Gifted Education Frequently Asked Questions

No. Each school district must establish procedures for determining whether a student is mentally gifted through a screening and evaluation process that meets the requirements of the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 16). Chapter 16 defines the term mentally gifted as "a person who has an IQ of 130 or higher or when multiple criteria indicate gifted ability." The matrix used by the school district may not be more restrictive than the requirements of the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 16).

The multiple criteria indicating a student may be mentally gifted include: 

• A year or more above grade achievement level in one or more subjects as measured by nationally normed and validated achievement tests.
• An observed or measured rate of acquisition/retention of new academic content or skills.
• Demonstrated achievement, performance or expertise in one or more academic areas as evidenced by excellence of products, portfolio, or research, as well as criterion-referenced team judgment.
• Early and measured use of high level thinking skills (Guilford/Bloom's Taxonomy), academic creativity, leadership skills, intense academic interest areas, communications skills, foreign language aptitude or technology expertise.
• Documented, observed, validated or assessed evidence that intervening factors such as English as a second language, learning disability, physical impairment, emotional disability, gender or race bias, or socio/cultural deprivation are masking gifted abilities.

In addition to nationally normed tests correlated to the Pennsylvania Core Standards, there are many resources available through the Standards Aligned System to identify the level of a student's achievement within the Pennsylvania grade and course level standards. Also, there are suggested assessments, an assessment builder, learning progressions, classroom diagnostic tools, etc. to help determine if a child is working a year or more above grade level.

Rate of acquisition is the rapidity or speed at which the student is able to acquire, understand, and demonstrate competency or mastery of new learning.  Rate of acquisition and rate of retention of new materials/skills can be defined as how many repetitions the student needs before the student masters new information/skills and can use the information/skills appropriately any time thereafter. This data can be obtained by simple procedures such as Curriculum Based Assessment, direct observation, and reporting from parents, teachers or supervisors.

Subject results means subtests of achievement tests or out-of-level testing should provide results that can be used to determine placement in academic instruction in all academic subject areas.

When looking at the term "multiple criteria," in the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code §16.21(e)), what does "measured use" mean when referenced as follows: "early and measured use of high level thinking skills, academic creativity, leadership skills, intense academic interest areas, communications skills, and foreign language aptitude or technology expertise"?

Early and measured use of high level thinking skills could include checklists, inventories, and anecdotal notes. It could also include documentation of developmental milestones that are reached earlier than average students reach the milestone. For example: 

• The average kindergarten student uses symbols and letters to represent words. A kindergarten student who is able to spell common words correctly, make appropriate and varied word choices, and/or understands common capitalization and end punctuation would be demonstrating achievements that are a result of early and measured use of high level thinking skills.

In the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 16) it does not require signatures on the Gifted Written Report. The Gifted Written Report is a compilation of information from the gifted multidisciplinary team. The Gifted Written Report contains information provided by the school district, by the parent, and/or anyone with information concerning the student's educational needs and strengths. This information is used by the gifted multidisciplinary team to determine if a child is gifted and needs specially designed instruction. By regulation the proper place for formal parent agreement/disagreement with what is being proposed by the school district is the Notice of Recommended Assignment (NORA) issued to the parent by the school district.

Yes, however group achievement test scores should be only one piece of the achievement information included in the Gifted Written Report. Additional achievement information may include: individualized achievement or ability tests; book or unit tests; end-of-the year tests; curriculum-based assessments; or other on and above grade-level testing. These assessment results may be needed to identify the instructional or academic functioning level, and to support educational placement of the gifted student.

When determining a student's growth, the gifted multidisciplinary team should first consider achievement of grade- or course-level standards and assessments to determine where a student is academically at the time a Gifted Individualized Education Plan is created. In addition, standardized test data could be used to determine percentile ranking, which indicates whether growth has occurred. Progress on annual goals using the objective criteria, agreed upon by the Gifted Individualized Education Plan team during the Gifted Individualized Education Plan development process, are also important factors in determining the amount of growth that has occurred over the 12-month period.

No, classroom observation is not required for the Gifted Written Report.

​It is preferable to write a statement such as "the evaluation does not indicate intervening factors."

