According to the Colorado Department of Education, an ALP is a written record of a gifted student’s strengths, academic and social/emotional learning goals, and the resulting programming utilized with each gifted child and considered in educational planning and decision making. 

ALL students who are formally identified as GT/HGT have an ALP. 

An ALP is created 30-45 days from the time of a student's formal identification as GT. 

New yearly goals are written in the fall of each school year by mid October with routine progress monitoring reports during the year. 

The ALP goals writing process is facilitated by the school’s GT representative in collaboration with the family, student, relevant teacher(s) and support staff. Family input can be collected in a variety of ways including: phone call, email, survey, and/or the presence at a meeting dedicated to ALP development. 

ALP goals always include: 

● an academic goal in each of the student’s identified gifted strength areas 

● an affective goal designed to support the social or emotional needs of the student 

Yes! The ALP is a living document and the goals can (and should) be updated throughout the school year if/when a student has met the initial goal(s). 

Once formally identified as a gifted learner, students remain labeled as GT and receive an Advanced Learning Plan through the end of high school unless family requests otherwise.

However, it is important to note that when students move into high school, they may no longer have as much direct GT support and will need to take more leadership in the writing and monitoring of their ALP goals. During middle school, we work to help students understand the ALP process so that they are ready to set their own goals in high school.

As long as the GT identification follows Colorado’s law, students will keep their GT label and receive an ALP. Please connect with your school’s GT Representative to provide records from a previous district where your student was identified. 

Please email Stephanie Brown, the GT support teacher at Denver Green School Northfield!

stephanie_brown@denvergreenschool.org