Virginia Administrative Code › Title 8 - EDUCATION › Agency 20 - STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION › Chapter 40 - REGULATIONS GOVERNING EDUCATIONAL SERVICES FOR GIFTED STUDENTS › Section 8VAC20-40-60 - Local plan, local advisory committee, and annual report

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Each school
				board shall submit a comprehensive plan for the education of gifted students to
				the Department of Education (DOE) for technical review on a schedule determined
				by the department. Each school board shall approve a comprehensive plan for the
				education of gifted students that includes the components identified in these
				regulations. The development process for the school division's local plan for
				the education of the gifted shall include opportunities for public review of
				the school division's plan. The approved local plan shall be accessible through
				the school division's website and the school division shall ensure that printed
				copies of the comprehensive plan are available to citizens who do not have
				online access. The plan shall include the following components:
1. A statement of philosophy for the gifted
				education program and the local operational definition of giftedness for the
				school division;
2. A statement of
				the school division's gifted education program goals and objectives for
				identification, delivery of services, curriculum and instruction, professional
				development, equitable representation of students, and parent and community
				involvement;
3. Procedures for the
				early and on-going screening, referral, identification and placement of gifted
				students, beginning with kindergarten through twelfth-grade in at least a
				general intellectual or a specific academic aptitude program; and, if provided
				in the school division, procedures for the screening, referral, identification,
				and placement of gifted students in visual or performing arts or career and
				technical aptitude programs;
4. A
				procedure for written notification of parents or legal guardians when
				additional testing or additional information is required during the
				identification process and for obtaining permission of parents or legal
				guardians prior to placement of a gifted student in the appropriate service
				options;
5. A policy for written
				notification to parents or legal guardians of identification and placement
				decisions, including initial changes in placement or exit from the program.
				Such notice shall include an opportunity for parents or guardians to meet and
				discuss their concerns with an appropriate administrator and to file an
				appeal;
6. Assurances that student
				records are maintained in compliance with applicable state and federal privacy
				laws and regulations;
7. Assurances
				that (i) the selected and administered testing and assessment materials have
				been evaluated by the developers for cultural, racial, and linguistic biases;
				(ii) identification procedures are constructed so that those procedures may
				identify high potential or aptitude in any student whose accurate
				identification may be affected by economic disadvantages, by limited English
				proficiency, or by disability; (iii) standardized tests and other measures have
				been validated for the purpose of identifying gifted students; and (iv)
				instruments are administered and interpreted by a trained personnel in
				conformity with the developer's instructions;
8. Assurances that accommodations or
				modifications determined by the school division's special education
				Individualized Education Program (IEP) team, as required for the student to
				receive a free appropriate public education, shall be incorporated into the
				student's gifted education services;
9. Assurances that a written copy of the
				school division's approved local plan for the education of the gifted is
				available to parents or legal guardians of each referred student, and to others
				upon request;
10. Evidence that
				gifted education service options from kindergarten through twelfth grade are
				offered continuously and sequentially, with instructional time during the
				school day and week to (i) work with their age-level peers, (ii) work with
				their intellectual and academic peers, (iii) work independently, and (iv)
				foster intellectual and academic growth of gifted students. Parents and legal
				guardians shall receive assessment of each gifted student's academic
				growth;
11. A description of the
				school division's program of differentiated curriculum and instruction
				demonstrating accelerated and advanced content;
12. Policies and procedures that allow access
				to programs of study and advanced courses at a pace and sequence commensurate
				with their learning needs;
13.
				Evidence that school divisions provide professional development based on the
				teacher competencies outlined in
				8VAC20-542-310 related to gifted
				education; and
14. Procedures for
				the annual review of the effectiveness of the school division's gifted
				education program, including the review of screening, referral, identification,
				and program procedures toward the achievement of equitable representation of
				students, the review of student outcomes and the academic growth of gifted
				students. Such review shall be based on multiple criteria and shall include
				multiple sources of information.