Gifted Education Program

An IEP is an Individualized Education Program written specifically for a student's unique needs. The IEP describes the student's present level of functioning and includes goals that guide the unique cognitive and affective needs of a gifted student. Students and parents are included in the IEP planning process, offer input to the IEP, and approve the content written in the document. Gifted education is a part of special education in Kansas and as such it must comply with the laws set forth in IDEA 2004 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). Each parent is provided with a copy of the "Parents Rights in Special Education," also known as the procedural safeguards, which describes the legal aspects of the IEP process.

Intellectual giftedness is someone who is capable of high performance in many areas due to a set of individual characteristics, such as persistent intellectual curiosity, considerable depth of knowledge in multiple areas, high level of critical and abstract thinking, concern for world problems and/or fairness, and an unusually high intensity and/or depth of feeling. On the other hand, academic talent is a specific aptitude in one or more academic areas due to an innate understanding and/or highly developed practice. For instance, a student may be academically talented in math or writing.

First, the SBST attempts to meet the child’s needs in a regular classroom. Observations of the student are made and the team will determine if further testing is necessary based on various pieces of evidence. The school psychologist contacts the parent(s) to get permission to test. Once permission is given, a testing session(s) is scheduled to give the appropriate intellectual test to determine the IQ. The team then reviews results and determines if the child meets eligibility requirements for gifted services in Andover. Parents, school psychologist, classroom teacher, administrator or designee, and gifted facilitator make up the IEP team to determine placement. The student can also be part of this team.

Testing is completed as part of the comprehensive evaluation on an individual child. The gifted program is part of special education. If the Student Based Support Team (SBST) determines that a child could benefit from ELP (Extended Learning Program), the school psychologist administers an individual intelligence test provided by Butler County Special Education Cooperative. Andover Public Schools requires that to be identified as “gifted,” a student must score in the 95th percentile rank or higher on an achievement test and have a composite score at the 97th percentile rank or higher, on the intelligence test. The classroom teacher will also complete a gifted characteristics checklist and a product rating for the child.

Once identified as gifted, the child may remain in the program until graduation. Each year, a student’s needs will be determined and an Individual Education Plan will be written to reflect the needs of the child.

Because the definition of giftedness varies from state to state and district to district, the school’s Student Based Support Team will evaluate the past record of any student who has been identified as a gifted learner in another district. Placement decisions will be made on the basis of the identification process established by Andover Schools.

• Bringing Out the Best , A Resource Guide for Parents of Young Gifted Children, by Jacquelyn Saunders
• Gifted Children, by Virginia Ehrlich
• Gifted Kids Survival Guide for Ages 10 and Under, by Judy Galbraith
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• Gifted Kids Survival Guide II, by James Delisle and Judy Galbraith
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• Perfectionism, (What's bad about being too good?), by Miriam Aderholdt-Elliott
• Raising Champions : A Parents' Guide for Nurturing Their Gifted Children, by Michael Sayler
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• Acceleration for Gifted Learners, K-5, by Joan Franklin Smutny, Sally Y. Walker, Elizabeth A. Meckstroth
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• And Still We Rise: The Trials and Triumphs of Twelve Gifted Inner City High School Students, by Corwin, Miles
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• Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools You Should Know About Even If You're Not a Straight-A Student, by Pope, Loren
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• Counseling the Gifted and Talented, by Silverman, Linda Kreger
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• http://creatinginnovators.com/

Gifted or potentially gifted students usually differ from classmates on three key dimensions:

1. the pace at which they learn
2. the depth of their understanding
3. the interests that they hold

Maker, C.J.,Curriculum Development for the Gifted, 1982.

The following is a list of characteristics typical of gifted children including positive and negative behaviors which may be exhibited. A child could exhibit both positive and negative behaviors of a characteristic depending on the environment. Also, many children exhibit these characteristics at various times. A child identified as gifted will exhibit many of the characteristics on a regular basis. The child needs to learn to modify negative behaviors.

Excerpt from What to Expect When You're Raising a Gifted Child: A Handbook for Parents of Gifted Children, published by the Ohio Association for Gifted Children.

• Gifted students are a homogeneous group, all high achievers. 
• Gifted students do not need help: If they are really gifted, they can manage on their own.
• Gifted students have fewer problems than others because their intelligence and abilities somehow exempt them from the hassles of daily life.
• The future of a gifted student is assured: A world of opportunities lies before the student.
• Gifted students are self-directed: They know where they are heading.
• The social and emotional development of the gifted student is at the same level as his or her intellectual development.
• Gifted underachievers need to be pushed to try harder; they need to get organized.
• Gifted students are social isolates.
• Gifted students are like cream that rises to the top in a classroom.
• Gifted kids are so smart they do fine with or without special programs.
• Gifted and talented means the same thing.
• Gifted students should achieve to high standards in the classroom.
• The primary value of the gifted student lies in his or her brainpower.
• The gifted student’s family always prizes his or her abilities.
• Gifted students need to serve as examples to others and should always assume extra responsibility.
• Gifted students can accomplish anything they put their minds to. All they have to do is apply themselves.
• Gifted students are naturally creative and do not need encouragement.
• Gifted students are easy to raise and a welcome addition to any classroom.

