Chapter 16: Special Education for Mentally Gifted Students

 

The process and procedures for gifted education parallels that of special education for students with disabilities in many respects. Chapter 16 specifies the responsibilities of school districts in:

• Providing notices to parents
• Obtaining parental consent
• Conducting screening and evaluation
• Determining placement
• Providing gifted education
• Conducting due process hearings and mediation

Accordingly, gifted education provides opportunities for acceleration or enrichment, or both, as appropriate that go beyond the program the student would receive in general education.

Similar procedures include:

• Identifying students thought to be eligible through Child Find
• Securing parental consent before evaluation and before placement
• Conducting a psychological evaluation free of cultural bias
• Convening a gifted multidisciplinary team (GMDT) and issuing an GMDT evaluation report
• Convening a legally constituted team to write the Gifted Individual Education PLAN (GIEP) based on the GMDT evaluation report
• Inviting parent(s) to participate on both the GMDT and the GIEP
• Providing specifically designed instruction to meet the needs of the child
• Providing in-service training for appropriate staff
• Sending timely notices to parents in language comprehensible to the general public or in the home language
• Abiding by specified timelines for various steps in the process
• Recognizing the parental right to an impartial due process hearing and access to mediation
• Limiting class size and caseload of gifted education teachers
• Abiding by confidentiality requirements as defined by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) 1974

Significant differences include

• The criteria for eligibility for gifted education
• The lack of requirements for periodic reevaluations
• Except for a change in placement or upon recommendation by the GIEP team
the limit of one parental request for gifted evaluation per school year;
• The use of the term "district representative" rather than "LEA representative" 
• Specific deadlines for notices and consent

Other Considerations

If a student is determined to be both gifted and eligible for special education, the procedures for Chapters 14 and 342 take precedence, including procedures for screening, evaluation, IEP's, and procedural safeguards.

If a student transfers to another school within the Commonwealth, the existing GIEP or an interim one approved by the parents must be implemented.

Other Resources

• Pennsylvania Department of Education's Chapter 16 PowerPoint Presentation
• Pennsylvania Department of Education's Gifted Education Homepage

For information about district policy and services, please contact Renay Boyce in the Office of Specialized Services at 215-400-4170.