Pickens High School Faculty

REFERRAL PROCEDURES

    A student may be referred for consideration for gifted educational services by teachers, counselors, administrators, parents or guardians, peers, self, and other individuals with knowledge of the student's abilities.  Students who score at specified levels on a norm referenced test as described by local policy shall be considered automatically.

    Automatic referral is with 96% ile or better on mental ability test and/or 90% or better in total math or total reading or total battery on a nationally normed achievement test.

QUALIFICATION FOR SERVICES

   Qualification for services will be determined by performance in three out of the four of the following areas:

                                            a.  Mental Ability
                                            b.  Achievement
                                            c.  Creativity
                                            d.  Motivation

   The criteria for each of these are outlined in the Board of Education Policy IDDD and can be accessed at this website:

BOE Gifted Policy   
STATE                                  http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ci_iap_gifted.aspx

SERVICES

   Gifted service is provided by resource class, collaborative teaching, advanced content class, cluster grouping, and joint enrollment/PSO class as determined by individual schools and age level of students.

 

This chart shows the step by step progression for a gifted nominee.

1--Gifted Flow Chart.doc

The high school has several ways in which a student may participate in the gifted program—the Collaborative Model, the Advanced Content Model, and the Advanced Placement Model.

In the Collaborative Model, a facilitator works with the teacher to decide whether a student would benefit from participating in the Discovery program for this particular class.  If this is the case, the student is offered a contract to sign which is also signed by the facilitator of the gifted and the regular education teacher.  After that, the facilitator and the regular education teacher meet as needed to discuss differentiation of instruction though enrichment activities, projects, reports, computer labs and other appropriate assignments.  The facilitator might even be in the classroom to observe or listen to presentations.

In the Advanced Content Model, the teacher in a particular field is also a certified gifted teacher.  At this point, the High School has certified gifted teachers in the areas of Math, English and Science and Social Studies.  Courses that they teach include Honors Physical Science, Chemistry, Honors Biology, Honors World History, Honors English 9, Honors Algebra II and Calculus.

In the Advanced Placement Model, the teachers have had workshops to better enable them to help students pass the Advanced Placement tests which may help a student exempt a class in college.  Courses that are usually taught include AP World History, AP US History, AP Biology, AP English and AP Calculus.

For each Model, the regular education teacher and the facilitator meet together to discuss a student's ability, motivation, potential, grades and progress—these discussions continue throughout the course and are culminated with evaluations from the regular education teacher which are incorporated into annual reviews.

The Gifted Program at Pickens High School, "The Discovery Program," encourages the identified gifted student to "discover" his or her potential, both academically and personally, by challenging him/her in Honors, Advanced Content Honors, and AP classes.  The Guidance Office has a list of these advanced classes, which usually includes courses in all four academic areas.

When an identified gifted student participates in these classes, his/her regular education teacher and the facilitator of the Discovery program get together to discuss ability, motivation, potential, grades and progress. If it is felt that he/she would benefit from participating in the Discovery program, he/she is then offered, in some cases, a contract to sign. (If he/she is in an Advanced Content Honors course or an AP course, he/she may not be required to sign a contract.)  After that, the facilitator of the Discovery program begins working with the teacher to encourage differentiation in the student's instruction through enrichment activities, projects, reports, computer labs and other appropriate assignments.  This student may be in the facilitator's computer lab for research or online activities; or the facilitator might even be in the student's classroom to observe or listen to presentations.

A student's progress in the program is reviewed periodically. If for any reason, he/she starts to have any problems (and sometimes, even if he/she is  not having any problems),  the Discovery facilitator may call him/her in for a conference—these are conducted as needed, but especially at progress report and report card times. 

A determination of continuation in the program will be made annually. The parent/guardian of the gifted student will be informed in writing should their child's continued placement in the program be in jeopardy.  If it is determined that their child is to be withdrawn from the Discovery Program, prior notice will be given.

A gifted student is encouraged to participate in the Discovery Program at the high school level by making sure that he/she takes as many Honors, Advanced Content Honors, and AP classes that his/her abilities, motivation and potential will allow.  Guidance by parent/guardian, teachers, and counselors is an essential part of this process.

1. Satisfactory performance in regular education shall be based on a student's maintenance of passing grades in all subjects according to the regular standards of the system and an overall 3.0 (B) average in all core subjects for the current School Year.  

2. Satisfactory performance in the gifted model shall be based on the recommendation of the teacher of the gifted, with such recommendation to be based on active participation, required products, and behavior.  

3. Any student who fails to meet the continuation criteria (1 and/or 2 above) will be placed on probation for an entire School Year.  At the end of the probationary period, the student's status regarding the continuation criteria will be reviewed.  

4. A student is terminated from the program when the terms of the continuation policy criteria are not met.  

5. A student may re-enter the program after completion of at least one semester following termination if the student meets the continuation policy for satisfactory performance in regular education. 

6. A student may withdraw from the gifted program for reason other than not meeting the continuation policy criteria.  In such cases, a student must meet criterion #1 above for reentry.  

7. Students who fail to demonstrate satisfactory performance in both regular and gifted education models at the end of the probation period and for whom gifted services are no longer appropriate, shall have a final review before termination of services occurs.  Parents shall be notified in writing of this review and that withdrawal is necessary.