FAQ
What is “gifted and talented” (G&T)?
Gifted and talented students “perform or show the potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment,” (US Department of Education, 1993). In the Kentucky Education Reform Act, gifted students are included as a category of exceptional children who, “need special educational programs or services for them to benefit from the regular or usual facilities or educational programs of the public schools in the districts in which they reside,” (KRS.157.200). “The purpose of identifying and serving gifted youth within schools is to ensure appropriate levels of instruction in order to maximize the potential of every child.” (Kentucky State Advisory Council for Gifted & Talented). In order to reach their potential, these students require services beyond those normally offered.
What is a GSSP?
A Gifted Student Services Plan (GSSP) is an educational plan matching a formally identified gifted student’s interests, needs, and abilities to differentiated service options. The GSSP serves as the communication vehicle between an identified student’s parents/guardians and school personnel. GSSPs are applicable to students in grades 4-12.
What are the areas of giftedness recognized in Kentucky and how are they defined?
There are five areas recognized by the commonwealth: general intellectual ability, specific academic ability, creativity, leadership and visual/performing arts.
"General intellectual ability" means possessing: (a) either the potential or demonstrated ability to perform at an exceptionally high level in general intellectual ability, which is usually reflected in extraordinary performance in a variety of cognitive areas, such as abstract reasoning, logical reasoning, social awareness, memory, nonverbal ability and the analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of information; and, (b) A consistently outstanding mental capacity as compared to children of one's age, experience, or environment
"Specific academic aptitude" means possessing either potential or demonstrated ability to perform at an exceptionally high level in one (1), or very few related, specific academic areas significantly beyond the age, experience or environment of one's chronological peers.
"Creative or divergent thinking ability" means possessing either potential or demonstrated ability to perform at an exceptionally high level in creative thinking and divergent approaches to conventional tasks as evidenced by innovative or creative reasoning, advanced insight and imagination, and solving problems in unique ways.
"Psychosocial or leadership ability" means possessing either potential or demonstrated ability to perform at an exceptionally high level in social skills and interpersonal qualities such as poise, effective oral and written expression, managerial ability, and the ability, or vision, to set goals and organize others to successfully reach those goals.
"Visual or performing arts ability" means possessing either potential or demonstrated ability to perform at an exceptionally high level in the visual or performing arts and demonstrating the potential for outstanding aesthetic production, accomplishment, or creativity in visual art, dance, music, or drama.
When are students formally identified for gifted services?
Students are monitored in primary grades for the Primary Talent Pool. Then, in fourth grade, students may be formally identified. The district administers an assessment called CogAT to all students in third grade, in order to seek students who may qualify for services beginning in fourth grade. Teachers also monitor and may refer students for identification in any all grade level after fourth. Therefore, students who show evidence of giftedness in subsequent grade levels may be considered for identification.
What is the Primary Talent Pool?
The Primary Talent Pool (PTP) is a group of primary students (kindergarten through third grade) who are informally selected as having characteristics and behaviors of high potential learners and who have been further diagnosed using a series of informal and formal measures to determine the need for differentiated services during the primary program. http://kagegifted.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Primary-Talent-Pool-Brochure.pdf
When students become eligible for formal identification in the fourth grade, are PTP students automatically identified as G&T?
PTP students are not automatically identified as GT once they reach the fourth grade. Specific and more stringent criteria must be met to formally identify a GT student.
How is my student identified as gifted?
Students begin the identification process through screenings or by referral. Tools used to identify students vary based on the area of identification, from diagnostic testing to portfolios exhibiting achievement. Most gifted students are identified in elementary or middle school. For students who are new to the school district or who have not been identified as gifted previously, a referral is necessary to begin testing or compiling identification data. For details on the referral process, the student should contact the G&T teacher for their school.
Can a student be identified in additional areas after they have already been identified?
Yes, a child can be screened for identification based on a referral (see “How is my student identified as gifted?”)
What can parents/guardians do if they feel their children have been missed during the identification process?
If a parent would like his/her child to be evaluated in an area for gifted and talented services, then he/she can contact either the gifted and talented teacher for that school or his/her child’s classroom teacher. If a child did not qualify for gifted and talented services, parents have the right to appeal the decision.
Can a student “lose” their identification?
Once a child has been formally identified as performing or showing potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment in an area of giftedness, that identification cannot be removed.
Can formal identification be accepted if a student comes from another school district in Kentucky?
Yes. However, service options may need to be adjusted for those students coming from districts with less stringent qualifying criteria.
Can formal identification be accepted for a student who moves from another state to Kentucky?
No. In order to receive gifted and talented services, the student must meet the identification requirements according to Kentucky’s regulation. The student’s transferred records with evidence or qualifying test data that supports giftedness may be considered; but students would have to be re-qualified through available or new testing that meets Kentucky’s regulation. Identification would not immediately transfer from another state to Kentucky unless all facets of the identification process aligned with Kentucky’s regulation.
If a child is identified as gifted in general intellectual intelligence, does it mean he/she is gifted in all areas of giftedness?
No. General intellectual intelligence is one area of possible giftedness. There are five categories of giftedness recognized in Kentucky through regulation; general intellectual aptitude, specific academic aptitude, creative or divergent thinking, leadership, and the visual or performing arts. A student identified in one area does not directly indicate identification in another. Students may be identified in one area or several.
If a student is identified as G&T in an academic area are they automatically enrolled in honors classes at their school?
No, students must qualify for placement in honors classes based on the guidelines created by the school's SBDM.