Gifted Education

Gifted Education Mission Statement:
The mission of the York County School Division Gifted Program is to maximize the development of the academically gifted learner by providing an atmosphere that promotes intellectual challenge. The program is designed to foster self-directed, life-long learning by encouraging exploration, inquiry, in-depth study, and reflective thinking.

Division Statement of Philosophy for Gifted Education
The York County School Division is committed to a rigorous and innovative instructional program that fosters the highest level of excellence and recognizes the right of each student to receive intellectual challenge appropriate for his/her capabilities. The Division provides differentiated instructional services for intellectually-gifted students from a variety of social, economic, and cultural backgrounds. These programs, designed to meet the academic, social, and emotional needs of gifted learners from kindergarten through grade 12, allow students to develop more fully and appreciate their abilities and talents. In addition, these programs encourage students to make meaningful contributions to society.

Gifted Education Services

Grades K-2
A pool of potentially gifted students is identified in the spring of the kindergarten year and throughout grades 1-2. Identified students may participate in the Primary Enrichment Program (PEP). Kindergarten PEP students attend special seminars each spring during the school day at the Division's gifted education center. First and second grade PEP students meet weekly at the EXTEND Center with the PEP teacher who provides enrichment opportunities for identified students.

Grades 3-5
Students are identified as intellectually gifted as early as third grade. Students travel from their home school one full day each week in grades 3-5 to attend the EXTEND program located at the EXTEND Center at Dare Elementary School . At the Center, students "extend" learning as they participate in interdisciplinary units of study and investigation activities which emphasize abstract thinking, research skills, and independent learning.

Grades 6-7
Students in grades 6-7 who have been identified as intellectually gifted meet weekly in their home schools with the gifted education teacher who travels to each middle school to provide enriched learning opportunities. Students are engaged in problem-based learning, activities designed to develop higher level thinking processes, and a variety of enrichment experiences that emphasize abstract thinking, research skills, and independent learning.

The Middle School Arts Magnet is a program available through an application process for students in grades 6 - 8, and provides enrichment and instruction in literary arts, theatre arts, and rhythmic arts. Learning experiences encourage students to work independently and collaboratively to develop writing skills, prepare performances, and create exhibitions that display their appreciation of the arts, develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and enhance self-esteem. Excellence in the arts is a natural extension of the middle school academic program.

Grades 8-12
Intellectually gifted students in grades 8-12 who meet prerequisite criteria have the opportunity to participate in various advanced courses of study including: the Honors Program, the Pre-International Baccalaureate Programme, the International Baccalaureate Programme, Advanced Placement courses, the Governor's School for Science and Technology, the Summer Governor's School, and the School of the Arts. In addition, concurrent enrollment in cooperation with local colleges, seminars, and enrichment activities are available to these students throughout the school year.

Gifted Education Curriculum
Gifted Education . . .

• Targets students' understanding and appreciation of systems of knowledge
• Provides exposure to themes, key ideas, and principles that bridge domains of knowledge
• Positions teacher as questioner who raises interpretive issues for discussion and debate
• Focuses student energies on reading, reflecting, and writing
• Incorporates aesthetic appreciation of powerful ideas in various representational forms
• Interrelates form and content
• Provides an intellectual framework that exposes students to many ideas not provided in traditional curricula
• Structures opportunities for understanding the creative as well as the intellectual process through critically analyzing creative products and being actively engaged in the creative process itself
• Provides a context for integrating cognitive and affective objectives into the curriculum
• Stresses use of Socratic method to stimulate intellectual discussion on issues or themes VanTassel-Baska, J. (1994). Comprehensive curriculum for gifted learners. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

YCSD Gifted Curriculum / Grades 1-5
Adhering to an over-arching theme, curricula delivered via a center-based model to identified gifted students in grades 3-5 incorporate content from English, history, mathematics, or science, and integrate this content with other CORE subjects and the related arts in comprehensive units of instruction. Units focus on critical thinking, intellectual discussion, interpretation, creativity, research, problem-solving, and generation of original work. Curricula delivered to identified gifted students in grades 1-2 incorporate content from history and science within the framework of an over-arching theme.

YCSD Gifted Curriculum / Grades 6-7
Adhering to an over-arching theme, curricula delivered via a school-based model to identified gifted students in grades 6-7 incorporate content from English, history, mathematics, or science, and integrate this content with other CORE subjects and the related arts in comprehensive units of instruction. Units focus on critical thinking, intellectual discussion, interpretation, creativity, research, problem-solving, and generation of original work.