According to the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code §16.22(i)) the gifted multidisciplinary team shall determine a student's eligibility for gifted services. According to the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code §16.32(c) (4)), the determination will be made at the Gifted Individualized Education Plan meeting as to whether the student is gifted. This confusion was cleared up in the Basic Education Circular released by the PDE (dated May 11, 2009), wherein it was clarified that the gifted multidisciplinary team makes the eligibility determination. If a child is determined not to be eligible, then there is no need for a Gifted Individualized Education Plan meeting. However, as the parents are members of the gifted multidisciplinary team, which carries out the gifted multidisciplinary evaluation, they should be invited to participate in a gifted multidisciplinary team meeting where the eligibility determination is made and any recommendations are developed collaboratively. At this meeting parents should receive the Notice of Parental Rights for Gifted Students.

Yes, all of the information on the state promulgated formats must be included, but additional items may be added. The minimum requirements for compliance have been included and districts that go beyond that do so knowing it may establish precedence.

No. A waiver for this process is not referenced in the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 16). According to the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter §16.23(a)), "Gifted students shall be reevaluated before a change in educational placement is recommended for the student. In addition, gifted students may be reevaluated at any time under recommendation by the GIEP team".

​If the evaluation will require the administration of new assessments, then a Permission to Evaluate should be distributed and parent permission is required to proceed. If the evaluation process is just a review of records, and there are no new assessments, then parent permission is not required and a Notice of Intent to Re-Evaluate should be distributed.

The Gifted Individualized Education Plan is a strength-based document and if a learning need exists that stems from a student's strength, it belongs in the Gifted Individualized Education Plan. The need(s) can be noted in the present levels and used to craft a goal/short- term learning outcome, or it can be incorporated into the specially designed instruction. An example of a need based on a student's strength might be support for long-term projects because he/she is working independently as part of a compaction opportunity. A child may need a learning contract developed to help chunk the project into intermediate steps with clear guidelines and expectations in order for resources to be secured ahead of time and allow the student the maximum opportunity to work independently. 

If a learning need does meet the definition of a disability and it is preventing the child from accessing the general education curriculum, then all needs, goals, short-term learning outcomes, specially designed instruction, and support services need to be addressed in one document, an individualized education plan according to the procedures in the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 14). 

If the learning need stems from a student's weakness and it is not a documented disability, it can be noted in the present levels section of the Gifted Individualized Education Plan, but it is not addressed in the goals, short-term learning outcomes, or specially-designed instruction. For instance, if a child struggles with organization and it is not connected to a disability or a medical diagnosis, it would be helpful for the Gifted Individualized Education Plan team to understand that aspect of a child's learning. The team (consisting of general education and gifted education staff) will provide support in accordance with Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa.

Code Chapter 4) through normal differentiation that would be offered to a child who struggles with organization and is not identified gifted. Therefore, since the support provided is not beyond the scope of the general education curriculum, there is no need to write it in a Gifted Individualized Education Plan as specially designed instruction.

Benefit meaningfully means accomplishment of or significant progress toward the Gifted Individualized Education Plan annual goals. A gifted student would have benefitted greatly when his/her rate of learning results in a rate of achievement. For example: A student is determined to need an acceleration rate that is 1½ times faster than the average, that is the student would be expected to learn 1½ years of new material in one school year. Meaningful benefit for that student would be achieving at least 1½ years academic growth for one year spent in school. The state expectation for all non-identified students is one year of academic achievement for one year enrolled in school.

There is no level of intervention for gifted support services in the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 16).

According to Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 15) a student with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits or prohibits participation or access to an aspect of the student's school program may require a 504 Service Agreement to establish aids, services, and accommodations to access the general curriculum. There is no requirement to include or prohibit a 504 Plan in a Gifted Individualized Education Plan. For additional consideration, a side by side comparison of Chapter 15 and Chapter 16 is available from your intermediate unit's gifted liaison. If the student has a Gifted Individualized Education Plan, the 504 Agreement could be referenced in the Support Services section of the Gifted Individualized Education Plan.

