Placement through Review

PLACEMENT PROCESS-

The placement process enables the school staff and parents to work together to provide the student

with the most appropriate educational placement. This placement should provide a pace of learning and level of challenge commensurate with the student’s achievement level and abilities.

A placement review may be conducted for students entering grades six through eight who demonstrate outstanding academic performance but who were not eligible for one or more G/T content area class(es) based on the initial testing criteria.

INITIATING THE PLACEMENT PROCESS-

A parent or student advocate may begin the placement review process by writing to the G/T

Resource Teacher to request a review of the student’s placement(s) for middle school. The letter should describe in great detail the outstanding performance, which has been observed outside of the classroom. The letter should support the parent’s assertion that the student should be enrolled in G/T class(es) (Middle School: social studies, English, science and mathematics). The letter from the parent or student advocate must include documentation and/or examples of exemplary student products to support their request.

DOCUMENTATION SUBMITTED TO THE PLACEMENT COMMITTEE-

The parent or student advocate should present any materials, which document the student’s high-level abilities and performance, to the G/T Resource Teacher. Examples may include:

• Anecdotal information

• Journals, stories, plays, poetry, articles written by the student

• Experiments and/ or models designed by the student that are related to subject content areas

• Evidence of participation in advanced-level extracurricular activities (e.g. Maryland State Summer

Centers for Gifted and Talented Students, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY),

HCPSS Summer Institutes for Talent Development)

• Evaluations from consultants and test data from standardized tests administered outside of the

school system.

THE PLACEMENT COMMITTEE-

At each school, a committee of educators meets to conduct the placement review. This committee is

comprised of a school administrator, G/T Resource Teacher, classroom teachers, and guidance counselor. At this meeting, the student’s placement is reviewed and evaluated. The information and documentation provided by the parent or student advocate and the committee of educators are shared and discussed. The G/T Resource Teacher will communicate the placement decision to the parent or student advocate in writing. The parent or student advocate may appeal the placement decision to the school administrator. 

G/T Content Area Classes in Action