It goes without saying that schools must keep meticulous records for students who go through the gifted identification process, just as they would for students who are connected to other specialized programs such as special education or English Learner programs (though, admittedly, those two programs are federally mandated, whereas gifted programs are only state mandated). Each state has different regulations of the types of records that must be kept in students’ cumulative files (whether paper-based or electronic), and for how long those records must be kept. In addition to state regulation, each school division in the state might include additional requirements that are important to the division. Finally, in addition to division requirements, gifted programs might have even further record-keeping protocols that they require. Accurate student records ensure that schools have the correct chronology of student events, and that if a student ever moves, their new school will be able to know a lot about the student right away and provide the appropriate services for the student in a timely manner.

In my school division, all parts of the gifted identification process must be documented on an official Student Profile Sheet, and that original sheet with committee member signatures, a signed Determination Letter, Parent Permission Forms, and any Appeals letters must all be kept in the student’s cumulative school file in the school’s front office records vault. The cumulative file follows the student through graduation, ensuring that his or her gifted records remain accessible if ever needed by the school or the parents. Does your school division require similar gifted program records to be kept? If so, please let us know in the comments!

Imagine this: you open up your monthly water bill and see that your bill is inexplicably $555.93 when normally it’s around $30 a month. (By the way, I didn’t just make up this amount. This ACTUALLY happened to me when I opened my mother’s water bill one month last year- ugh!) What is the first thing you do?

Call the water company and appeal the bill!

I know, duh, right? Nobody is going to accept a $555.93 monthly water bill without checking out what happened and appealing for a lower bill. Well, often, the same is true for parents opening that gifted determination letter and seeing that their child was found not eligible for gifted services. They want to know why their child did not qualify for the gifted program, and then they want you to re-evaluate the determination.

Any gifted program worth its salt will have an appeals process in place for parents to utilize when they think an incorrect determination was made. In fact, most state legislature regarding gifted education requires that school divisions create an appeals process for families. A typical appeals process requires that parents meet with the school’s Gifted Resource Teacher first to go over the determination results. Then, if the parent would still like, they may request an appeals review in writing, after which the school division will convene an appeals committee to hear the appeal, make an appeals determination, and notify the parents of the appeals determination. Parents are a part of the appeals process, unlike in the eligibility process where only parent input is typically used.

Though an appeals meeting may feel uncomfortable, gifted staff should realize that the parents are just being strong advocates for their child. Schools can help make appeals less likely by conducting a transparent gifted identification process and keeping parents informed of the types of testing done, when it will be done, the results of the testing, and the criteria for gifted identification and placement in gifted services.

It’s important to note that parents will often share information about their child during the appeals meeting that the Identification/Placement Committee did not know.  These things can tip the scales toward a favorable appeals determination. Thus, an appeals meeting could possibly have been avoided if the school had used a thorough Parent Input Form so that the Identification/Placement Committee would have had the most complete information possible about the referred student when making its determination.

Have you participated in the appeals process before? What tips do you have for Gifted Resource Teachers and/or for parents? Let us know in the comments!

Last time, we talked about who sits on the committee that makes the determination of a student’s gifted eligibility. But, what do they do? The Identification/Placement Committee has two main functions (I bet you can guess what they are from the title of this committee 😊):

• to determine gifted program eligibility (also called “identification”), and
• to determine placement in gifted services that match the student’s academic needs (or arts needs, or creativity needs, or whatever gifted programs are offered in the division).

Usually, the gifted staff member assigned to the committee facilitates the meeting. She or he presents the data on the reporting sheet to the committee and discusses any pertinent information that the committee should know. Then, the team deliberates. Sometimes, the data presents itself in such a way that the student clearly meets the identification criteria, so no deliberation is needed. Sometimes, students have data that borders the eligibility criteria, so a deeper dive into the student’s data or situation must be explored. Even when a student meets none of the gifted eligibility criteria, committees should still make sure that they haven’t overlooked any information pertinent to the student’s potential giftedness. Sometimes committees decide that they need to collect more data on the student, and ask the parents for permission to postpone the decision until it’s collected.

After the determination (also called “decision”) has been made for the referred student, then the committee must determine which of the offered gifted services in the school match the student’s needs. For example, if there is a gifted math class and a gifted English class offered in the school (services), and the student’s data only supports giftedness in math, then the student would be placed in the gifted math class. Just a reminder- I’m only discussing academic gifted identification in this series. There are other types of gifted programs (ex. Visual Arts, Creativity, Dance, etc.).

No matter what the determination is, the parent must be notified in writing of the determination and any services that will be provided (if applicable). The letter should be mailed home as a matter of confidentiality. For students identified as eligible for gifted services, school divisions require the parent to sign a permission slip and return it to the school. Often, the division may send home a gifted program brochure or handbook for parents, as well. What if the parent disagrees with the determination (this typically only happens when students are not found gifted eligible)? Legally, what can a parent do? In my next post, I will talk about the Appeals process.

Do Gifted Eligibility Committees in your school division run the same as I described? Share your experience with these committees with us in the comments!

It’s been a hot minute since I posted in my Gifted Identification Series (actually, it’s been more than that – it’s been since April 25th, 2025). The last post I shared discussed how to compile all of the data collected on the referred student. Now, I share who partakes in reviewing that data and making a determination…

When putting together a Gifted Identification/Placement Committee, schools must either follow the mandates of their state department of education or school division. Typically, Identification/Placement Committees have at least three members on the team, made up of gifted personnel, teachers, administrators, or other professionals who either tested the referred student or has worked with the referred student. Unlike special education, parents are not usually a part of the committee, though their input is shared with the committee through parent rating scales or parent input forms (see my prior posts about parent input, Part 1 and Part 2). As an example, The State Code of Virginia that governs gifted programs details who should be on the committee:

If the referred student happens to also be a special education student or an English Learner, it is very important for the facilitator of the Identification/Placement Committee to include the specialists who work with that student on the committee. They have unique insight into these students as learners and can share in-depth information on the student’s strengths and needs.

So, we have our data assembled and we have our committee assembled. It’s finally time to make a determination on gifted eligibility! In the next post, I’ll share about the decision-making process for determination for gifted eligibility and placement as well as parent notification of determination. Before then, who is involved in your school division’s Gifted Identification/Placement Committee?