The purpose of the waiting period is to provide parents the opportunity to reflect on the process. If the Notice of Recommended Assignment (NORA) is presented in person at the time of the Gifted Individualized Education Plan meeting, parents have five calendar days to return the signed agreement. If the Notice of Recommended Assignment (NORA) is sent home by certified mail after the meeting, parents have ten days to provide their response.

Without a signed Notice of Recommended Assignment (NORA), the district will not be able to proceed with implementation of the initial Gifted Individualized Education Plan. For a Gifted Individualized Education Plan that is in the annual review cycle, the district may proceed with the proposed changes after the waiting period (which is determined by when the Notice of Recommended Assignment (NORA) is presented to the parents) as long as both parties agreed to the changes and the parents have not submitted a written disapproval. A waiver of this process is not contemplated in the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 16).

The purpose of the five-calendar day waiting period is to give the parents an opportunity to notify the district within the five-day period of a decision to revoke the previous approval of the recommended assignment. In addition it provides the district the opportunity to make the necessary changes to accommodate the services provided in the Gifted Individualized Education Plan. This includes schedule changes, notification of teachers about responsibilities outlined in the Gifted Individualized Education Plan, and coordination of support services. A waiver of this process is not contemplated by the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 16).

The regulations do not require a signature on the Gifted Individualized Education Plan, but the names and positions of the Gifted Individualized Education Plan team participants must be on the document. It should be noted beside the name whether the person was in attendance at the Gifted Individualized Education Plan team meeting or merely provided input.

The Notice of Recommended Assignment (NORA) should be provided to parents with an annual Gifted Individualized Education Plan or anytime a significant change is made to the Gifted Individualized Education Plan (new Present Levels that significantly change the Goals and Short Term Learning Outcomes). A Notice of Recommended Assignment (NORA) provides the parents with formal opportunity to agree or disagree with the identification, evaluation, educational placement, or the provision of gifted education as written in the Gifted Individualized Education Plan.

Achievement may be measured through the short-term learning outcomes.  The short-term learning outcomes are written as steps to reach the annual goal and are measurable.

No, only a gifted multidisciplinary team (which may have many of the same members as the Gifted Individualized Education Plan team) can make that decision after a reevaluation has occurred. According to Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code § 16.23(a) (d)) a reevaluation needs to occur when:

1. Gifted students shall be re-evaluated before a change in educational placement is recommended for the student. In addition, gifted students may be re- evaluated at any time under recommendation by the Gifted Individualized Education Plan team.
2. Reevaluations shall be developed in accordance with the requirements concerning evaluation in this chapter.
3. Reevaluations must include a review of the student's Gifted Individualized Education Plan, a determination of which instructional activities have been successful, and recommendations for the revision of the Gifted Individualized Education Plan.
4. The reevaluation timeline for gifted students will be 60 calendar days, except that the calendar days from the day after the last day of the spring school term up to and including the day before the first day of the subsequent fall school term may not be counted.

As referenced in the previous question, a Gifted Individualized Education Plan team cannot make the decisions regarding eligibility. Therefore, it is up to the Gifted Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team to determine if a student is gifted and requires specially designed instruction. The Notice of Recommended Assignment documents the decision. A student who is not gifted does not receive a Gifted Individualized Education Plan. If the Gifted Individualized Education Plan team suspects a child may no longer be in need of services, any member of the team can request a reevaluation.

All procedures outlined in Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 16) are in place for any student whose Gifted Individualized Education Plan anniversary date is prior to 30 days of graduation, therefore a gifted team meeting must be held and a Notice of Recommended Assignment (NORA) issued if the annual review is outside of the last 30 calendar days of school.

No. The results of a psychological evaluation help to determine if there exists the aptitude for advanced learning based on the child's cognitive functioning. Once the results have been used to help make a recommendation, then it is the job of the Gifted Individualized Education Plan team to determine how the present levels of educational performance suggest which academic area(s) should be considered for writing an annual goal and whether enrichment, acceleration, or a combination of both are the most appropriate for educational planning.

Advanced Placement or honors courses alone do not constitute specially designed instruction unless they are offered to a student who would not normally qualify according to the district's criteria or there are additional supports offered within the course that are beyond the scope of the general education curriculum. If the service meets the definition of specially designed instruction, the course goals should be included in the Gifted Individualized Education Plan document with all supporting data to complete the process.

