| Action | Revision of regulations school divisions must meet in their gifted education programs, K - 12 |
| Stage | Final |
| Comment Period | Ended on 3/3/2010 |
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I strongly urge our elected and appointed officials to accept and implement the NAACP recommended changes and amendments to the gifted education regulations. The NAACP recommendations will result in a more equitable gifted and governor’s school program throughout Virginia. Minority and low-income gifted students will receive needed services so they can reach their fullest potential and make their necessary contribution to Virginia, the United States, and our global community.
In Chesterfield Public Schools: African American students are 27% of the student enrollment but only 10% of students receiving gifted education services. Caucasian students are 61% of the student enrollment, yet 82% of students receiving gifted education services. -Of the 57 Chesterfield County students selected for admission to Maggie Walker Governor’s School for the 2009-10 school year, 1 student was African American and 1 student was Hispanic; and -Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch are 25% of the school district enrollment but less than 3% of students placed in the center-based gifted education program. -Recommend rejecting 8 VAC 20-40-40 subparagraph D3, Screening, referral, identification, and service. Subparagraph D.3 provides that the identification process used by each school division must ensure that no single criterion is used to determine a student’s eligibility [for gifted services]. -Chesterfield County Public Schools uses a single criterion – 97th percentile or higher on the CoGAT – for a student to be considered for center-based gifted education programs. Students scoring in the 96th percentile or below are considered for home school gifted services which consists of differentiated instruction in the classroom (at best). -Recommend subparagraph D3 be rejected and replaced with specific language that establishes how to weight the criteria relied upon for gifted identification. The weight given any criteria should be research-based and validated. -Recommend subparagraph D3 be rejected and replaced with specific language requiring school divisions which rely upon a cut off score, in this case 97th percentile, and used to determine the level of gifted services, to establish the validity of using that criteria as a determinant in providing the level of gifted services.