:
The results are compiled into an annual report. This report is provided to the Arkansas State Department of Education, Office of Gifted and Talented, the local school board, school faculty and administration, parent groups and other appropriate audiences to seek formative feedback, resources, developmental assistance, and demonstrate reasonable accountability.
Parti cipation in the gifted program must be noted on students' transcripts and permanent records.
STANDARD | EVIDENCE VERIFYING COMPLIANCE |
10.01 The evaluation process provides accurate, timely, and relevant information to decision-makers for improving program options offered gifted students. | Written evaluation plan |
10.02 The plan for evaluation is based on program objectives. | Written evaluation plan |
10.03 All components of the gifted/talented program are evaluated annually: identification, staff development, program options, program goals and objectives, curriculum, community involvement, program expenditures, and the evaluation process/plan. | Written evaluation plan |
10.04 Data for evaluation are obtained from a variety of instruments, procedures, and information sources. | Copies of evaluation instruments |
10.05 Evaluation findings are compiled, analyzed, and communicated to ADE-OGT and appropriate audiences. | Evaluation report |
10.06 Student progress is assessed, with attention to mastery of content, higher level thinking skills, creativity, and affective growth. | Written policy for student evaluation |
10.07 Participation in the gifted program is noted on student transcripts and permanent records. | Policy for student evaluation |
Appendix A
Appendix B
005.15.09 Ark. Code R. 003