Adapted from College Planning for Gifted Students, 2nd edition, by Sandra Berger, 1994.

Parenting and working successfully with gifted students to facilitate realization of their potential requires that we understand each individual student’s social and emotional perspective. If we do not understand the student’s full range of social and emotional needs, we may not be able to assist the student in his/her pursuit of sustained academic rigor in individual interest areas. The social/emotional realm is “a topic that is critical to the healthy development of gifted youngsters. However, it is a painful and elusive subject for so many of our gifted young people. An observer, not familiar with the characteristics of giftedness, might think that above-average intelligence, ability, and talent would produce a high sense of self, enabling children to feel secure and pleased with themselves. But we who work and live with bright children know that the opposite is too often the case. Their age peers don’t usually connect to the, thinking they are weird or ‘geeks.’ Their teachers may expect them to conform to grade-level requirements, following a prescribed, but confining curriculum. At times even their parents don’t understand their mood swings – from great job to uncontrollable tears, their sense of inadequacy, and their intense concentration on interests to the exclusion of everything else.”

Galbraith, Judy and Delisle, James. The Gifted Kids Survival Guide: A Teen Handbook, 1996 . Webb, James T. Guiding the Gifted Child, 1989.

“Why is my child failing classes when he is so smart?”

There is perhaps no situation more frustrating for parents or teachers than living or working with children who do not perform as well academically as their potential indicates. These children are labeled as underachievers. At what point does underachievement end and achievement begin? Is a gifted student who is failing mathematics while doing superior work in reading an underachiever? Does underachievement occur suddenly, or is it better defined as a series of poor performances over an extended time period? Certainly, the phenomenon of underachievement is as complex and multifaceted as the children to whom this label has been applied. The characteristic most frequently and consistently found among gifted underachievers is low self-esteem. Related to this is their sense of low personal control over their own lives. If they fail at a task, they blame their lack of ability. If they succeed, they may attribute their success to luck, accepting responsibility for failure but not for success. Students with low-self esteem tend to have avoidance behavior, rebel against authority, expectations of low grades and perfectionism. These behaviors, among others, serve as defense mechanisms for the underachieving child. Underachieving children protect their self-esteem by avoiding effort and achievement in order to justify their failure. Some of the characteristics associated with gifted underachievers are poor study habits, problems with peers, home and school discipline problems and a tendency to exhibit an “I don’t care attitude.” They tend to forget homework, dawdle, lose assignments and misplace books; they daydream, don’t listen, look out the window or talk too much to other children. Other underachievers are more concerned about finishing first than doing quality work and will hurry through assignments and make careless errors. Children are not born underachievers. It is a learned behavioral pattern, which can be reversed. The reversal of this pattern takes the combined efforts of parents, teachers, and the student understanding and applying proper strategies and techniques. Contact the gifted facilitator in your school for assistance if you suspect your child is an underachiever.

Rimm, Sylvia, Why Bright Kids Get Poor Grades, 1995

The Kansas State Department of Education provides the following information related to Special Education services for gifted students in Kansas: 

"Gifted" as defined in K.A.R. 91-40-1(cc) means performing or demonstrating the potential for performing at significantly higher levels of accomplishment in one or more academic fields due to intellectual ability, when compared to others of similar age, experience and environment.

For the purpose of identifying those students who are eligible to receive Gifted Education Services, Andover School District further defines giftedness using a research-based list of attributes typically found in individuals who have a high degree of intellectual ability. Students who display many of these attributes and needs that cannot be met in the general education classroom will be evaluated for identification as a gifted learner.

The gifted learner:

• displays superior problem solving skills
• demonstrates persistent intellectual curiosity
• shows initiative and originality in intellectual work 
• asks searching questions 
• exhibits a high level of conceptual understanding
• displays considerable depth of knowledge in multiple areas
• demonstrates ability to generate original ideas and solutions
• shows persistence
• is able to master grade-level work easily
• exhibits a high level of critical thinking
• displays a high level of abstract thinking
• demonstrates concern for world problems and/or fairness
• exhibits high moral judgment
• displays unusually high intensity and/or depth of feeling
• displays uneven levels of development (e.g. highly intelligent, yet socially, behaviorally, or physically immature)
• expresses feelings of being different
• sets high expectations for self and others
• displays highly developed sense of humor
• needs intense and sustained academic and/or affective support

The process for identifying students who are eligible to receive Gifted Education Services in Andover is driven by data gathered from a variety of information sources.

Gifted Education Services in Kansas

kansas Special Education Process Handbook

Prufrock Press

Gifted Psychology Press, Inc.

Critical & Creative Thinking for the Gifted

National Geographic

Free Spirit Publishing

Kagan

Bits and Pieces

SENG (Supporting the Emotional Needs of Gifted)

Great Potential Press - Guiding Gifted Learners

National Association for Gifted Children

Council for Exceptional Children

The Association for the Gifted