Gifted Education Program Goals

  • I. Goal: To provide training for all staff on the procedures for referring and identifying students for gifted services.

    • Develop training and assemble handouts to include forms, procedures, etc.
    • Schedule training annually to update procedures and inform new staff.
    • Implement training.
    • Maintain documentation of training provided.
    • Evaluate effectiveness of training.

    II. Goal: To continue working towards racial equity in the gifted program.

    • Provide yearly in-service for all elementary and middle school faculties concerning the issues associated with identifying underrepresented groups.
    • Utilize appropriate assessments to make screening/eligibility decisions.
    • Strive to allocate gifted teachers for schools with high numbers of minority or low socio-economic students to conduct child find activities and implement enrichment programs to nurture gifted potential.

    III. Goal: To continue conducting Child Find Activities

    • Implement mandatory Second Grade Child Find Activity.
    • Review SAT or other group aptitude test scores and refer any students who have high aptitude or achievement scores.
    • Provide public notice in the handbook or Code of Conduct.
    • Schedule gifted teachers into second grade classrooms to conduct lessons that yield gifted behaviors and products.
    • Provide yearly staff development for general education teachers concerning the referral process.

    IV. Goal: To ensure that there are comparable services throughout the system.

    • Communicate with principals and check teachers’ schedules to make sure that students in the same grade level across the system are receiving the same number of hours of service.
    • Allocate gifted teachers equitably taking into consideration caseloads and number of schools served.
    • Strive to find classroom space for each gifted teacher that is comparable to other programs.

    V. Goal: To work towards a true continuum of services for high-end learners.

    • Provide pullout services for grades 3-5 or 3-6.
    • Provide consultation services for grades K-2.
    • Provide advanced courses for grades 6 or 7-12.
    • Consult, as time will allow, with general education teachers across grade levels concerning meeting the needs of high-end learners in the general education classroom.

    VI. Goal: To provide curriculum for gifted learners that is concept and problem based.

    • Support gifted teachers in attending professional development in the areas of concept and problem-based learning.
    • Support gifted teachers in meeting with other gifted specialists to work on units of study.

    VII. Goal: To maintain program evaluation procedures that direct program improvement.

    • Use multiple data sources and methods.
    • Disseminate evaluation information annually.
    • Use information for program development, improvement and expansion.

    VIII. Goal: To develop school and community awareness of the needs of gifted students in Baldwin County Public Schools.

    • Continue regular meetings with local school Gifted Education Parent Advisory Committees.
    • Schedule annual meetings for the Gifted Education District Parents’ Advisory Committee.
    • Offer a range of networking opportunities and training to parents of gifted students at both the local and district level each year.