GIFTED AND TALENTED EDUCATION PROGRAM

Since 1987, state law has required that all Texas school districts have educational programs to serve the needs of gifted and talented students and that programs be available in all districts and at all grades. Gifted and talented students are characterized as having high levels of achievement, intellectual and academic ability, creativity, leadership skills and talent in the visual and performing arts.

Districts are required to have a systematic process for identifying gifted and talented students. TEA issues guidelines for the identification of gifted and talented students in an effort to ensure that these students receive a quality education. The process must include quantitative as well as

qualitative evaluation tools and instruments. Funding for the identification of gifted and talented students and programs is available through the Texas Foundation School Program. This program is intended to provide gifted and talented programs for students from various cultural, linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

EISD and all peer districts have enrollments in the gifted and talented program lower than the regional and state averages (Exhibit 2-55). EISD has a higher percentage than all but one of the peer districts.

Exhibit 2-55

EISD, Peer District, Region 13 and State Students in Gifted and Talented Program as a Percent of Total Enrollment

1998-99

Entity Gifted and Talented State 8.4% Region 13 7.7% Leander 7.6% Elgin 5.6% Bastrop 5.5% Manor 4.8% Taylor 4.5% Del Valle 2.8%

Source: TEA, AEIS 1998-99.

EISD expenditures for the gifted and talented program (G/T) are described in Exhibit 2-56. Total expenditures and per-student expenditures

increased by 60 and 23.8 percent respectively since 1995-96. The number of students in the program increased by 29.6 percent during the same period.

Exhibit 2-56

EISD Expenditures for the Gifted and Talented Education Program 1995-96 through 1999-2000 Category 1995-96 Actual 1996-97 Actual 1997-98 Actual 1998-99 Actual 1999- 2000 Budget Percentage Change Gifted and talented expenditures $92,526 $113,752 $74,652 $128,137 $148,360 60.0% Gifted and talented students served 125 120 139 148 162 29.6% Gifted and talented Expenditures per student $740 $948 $537 $866 $916 23.8%

Source: TEA, PEIMS 1995-96-1998-99 and EISD.

The EISD Gifted Education program (Discovery) serves students in grades 1-8 who are performing, or have the potential to perform, at very high levels relative to their peers. The elementary and middle schools serve G/T identified students in pull-out programs also. In a pull-out program,

students leave a regular classroom to join students from other classrooms to receive instruction from a G/T-certified specialist. In grades K-1, G/T students attend G/T classes one day each week for three hours. In grades 2-3 the G/T students attend G/T class once per week for 4.5 hours. The emphasis is on problem solving, whole brain approaches to learning and task commitment. The curriculum includes content-specific instruction, which incorporates creative, intellectual and leadership skills. High school students enroll in pre-advanced placement and advanced placement

Teachers, counselors, parents or other interested persons nominate students for Discovery after completion of the Scales for Rating the

Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students evaluation. Special effort

is made to secure nominations of students who have special needs. The nomination process for services provided is ongo ing with screening of students occurring no less than twice each year.

Students who meet initial screening criteria are evaluated for the program based on a combination of achievement test scores, aptitude test scores, teacher and parent ratings and a creativity test score (Exhibit 2-57).

Exhibit 2-57

Criteria Used to Qualify Students for the EISD Gifted and Talented Program

Criteria Test Score

Achievement TAAS or

Iowa Test of Basic Skills

Score in the top 1-3% 96th percentile on the total score

Aptitude/Intelligence Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test or Raven

Score in the top 1-3% 96th percentile Teacher Ratings Behavioral characteristic

checklist

Score in the top 1-3% 96th percentile Parent Ratings Behavioral characteristic

checklist

Score in the top 1-3% 96th percentile Creativity Test Torrence Score in the top 1-3%

96th percentile

Source: EISD Gifted and Talented Manual.

The principal at each school is responsible for organizing a Screening and Selection Committee composed of a school administrator, teachers form each school grade level, a counselor and the G/T coordinator who will chair the committee. Students who do not qualify for the program but have a high screening performance may file for formal reconsideration.

The selection committee places students who are unable to maintain satisfactory performance in the program on furlough. The purpose of such a furlough is to provide the student an opportunity to attain performance goals established by the selection committee. The student and/or parent request a furlough. A furlough is granted for nine weeks, a semester or the remainder of the school year as deemed appropriate by the selection

committee. If the student is not ready to reenter the program at the end of the furlough, the student is taken out of the program.

FINDING

Minority students are not represented in the gifted and talented program in percentages commensurate to their percent of the overall student

population. About one-fourth of the program's participants are minority students while more than 55 percent of the district's enrollment are minority students (Exhibit 2-58).

Exhibit 2-58

EISD Gifted and Talented Program Enrollment Percentage by Ethnicity Compared to Total Enrollment by School

December 1999

School Anglo African

American Hispanic Other Elgin

High School

Total enrollment 49.5% 14.1% 35.8%

G/T enrollment 13.3% 4.7% 1.5%

Washington Junior High School

Total enrollment 48.5% 11.6% 40.0%

G/T enrollment 11.8% 3.9% 3.8%

Elgin Elementary School

Total enrollment 44.1% 16.2% 37.9%

G/T enrollment 8.5% 0.0% 4.6%

Elgin Primary School

Total enrollment 39.6% 15.0% 44.8%

G/T enrollment 5.7% 1.5% 2.1%

Total

Total enrollment 45.1% 13.9% 40.2% 0.8% G/T enrollment 74.7% 6.2% 17.9% 0%

In response to a 1998 complaint with the Office of Civil Rights, EISD is attempting to increase the representation of minorities in the gifted and talented education program. EISD prepared a brochure in both English and Spanish to explain the G/T program and its benefits. EISD distributed these brochures and made presentations at parent education meetings, the African American Parent Committee and the Chamber of Commerce to encourage nominations of minority students.

After testing, a Talent Pool is formed. These students meet with the G/T teacher to work on creative skills and analogies once each week for one hour over 12 weeks. For students who do not initially qualify, a procedure is in place for formal reconsideration. Formal reconsideration may be filed for the following reasons: the student's home language is not English, the student has a disability or scores four or better on three of the six criteria. Several districts use alternative instruments to identify minority students for the G/T program. Galveston ISD uses Aprenda, which is the Spanish equivalent of the Stanford Achievement Test. Alief ISD uses the

Woodcock Munos, the Spanish version of the Woodcock Johnson verbal IQ test. Alief ISD is ame nding its criteria to use only one unified

nonverbal intelligence test, Naglieri, for all students. Rather than having a definitive cut-off score for qualifying, Alief ISD awards differentiated points from the seventh stanine through the ninth stanine.

The State Plan for the Education of Gifted/Talented Students, published by

TEA, provides guidelines for student assessment. The Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented and the Region 13 Education Service Center also can provide assistance.

Recommendation 13:

Amend G/T assessment criteria to ensure that all student populations have access to G/T assessment and services.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND TIMELINE