Crittenden County

School District

GT Definitions

Helpful Definitions

Acceleration options – various forms of advancing through material or grade levels prior to the prescribed time based on early mastery, such as pretesting in content and being excused to go onto higher level activities, curriculum compacting or linear acceleration, simultaneous or dual enrollment in courses at different grade levels including postsecondary, early exit from school, and grade skipping.
Advanced placement and honors courses – courses emphasizing college-level content based on college board curricula and tests (advanced placement) or the provision of more challenging material through higher levels of content, process and product (honors courses).
Cluster group – group usually consisting of four (4) or more identified students placed in a heterogeneous classroom or other instructional setting with a teacher trained in the appropriate instruction of special needs students, specifically gifted and talented, for the purpose of receiving a differentiated educational experience match to the student’s needs, interests, and ability.
Collaborative teaching – a gifted education teacher provides differentiated direct instruction in a regular classroom to a cluster group of identified gifted students in conjunction with the regular classroom teacher.
Consortium – a collaboration of schools or districts that pool resources to provide appropriate services for gifted and talented students.
Consultation services – the provision of instructional information and materials by the gifted teacher to the regular classroom teacher so that h may provide appropriate and adequate services to the gifted student while in the regular classroom setting.
Counseling services – effectively-based counseling assistance planned in coordination with the gifted teacher and provided by a counselor familiar with the characteristics and socioemotional needs of gifted and talented students.
Creative or divergent thinking ability – possessing either potential or demonstrated ability to perform at an exceptionally high level in creative thinking and divergent approaches to conventional tasks as evidenced by innovative or creative reasoning, advanced insight and imagination, solving problems in unique ways.
Diagnosis – means the evaluation and determination of the appropriate type and level of service options which would meet a given individual child’s interests, needs, and abilities.
Differentiated service experiences – educational experiences which extend, replace, or supplement learning beyond the standard curriculum.
Differentiation – a method through which educators shall establish a specific, well-thought-out match between learner characteristics in terms of abilities, interests, and needs, and curriculum opportunities in terms of enrichment and acceleration options which maximize learning experiences.
Disadvantaged – operating under conditions detrimental to normal cognitive or affective growth due to socioeconomic limitations, cultural factors, geographic isolation, or various combinations of these factors to a degree that requires special considerations.
Distance learning – learning opportunities offered through the use of computer technology and satellite transmission or optical fiber transmission.
Extracurricular enrichment opportunities – differentiated, academically-based activities that supplement classroom instruction and are often after school and competitive in nature, such as academic teams.
Formal identification – a process by which a student in grade four (4) through twelve (12) is identified and diagnosed as having gifted characteristics and behaviors using a balanced combination of criteria specific to a category of giftedness – intellectual aptitude, specific academic aptitude, creativity, leadership, or visual or performing arts, and by which a student may be determined eligible for various levels of services in each category in which the student meets the criteria.
General intellectual ability - a) either the potential or demonstrated ability to perform at an exceptionally high level in general intellectual ability, which is usually reflected in extraordinary performance in a variety of cognitive areas, such as abstract reasoning, logical reasoning, social awareness, memory, nonverbal ability, and the analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of information and b) consistently outstanding mental capacity as compared to children of one’s age, experience, or environment.
Gifted and talented identification and placement committee – school or district committee made up of the gifted education coordinator or gifted education teacher and representative from classroom teachers, administrators, counselor, special education teachers and other appropriate personnel who follow district policies and procedures to formally identify and determine level and type of service options.
GSSP: Gifted and talented student services plan – an educational plan that matches a formally identified gifted student’s interests, needs, and abilities to differentiated service options and serves as the communication vehicle between the parents and school personnel.
High potential learners – those students who typically represent the top quartile (twenty-five (25) percent) of the entire student population in terms of the degree of demonstrated gifted characteristic and behaviors and require differentiated service experiences to further develop their interests and abilities.
Independ study – a self-directed course of study of a selected topic under the supervision of a teacher or the auspices of a university.
Information selection – a process by which a student in the primary program is documented as having the characteristics and behaviors of a high potential learner in one (1) or more categories using a series of informal measures for the purpose of determining eligibility for the talent pool.
Instructional grouping – the temporary grouping of students for the purposes of addressing specific continuous progress skill development, socioemotional needs, and interests.
Magnet school – a school which is organized around an area of interests, draws students from an entire community, and has no specific entrance standards except interest in the focus of the school.
Mentorship – specialized studies, such as an internship, with an adult mentor in the community and under the direction of an educator knowledgeable in gifted education.
Primary review committee – primary teachers, counselors, administrators, gifted education personnel, and other appropriate personnel familiar with the child’s potential or demonstrated abilities.
Psychosocial or leadership ability – possessing either potential or demonstrated ability to perform at an exceptionally high level in social skills sand interpersonal qualities such as poise, effective oral and written expression, managerial ability, and the ability, or vision, to set goals and organize others to successfully reach those goals.
Resource services – service delivery option that a) entails a part-time grouping of students with gifted characteristics based on the interests, needs, and abilities of the students; b) is designed for accelerated content, special interest groups, process skills development or various combinations of all; and c) is provided in a pull-out classroom or other appropriate instructional setting.
Seminars – discussion-based sessions on specific topics focusing on advanced content and higher-level process skills.
Special school – a specialized school designed to a) serve gifted students in grades four (4) through twelve (12) in specific academic areas (such as a magnet school in science or math); or b) develop specific areas of giftedness such as visual and performing arts.
Specific academic aptitude – possessing either potential or demonstrated ability to perform at an exceptionally high level in one (1), or very few, related, specific academic areas significantly beyond the age, experience or environment of one’s chronological peers.
Talent pool – a group of primary students informally selected as having characteristics and behaviors of a high potential learner and further diagnosed using a series of informal and formal measures to determine differentiated service delivery needs during their stay in the primary program.
Travel study options – academically-based United States and overseas travel which may result in high school or university course credit.
Underachieving – the development of a significant gap between a student’s potential ability and demonstrated achievement to a degree that there is an overall diminished ability to achieve at the expected level of ability.
Visual or performing arts ability – possessing either potential or demonstrated ability to perform at an exceptionally high level in the visual or performing arts and demonstrating the potential for outstanding aesthetic production, accomplishment, or creativity in visual art, dance, music, or drama.