The Standards of Learning set a benchmark that eventually all students in the Commonwealth must reach to graduate from high school.  The SOL's enhance our credibility with the public and help satisfy compliance with No Child Left Behind federal legislation. 

Virginia's continued commitment to gifted education aims our sights above the minimum bar established by NCLB and indicates our intention to produce students for the Commonwealth and the nation's universities who, by being challenged to fulfill their potential, will lead the way confronting the challenges before us in this century.  Never before have so many demanded so much from our public schools; in Virginia, our response should clearly be, whenever possible, "Yes, we will achieve that............and more." 

Research clearly indicates that gifted learners require challenge beyond the regular classroom, that they need intellectual stimulation from their gifted peers, and that  giftedness not nurtured will not develop.  There are gifted children spread throughout our Commonwealth, and quite a few of them do not live in prosperous communities whose greatest efforts can be directed toward providing for their needs.  To serve these "diamonds in the rough," and really all of Virginia's gifted learners, it is essential that the following sections of the revised Regulations be reconsidered:

8VAC20-40-60 Assurance of gifted funding was omitted on the grounds it was redundant because funding is assured in the Appropriations Act. 

Parents, teachers, and administrators can easily find the assurance if it is repeated in the Regulations.  If the wording is repeated exactly, nothing in the Regulations will contradict the Appropriations Act.  Repeating the wording provides enough clarity to stakeholders that the repetition outweighs any concern over redundancy.

8VAC20-40-70 Language was stricken regarding current five-year local plans (replaced by a mandate for annual plans) and the exculsion of our current peer-review process. 

The format of a five-year plan allows yearly goals, and fulfillment of these goals is monitored by each locality's advisory committee and reported to the locality's Superintendent and School Board.  The five-year plan is superior to the annual plan because it allows local gifted programs to take a long-range view of their services, to set goals for improvement, and to build programs that are modified and enhanced through research and development that are real, adequately considered, and meaningful. 

The current peer-review process allows coordinators from different school systems to meet and see the components of other localities.  The benefits of this process are two-fold:  firstly, peer-review ensures that all localities are in compliance and allows coordinators not in compliance to spot trouble spots and correct them; secondly, peer-review is a "meeting of the minds" that allows coordinators to share best practices and expand the basics of quality services throughout the Commonwealth.  Under the peer-review process as it exists, coordinators are exposed to each other's innovative ideas, learn from one another's experiences, and serve as a "sounding board" for one another.  Peer-review is a process that costs little and provides a valuable service to coordinators and, indirectly, to the students served by their programs.  We can't afford to lose it.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my opinion.