• Gifted and talented children in DPS are students whose demonstrated abilities, talents and/or potential for accomplishment are so exceptional or developmentally advanced that they require special provisions to meet their educational needs.
• These students perform, or show the potential of performing, at remarkably high levels in general intellectual ability, specific academic aptitude or specific talent aptitude when compared with others of their age and experience.
• Gifted and talented children are present in all student groups, regardless of gender, disability, English language proficiency, economic status, ethnic or cultural background.

Top 10%: This is our schools Talent Pool. They are students who we are supporting with the hopes of growing their talents and identifying them as GT in the future. There is funding, but no identification or ALP.

Top 5%: A body of evidence is used to identify a student as GT. These students require and are entitled to an ALP.

Top 3%: Students with a cognitive score in the 97th percentile or above are magnet eligible. They may or may not be formally identified, depending on where we are in our data collection stages.

Years of research about giftedness indicate that the following traits—in some combination—are characteristic of gifted youngsters:

· keenly observant

· learns very quickly with few repetitions

· highly curious

· independent or non-conforming

· creative

· ability to retain information

· imaginative

· able to concentrate intensely

· able to develop a social conscience, sense of justice + responsibility, early

· able to set high standards for self

· intuitive

· empathetic

· persistent

· resistant to routine; prefers challenge

· interested in a wide variety of topics

· intensely involved in a topic

· able to reason abstractly and perceive relationships earlier than others

· mature, playful, or unusual sense of humor.

These characteristics may be assets or liabilities in the school setting. The gifted child may or may not finish class assignments quickly and may be either well-behaved or disruptive. Many gifted pupils are “good students” and high achievers, but others, equally gifted, are not. Because of their diversity and individuality, there is no easy formula for the identification of gifted students or for developing programming and services to meet their varying needs.

• see attachments below for more specific information.