Chapter 14: Gifted and Talented Students

(RCSA Section 10-76d-9)

Identification of Children Who Are Gifted and Talented

The District is required to identify and evaluate students who may have gifted or talented abilities. The identification and evaluation of students who may have gifted or talented abilities is included in the special education services provided to students enrolled in public schools in Connecticut.⁸⁷, ⁸⁸ It is not a requirement found in the IDEA.

Students in grades Kindergarten through Grade 12 enrolled in the District who may be gifted and talented are identified, referred to, and evaluated through a specific process. While identification is mandated under state law, offering specialized programming is not. The District may, but is not required to, provide services to those students identified as gifted and talented. A statement related to the District’s policy on the provision of services to those students identified as gifted and talented may be found at the conclusion of this chapter.⁸⁹ The District may identify up to ten percent of its total school population as gifted and talented.

Procedures for Identification of Students who are Gifted and Talented⁹⁰

The District will evaluate and identify gifted and talented children using the PPT process as follows:

1. Parents will be notified in writing when the student is referred to the PPT for consideration of identification of gifted and talented.
2. Parents will be notified in writing if the student has met the criteria for eligibility as gifted and talented.
3. The District may conduct PPT meetings on groups of students for whom evaluation and identification as gifted and talented are planned.
4. If the District recommends further evaluations and use an individual assessment procedure (e.g., an individual intelligence test), certain procedures must be followed:
   1. Written parental consent will be secured before a child is individually evaluated for identification as gifted and talented. Individual assessment requires proper notice and informed consent.
   2. Parents will be notified that their child has been referred for evaluation and written consent for the evaluation must be obtained.
   3. Parents will be informed of the results of the evaluation and informed whether or not the child has been identified as gifted and talented.
5. The District may use individual evaluations or group assessment and evaluations to identify gifted and talented children. The District will determine this on an as needed basis.
6. If group assessment procedures are used to identify gifted and talented students, consent to perform such assessments may not be required. Group assessments (e.g. achievement tests) given to all students within a District are nonspecific and do not require consent. If a group of students are to be evaluated, specifically, to determine identification as gifted and talented, then the District will provide notice to the parents and consent will be obtained.
7. If individualized assessment procedures are used, an individual PPT may be held with the parents to discuss eligibility. However, the District is not required to hold an individual PPT meeting with parent(s), since an IEP will not be developed.
8. For purposes of determining eligibility where either individual and/or group assessments are used, the District may choose to convene a single PPT meeting for the purpose of reviewing student assessment data and to identify a group of gifted and talented students. This will be determined by the District on an as needed basis.
9. The District will make available to parents any education records related to their child, including records related to the determination of the child’s identification as gifted and talented.
10. The District recognizes that, if at any time in the evaluation process the parents disagree with the decisions of the PPT, the parents have the right to challenge those decisions by requesting a due process hearing.
11. The District recognizes that the parents have the right to obtain an independent evaluation of their child, at their own expense, conducted by a certified person not employed by the District.
12. The District recognizes that it is not required to provide programming for children identified as gifted and talented. Instead, programming is permissive.
13. A local or regional board of education shall, upon the identification of a student as gifted and talented, provide electronic notice of such identification to the parent or guardian of such student. Such notice shall include, but need not be limited to, (1) an explanation of how such student was identified as gifted and talented, and (2) the contact information for (A) the employee of the District in charge of the provision of services to gifted and talented students, or, if there is no such employee at that time, the employee of the District in charge of the provision of special education and related services, (B) the employee at the Department of Education who has been designated as responsible for providing information and assistance to boards of education and parents of students related to gifted and talented students, and (C) any associations in the state that provide support to gifted and talented students.

PPT Membership for Gifted and Talented

The District recognizes that PPTs may be conducted on groups of students for whom evaluation and identification as gifted and talented are planned. For students who have been referred to determine eligibility as gifted and talented, or who have been previously identified by a PPT as being gifted and talented, the PPT membership will be composed of a group of certified and/or licensed professionals, who represent each of the teaching, administrative and pupil personnel staffs and who participate equally in the decision-making process.⁹¹

Chapter 14 Appendix

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87. Public Act 19-184, Section 7: AN ACT CONCERNING THE PROVISION OF SPECIAL EDUCATION
88. CSDE Gifted and Talented Education Guidance
89. A statement as to whether or not the District provides services to those students identified as gifted and talented and, if provided, a description of those available services are included at the end of this chapter.
90. This section may be customized according to the District’s process if different from the process described in the model.
91. https://portal.ct.gov/SDE/Gifted-and-Talented/Identifying-gifted-and-talented-children-in-CT/Regulations