How does the caseload requirement apply to gifted support teachers who serve as both caseload managers and teachers of record for courses offered in compliance with Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 4) or in some other capacity (school counselors)? Are the total number of students permitted on a teacher's caseload prorated based on other teaching duties?

The caseload is calculated using the Full-Time Equivalency of 1.0 = 1 gifted support professional. School entities should prorate the caseload based on other teaching responsibilities as defined in their contract. One teacher may be reported as the teacher of record for .60 Full-Time Equivalency or ⅗ of an assignment teaching general education courses with Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 4) guidelines and .40 Full-Time Equivalency as gifted support case manager. The permitted number of students on the gifted support teacher's caseload for this example would be 26.

​If the course in question is considered appropriate based on the Gifted Individualized Education Plan of each student, then it is part of the caseload responsibilities. It is important to note, that if this course is in a particular content area for which a grade is given, the teacher of record must have the proper certification for the course. If the course in question is part of the general education offering and students other than those identified as gifted are enrolled or the course is not unique to the specially designed instruction outlined in the Gifted Individualized Education Plan (and therefore a general education course) it should be considered separate from the caseload responsibilities.

Not necessarily. The compliance monitoring for students with disabilities is a federal law requirement per 34 CFR § 300.149-153 that must include specific responsibilities by the state education agency to receive federal funds. The federal law does not include gifted in the compliance monitoring process. However, the list of schools being monitored for gifted education will be randomly chosen from the same list of schools being monitored by the Bureau of Special Education. It is the intent of PDE to monitor a minimum of 10 districts a year for compliance with gifted education regulations. There may be targeted monitoring if a school district is repeatedly reported to be out of compliance with Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 16). The decision to conduct a targeted monitoring is up to the discretion of PDE.

Yes. The person serving as the district representative must meet all three requirements of the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code §16.32(b) (3)) which says: "A representative of the district, who will serve as the chairperson of the Gifted Individualized Education Plan team, who is knowledgeable of resources of the district, AND who is authorized by the district to commit those resources." If a teacher/school counselor does not have authorization to commit district resources, then he/she cannot be the district representative.

​No. There is no specific requirement for gifted reevaluation.

​The evaluation or reevaluation is of the child, not the exceptionality. The notice is to inform the parent of the types of assessments being conducted therefore, school districts should include the type of assessments on the notice.

The school district must follow the provisions of the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 12) when disciplining a mentally gifted student. Under certain circumstances, a student of compulsory school age may require some form of educational experience.

​No. Recovery of attorney fees may only be pursued in cases involving students with disabilities under federal law.

Yes. Affiliate groups and/or attorneys can file requests for assistance with PDE. However, requests for assistance concerning the Gifted Individualized Education Plan of a specific child must name that child.

An administrative proceeding would be a pre-hearing conference, mediation, or due process hearing.

In the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code §16.63 (h)) it states that parents may be represented by legal counsel, and accompanied and advised by individuals with special knowledge or training with respect to students who are gifted.

​According to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, the educational agency must comply with a written request to access records within a reasonable period of time but not more than 45 days after it has received the request.

Yes. A school district or parent could wait until five days before the hearing to make records available. If the information is not disclosed by that time, that information cannot be used as evidence.

​There should be no purposeful delay in meeting the request. However, factors like holidays or weekends might prevent an immediate response.

​No. The Office of Dispute Resolution will not summarize current decisions. Resolved cases will be made public with all identifying information redacted only with parent consent.

During the evaluation and/or annual planning process, the parents receive the Notice of Parental Rights for Gifted Students. If a disagreement exists between the parents and the district, the parents must note their disagreement on the Notice of Recommended Assignment (NORA) and request either mediation or due process hearing, as outlined in the Notice of Parental Rights for Gifted Students.  If, after mediation, the conflict is still not resolved, or if the school district refuses to accede to a request to mediate the dispute, it may be forwarded to a due process hearing.

Yes. Participants are defined in the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code Chapter 16) as "other persons appearing at the mediation conference on behalf of either party, such as family members and specialists."