Gifted Education
West Plains School District Gifted Program
Program Goals
The Missouri Learning Standards approved by the Missouri State Board of Education in May of 2016, provide the basis for the goals of the Gifted Program. The Missouri Learning Standards define the knowledge and skills students need in each grade level and course for success in college, other post-secondary training and careers. These goals and standards provide students with support and structure for finding challenge in the school environment. Meeting these goals and standards will also ensure that students will leave the West Plains School District having a solid foundation of knowledge, skills, and competencies that are essential to leading productive and fulfilling lives. It is the mission of the West Plains School District to provide “Excellence in Education, Service, Life.”
Program Rationale
All pupils have special talents and abilities. The mission of the West Plains School District is Excellence in Education, Service, Life. Programs for identified gifted students are a result of this mission and this commitment. Giftedness is an indication of ability; it is not an automatic guarantee of success. In addition to a student’s potential, teachers, parents, and administrators must exert their own creative and intellectual abilities to challenge and motivate gifted students. Services to gifted students exist to provide gifted students with both challenging and diverse opportunities to prepare them for the future.
Program Design
The West Plains School District is committed to providing an educational program in which students may grow to become productive and contributing members of society. The Gifted Program is designed to provide an array of learning opportunities that help students realize their potential, instills a desire to develop their talents and abilities, and encourages scholastic rigor.
Elementary Program (Grades 1 – 4) and South Fork (Grade 1-6)
Students in grades one through six participate in a "pull out" program known as S.O.A.R. The S.O.A.R. (Students Organizing and Researching) program provides services for students in first thru fourth grade at West Plains elementary and grades first thru sixth grade at South Fork Elementary. This program provides pull-out services for 150 minutes per week. A certified gifted specialist provides a curriculum that focuses on communication, research skills, thinking skills and problem solving, creative expression, and effective education The S.O.A.R. program also endeavors to make its resources available to the regular classroom teachers. Materials may be checked out by classroom teachers for use in their classrooms. S.O.A.R. students, at classroom teacher request, develop and provide presentations to supplement classroom lessons. Teachers are invited to the S.O.A.R. classroom for in-service on gifted characteristics, appropriate materials and activities.
Middle School Program (Grade 5 – 8)
Students in grades seven through eight participate in a program known as S.E.A.R.C.H. (Students Exploring Analyzing Researching Creating Hypothesis). Students meet with a certified gifted teacher during their elective period each day. Gifted students are placed in a special Reading class that provides instruction aligned with the Missouri Learning Standards but also allows opportunities for gifted enrichment including the areas of communication, research skills, thinking skills and problem solving, creative expression, and effective education. Students who have been previously served by the S.O.A.R. program are eligible to participate in the middle school gifted classes without further identification processes. A student not previously placed in the gifted program may be screened as identified in the assessment section.
High School Program (Grades 9 – 12)
At the high school level, services to the gifted population are provided through a gifted resource educator. This gifted resource counselor is available each day to assist students who participate in the Gifted Services Program.
State Law
By law and tradition, Missouri school systems are expected to provide programs of instruction suitable for the full range of student ability, from students with disabilities through those who are academically advanced. In 1973, the Missouri General Assembly recognized that there are a limited number of academically advanced students whose mental capacity and learning potential are so advanced that they need services beyond the level of those ordinarily provided. As a result, that same year, the General Assembly authorized the state program for gifted students. In so doing, the General Assembly did not intend to diminish in any way the regular program of instruction or to supplant existing programs for the academically advanced students. The intent was clearly to support special efforts to increase the educational opportunities available for students who are identified as gifted.
The state special education law (Missouri House Bill 474) enacted in 1973, authorized the State Board of Education to establish standards for special programs for gifted students. The following sections of state law pertain to gifted education programs:
Section 162.675, RSMo defines gifted children as "those children who exhibit precocious development of mental capacity and learning potential as determined by competent professional evaluation to the extent that continued educational growth and stimulation could best be served by an academic environment beyond that offered through a standard grade level curriculum."
Section 162.720, RSMo states that school districts may establish programs for gifted children "where a sufficient number of children are determined to be gifted and their development requires programs or services beyond the level of those ordinarily provided in regular public school programs . . ." and states that the State Board of Education "shall determine standards for such programs. Approval of such programs shall be made by the State Department of Education based upon project applications submitted each year."
