While creating 5-year gifted plans can sometimes feel cumbersome, submitting plans on a yearly basis would be an unnecessary bureaucratic workload.  Local gifted plans should be developed on more than a yearly basis (every 5 years or no less than every 3 years) in order to set long-term goals, to evaluate and implement changes, and for general evaluation of gifted programming.

Gifted plans should be submitted to the VA Dept.of Ed. for approval to be sure that schools comply with the minimum identification and programming requirements. Peer review is a necessary accountability measure – leaving the local school boards to review the plans takes away a professional level of evaluation since many (if not most) school board members don’t have professional experience with gifted programming.  While many accountability measures (SOL testing) frustrate teachers, state oversight of gifted plans is a protection for programming at the local level.