YCSD Gifted Education Grade Level Thematic Strands

• Grades 1-2: EXPLORATIONS
• Grade 3: ADVENTURES
• Grade 4: FRONTIERS
• Grade 5: JOURNEYS
• Grades 6-7: CHANGES/PATTERNS

Referral/Identification of Students for Gifted Education Services
Students may be referred for consideration for placement in gifted education programs by administrators, classroom and resource teachers, guidance counselors, and other professional staff members, as well as by parents, community members, peers, and students themselves. The Gifted Education Contact in each school coordinates referrals for that school. The criteria indicated below may be used to identify students for gifted education:

• Standardized/Norm-Referenced Ability Tests - Students who qualify for gifted education generally score between the 95th-99th percentiles on these tests. If a referred student has not taken a standardized ability test, the Division administers one.
• Standardized/Norm-Referenced Achievement Tests - Students who qualify for gifted education generally score between the 95th-99th percentiles on these tests. If a referred student has not taken a standardized ability test, the Division administers one.
• Teacher Observation Reports - Students who qualify for gifted education demonstrate to a great extent specific behaviors associated with intellectually gifted learners. For students referred for gifted education, teachers complete a Teacher Observation Report, indicating observed examples of these characteristics.
• Parent Questionnaires - Students who qualify for gifted education demonstrate to a large degree specific behaviors associated with intellectually gifted learners. For students referred for gifted education, parents report examples of these behaviors on a form provided by the Division.
• Scholastic Records - Students eligible for gifted education typically perform well on academic work that is characterized as being "above grade level."
• Other Data - It is occasionally appropriate to conduct personal interviews with students who have been referred for gifted education. Teachers may also be asked to provide illustrative examples of student work.

The Gifted Education Plan 2006-2011
In compliance with directive from the Virginia Department of Education, the York County School Division's Gifted Education Plan 2006-2011 serves as the blueprint for gifted education services. On March 26, 2007 the York County School Board approved the 2006-2011 Local Plan for the Education of the Gifted which describes services available to identified gifted students in grades K-12.

View the full 2006-2011 Local Plan for the Education of the Gifted

Grade K

• Kindergarten students identified as potentially gifted attend special seminars each spring during the school day at the EXTEND Center, the Division's gifted education center.
• Academic achievement grouping in mathematics is provided in each elementary school.

Grades 1-2

• Students identified as potentially gifted participated in the Primary Enrichment Program (PEP) and meet weekly at the EXTEND Center with the PEP teacher who provides extended learning and enrichment opportunities for identified students.
• Co-curricular activities may serve as extension of the Gifted Education Program (e.g., Odyssey of the Mind, academic challenges, computer competitions, debate activities).
• The Elementary Fine Arts Magnet School and the Elementary Math, Science and Technology Magnet School serve students in grades 1-5 at two Division elementary schools.

Grades 3-5

• Students are identified as intellectually gifted as early as the third grade. Students travel from their home school one full day each week to attend the EXTEND program located at the EXTEND Center.
• Academic achievement grouping in mathematics is provided in each elementary school.
• Co-curricular activities may serve as extension of the Gifted Education Program (e.g., Odyssey of the Mind, academic challenges, computer competitions, debate activities).
• The Elementary Fine Arts Magnet School and the Elementary Math, Science and Technology Magnet School serve students in grades 1-5 at two Division elementary schools.

Grades 6-7

• Students who have been identified as intellectually gifted meet weekly in their home schools with the gifted education teacher who travels to each middle school to provide enriched learning opportunities.
• Academic achievement grouping in English and mathematics is provided in each middle school.
• A specific counseling program, Thinking Caps, for identified gifted students in grades 6-8 is provided in each middle school.
• Co-curricular activities may serve as extension of the Gifted Education Program (e.g., Odyssey of the Mind, academic challenges, computer competitions, debate activities).
• The Middle School, School of the Arts serves students in grades 6-8 at Queens Lake Middle School.

Grades 8-12

• Intellectually gifted students in grades 8-12 who meet prerequisite criteria have the opportunity to participate in various advanced courses of study including: the Honors Program, the Pre-International Baccalaureate Programme, the International Baccalaureate Programme, Advanced Placement courses, the Governor's School for Science and Technology, the Summer Governor's School, and the School of the Arts. In addition, concurrent enrollment in cooperation with local colleges, seminars, and enrichment activities are available to these students.
• Academic achievement grouping in English and mathematics is provided in each high school.
• Co-curricular activities may serve as extension of the Gifted Education Program (e.g., Odyssey of the Mind, academic challenges, computer competitions, debate activities).

The Gifted Education Advisory Committee (GEAC)
The Gifted Education Advisory Committee (GEAC) is comprised of elementary, middle, and high school parents; community representatives; support services representatives; the Gifted Education Coordinator; and a school division curriculum/instruction representative. This committee serves in an advisory capacity in support of gifted education programs in the school division. The GEAC meets five times annually, and the meetings are open to the public. The committee chair is Rebecca Cho (tombeccacho@cox.net). Questions about the York County School Division gifted education services or the means by which students are identified for these programs should be directed to the Gifted Education Contact at your child's school.