In 2008, the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children was enacted to facilitate transition of military children:
The compact states (Section 160.2000, RSMo) that “the receiving state school shall initially honor placement of the student in educational programs based on current educational assessments conducted at the school in the sending state or participation/placement in like programs in the sending state. Such programs include but are not limited to 1) gifted and talented programs; and 2) English as a second language (ESL). This does not preclude the school in the receiving state from performing subsequent evaluations to ensure appropriate placement of the student.”
Effective August 28, 2012, Section 160.1990, RSMo was implemented to facilitate transition of foster children:
“The receiving school shall initially honor placement of a foster care student in educational programs based on current educational assessments conducted at the sending school or participation or placement in like programs in the sending school. Such programs include, but are not limited to, gifted and talented programs and English as a second language (ESL). This requirement does not preclude the receiving school from performing subsequent evaluations to ensure appropriate placement of the student.”
Starting with the 2012-2013 school year, legislation requires districts to report: “whether the school district currently has a state-approved gifted education program, and the percentage and number of students who are currently being served in the district's state-approved gifted education program” and this information appears on their annual report card. (Section 160.522, RSMo)
In 2013, the Advisory Council on the Education of Gifted and Talented Children was established with Section 161.249, RSMo. The Council has seven members, and two alternates, appointed by the Commissioner of Education. Members serve for a term of four years and alternates serve for a term of one year. Members must be Missouri residents and are selected based on their knowledge and experience with the education of gifted and talented children. The Council provides advice to the Commissioner and State Board of Education regarding all rules and policies relating to the education of gifted and talented children.
In 2016, state law (Section 163.031.6 RSMo) requires a withholding for districts who experience a significant drop in identified and served gifted students:
“In the 2017-18 school year and in each subsequent school year, if a district experiences a decrease in its gifted program enrollment of twenty percent or more from the previous school year, an amount equal to the product of the difference between the number of students enrolled in the gifted program in the current school year and the number of students enrolled in the gifted program in the previous school year multiplied by six hundred eighty dollars shall be subtracted from the district's current year payment amount. The provisions of this subdivision shall apply to districts entitled to receive state aid payments under both subsections 1 and 2 of this section but shall not apply to any school district with an average daily attendance of three hundred fifty or less.”
The payment adjustment provision was first implemented in the 2017-2018 school year. To determine the payment adjustments, desk audits are completed using the data submitted by districts in their October Missouri Student Information System (MOSIS) Student Information files indicating if a student is identified as gifted and currently being served in a state approved gifted. Districts with state approved gifted programs need to accurately complete the required core data and MOSIS information about these programs to ensure compliance with the provisions of this legislation.
In 2018, the review policy and acceleration policy were passed into law:
According to Section 162.720.4 RSMo, “any district with a gifted education program…shall have a policy, approved by the board of education of the district, that establishes a process that outlines the procedures and conditions under which parents or guardians may request a review of the decision that determined that their child did not qualify to receive services through the district's gifted education program.”
According to Section 162.722, “each school district shall establish a policy, approved by the board of education of that district, that allows acceleration for students who demonstrate: (1) advanced performance or potential for advanced performance and (2) the social and emotional readiness for acceleration. The policy shall allow, for students described in this section, at least the following types of acceleration (1) subject acceleration; and (2) whole grade acceleration.
Scope of Gifted Programs
In accordance with the definition of giftedness, which is set forth in the law, the programs for the gifted will be in the general academic areas and/or in the fine arts. It should be recognized that gifted students are capable of outstanding performance in one or more academic areas and may also display outstanding ability in one or more of the fine arts. It is further recognized that outstanding intellectual, creative thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving abilities contribute singly and in various combinations to such performance. Consequently, school systems will need to assess a variety of student abilities and to design appropriate program services that will challenge and develop these abilities.
It is important to note that state approved gifted programs are designed for a continuum of gifted learners, regardless of academic achievement. While some gifted students achieve at a high level, there are gifted students who struggle academically, socially, and/or emotionally and come from diverse backgrounds. State approved gifted programs are intended for students whose needs are not met in existing school programs because of their precocious capacity and learning potential. The task is to identify these students and to provide educational opportunities that will challenge and develop their abilities.