Virginia Administrative Code › Title 8 - EDUCATION › Agency 20 - STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION › Chapter 40 - REGULATIONS GOVERNING EDUCATIONAL SERVICES FOR GIFTED STUDENTS › Section 8VAC20-40-40 - Screening, referral, identification, and service

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Each school division shall establish
				uniform procedures for screening, referring, identifying, and serving students
				in kindergarten through twelfth grade who are gifted in general intellectual or
				specific academic aptitude. If the school division elects to identify students
				in general intellectual aptitude, it shall provide service options from
				kindergarten through twelfth grade. Identification in a specific academic
				aptitude area may occur as assessment instruments exist to support
				identification. If the school division elects to identify students in one or
				more selected academic aptitude areas, it shall provide service options through
				twelfth grade. School divisions may identify and serve gifted students in
				career and technical aptitude or visual or performing arts aptitude, or both,
				at their discretion.
B. These
				uniform procedures shall include a screening process that requires
				instructional personnel to review, at a minimum, current assessment data on
				each kindergarten through twelfth-grade student annually. Some data used in the
				screening process may be incorporated into multiple criteria reviewed by the
				designated identification and placement committee to determine eligibility, but
				those data shall not replace norm-referenced aptitude test data.
C. These uniform procedures shall permit
				referrals from parents or legal guardians, teachers, professionals, students,
				peers, self, or others. Such referrals shall be accepted for kindergarten
				through twelfth-grade students.
D.
				An identification and placement committee shall review pertinent information,
				records, and other performance evidence for referred students. The committee
				shall consider input from a professional who knows the child. The committee
				shall include classroom teachers, assessment specialists, gifted program staff,
				school administrators, or others with credentials or experience in gifted
				education. The committee shall (i) review data from multiple sources selected
				and used consistently within the division to assess students' aptitudes in the
				areas of giftedness the school division serves, (ii) determine whether a
				student is eligible for the division's services, and (iii) determine which of
				the school division's service options match the learning needs of the eligible
				student. The committee may review valid and reliable data administered by
				another division for a transfer student who has been identified previously.
1. Identification of students for the gifted
				education program shall be based on multiple criteria established by the school
				division and designed to seek out those students with superior aptitudes,
				including students for whom accurate identification may be affected because
				they are economically disadvantaged, have limited English proficiency, or have
				a disability. Data shall include scores from valid and reliable instruments
				that assess students' potential for advanced achievement, as well as
				instruments that assess demonstrated advanced skills, conceptual knowledge, and
				problem-solving aptitudes.
2. Valid
				and reliable data for each referred student shall be examined by the
				building-level or division-level identification and placement committee. The
				committee shall determine the eligibility of each referred student for the
				school division's gifted education services. Students who are found eligible by
				the identification and placement committee shall be offered service options
				with appropriately differentiated curriculum and instruction by the school
				division.
3. The identification
				process used by each school division must ensure that no single criterion is
				used to determine a student's eligibility. The identification process shall
				include at least three measures from the following categories:
a. Assessment of appropriate student
				products, performance, or portfolio;
b. Record of observation of in-classroom
				behavior;
c. Appropriate rating
				scales, checklists, or questionnaires;
d. Individual interview;
e. Individually administered or
				group-administered, nationally norm-referenced aptitude or achievement
				tests;
f. Record of previous
				accomplishments (such as awards, honors, grades, etc.); or
g. Additional valid and reliable measures or
				procedures.
4. If a
				program is designed to address general intellectual aptitude, an individually
				administered or group-administered, nationally norm-referenced aptitude test
				shall be included as one of the three measures used in the school division's
				identification procedure.
5. If a
				program is designed to address specific academic aptitude, an individually
				administered or group-administered, nationally norm-referenced aptitude or
				achievement test shall be included as one of the three measures used in the
				school division's identification procedures.
6. If a program is designed to address either
				the visual or performing arts or career and technical aptitude, a portfolio or
				other performance assessment measure in the specific aptitude area shall be
				included as a part of the data reviewed by the identification and placement
				committee.