There is clear and mounting evidence that gifted education must address the serious challenges associated with the underidentification and underservicing of diverse populations of gifted students (Peters, 2022; Siegle et al., 2016). For example, English learners (ELs) are the fastest growing population of learners in the US, yet they are among the most underrepresented groups in gifted education (Gubbins et al., 2020; Hodges et al., 2018; Mun et al., 2020). Each year, tens of thousands of talented young people are overlooked for gifted services simply because they learned a language other than English as a child. Their teachers focus on their English skills and fail to recognize the brilliant mind they possess. 

-National Association for Gifted Children

A student may be identified as a Gifted/Advanced English Learner (EL) if they meet the following criteria:

1. The student has been identified by AACPS as Gifted and Talented or Advanced, and 

2. The student receives English Learner services through AACPS or recently exited English Learner services within the past two years. 

To address underrepresentation of English Learners (EL) in ALPs Instruction, AACPS provides an alternative pathway to identification through the ALPs Conditional Placment Processes in Elementary and Middle School (see links below). 

• Referring Students for Conditional Placement in Single-Subject Instruction (Grades 3-5)

• Referring Students for Conditional Placement in Advanced English/Language Arts (Grades 6-8)