In order to facilitate the development of academic talent and in accordance with requirements of policies of the Georgia State Board of Education, the Cobb County School District (District) shall develop programs and procedures for gifted and advanced students consistent with State Rule 160-4-2-.38 and best practices.

RULE:

The State of Georgia provides rules and regulations for the operation of gifted programs that require local Districts to meet standards regarding notice, referrals, consent, eligibility and reporting requirements.

A. Programs and Services:
    The District will provide services for all students who are eligible according to Georgia
    Rule 160-4-2-.38. At the elementary level, these services may be provided through the
    Resource model, the Cluster Grouping model, or the Collaborative Teaching model. At the
    middle grades level, services may be provided through all of the previous models plus the
    Advanced Content model. At the secondary level, services may be provided through all
    of the previous models plus Mentorship/Internships and JointEnrollment/Post-Secondary
    Options.

B. Referral Procedures:
    1. Reported referral: A student may be referred for consideration for gifted educational
        services by teachers, counselors, administrators, parents or guardians, peers, self,
        and other individuals with knowledge of the student’s abilities. Referral forms are
        available at the local schools on request.
    2. Automatic referral: All students are automatically considered for referral at grades
        three, five, and eight, based on performance on a district-wide norm-referenced test.

C. Eligibility Requirements:
    1. Students eligible for gifted services in other Georgia schools are automatically eligible
        to receive services in the District upon receipt of records.
    2. Local school gifted eligibility teams at each school will apply eligibility procedures
        consistently and equitably. At each school, this team will consist of the gifted lead
        teacher, an administrator, and a qualified staff member. The committee will meet as
        needed and will document the following information:
        a. Dates of meetings and decisions;
        b. Committee members present;
        c. Names of students considered;
        d. Source of nomination and eligibility data;
        e. Decisions and rationales; and
        f. Summaries of grade level, gender, and ethnicity of referrals.
    3. Local school gifted eligibility team records will be securely stored.
    4. Any test score used to establish eligibility must be current within two years.
    5. Assessment data from an outside source must be considered, but may not be
        substituted for data generated by the school during the testing/evaluation process,
        and may never be the sole source of assessment data.
    6. Mental ability and achievement tests must be the most current editions of published
        tests that measure intelligence, cognitive ability, or achievement. These tests must
        also have been reviewed for bias and normed on a nationally representative sample
        that includes minority representation within a 10-year period prior to administration.
        Mental ability tests that were designed to be administered individually must be
        administered by a qualified psychological examiner.
    7. Eligibility shall be determined by either of the following methods:
        a. Two qualifying areas of psychometric measure:
            (1) Mental Ability: Composite or full-scale mental ability score at or above 96th
                 percentile for grades 3-12 or 99th percentile for grades K-2 on a standardized
                 test; and
            (2) Achievement: Total battery, total reading, or total mathematics standardized
                 achievement test score at or above 90th percentile.
        b. Three out of four qualifying criteria including a qualifying score on a nationally
            normed test. Only one of the criteria may be fulfilled by a score on a
            behavioral rating scale:
            (1) Mental Ability: Component (verbal, quantitative, or nonverbal) mental ability
                 score at or above 96th percentile on a standardized test.
            (2) Achievement: Total battery, total reading, or total mathematics
                 standardized achievement test score at or above 90th percentile or a superior
                 rating on a student-generated product or performance evaluated by a panel of
                 three or more qualified evaluators.
             (3) Creativity: At or above 90th percentile rating on a standardized creativity
                  characteristics rating scale, standardized creativity test, or student-
                  generated product or performance evaluated by a panel of three or more
                  qualified evaluators.
             (4) Motivation: At or above 90th percentile rating on a standardized
                  motivational characteristics rating scale, a GPA of 3.5 on a scale of 4.0
                  (grades 9-12) or a student-generated product or performance evaluated by a
                   panel of three or more qualified evaluators.
    8. Written consent of parent is necessary before eligible students can receive gifted
        education services.

D. Appeals:
The local school eligibility team conducts a review of eligibility data for all non-qualifying students. Parents wishing to appeal the decision of the local school eligibility team may do so in writing to the Central Eligibility Committee. The decision of the Central Eligibility Committee is final.

E. Continued Participation:
Academic performance of gifted students will be reviewed after each reporting period to determine eligibility for continued placement. It is important that parents and students understand that these criteria represent a minimum requirement to remain in the gifted program. It is anticipated that the majority of students who receive gifted services will meet or exceed the criteria listed below.

F. Elementary School Gifted Program:
For continued participation, a student must:
    1. The student must maintain acceptable progress, defined as:
        • E and/or G in grades K-3 in the core subjects of reading, English, and mathematics,
           O and/or S in science and social studies
        • a minimum average of 80 in grades 4-5 in the core subjects of reading, English,
           mathematics, science, and social studies
    2. The student must meet a minimum of 14 out of the 20 assessment indicators on the
        Target Progress report.

G. Middle School Gifted Program:
For continued participation, a student must:
    1. Maintain a minimum average of 80 or higher in the gifted class; and
    2. Maintain a minimum overall average of 74 or higher in the core subjects of the
        regular program (Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies).

H. High School Gifted Program:
For continued participation, a student must maintain a minimum overall grade point
average of 2.0 or higher.

I. Guidelines For Students Who Do Not Meet Continuation Criteria For Gifted
    Services:
     1. The student is eligible for gifted services during the probation period.
    2. The student remains on probation for the remainder of the school year.
    3. Procedures:
        a. The parent/guardian and student is notified in writing of probation;
        b. A conference is scheduled to review student performance and to develop an
            Intervention plan;
        c. At the end of the subsequent grading period, the gifted education specialist will
            review the student’s progress; and
        d. If continuation criteria are not met during any of the subsequent grading periods,
            the student is removed from the program unless extenuating circumstances for
            continuation can be documented and the local eligibility committee agrees to
            extend the probation period.

J. Re-Entry:
    1. Parent Request: After an eighteen-week ineligibility period, parents may request
        program re-entry by completing the gifted re-entry form, available from the
        local school. This form, with appropriate supporting materials, must be submitted to:
            Central Eligibility Committee
            c/o Supervisor, Advanced Learning Programs
            Cobb County School District
            P. O. Box 1088
            Marietta, Georgia 30061-1088
    2. Teacher Recommendations: Teacher recommendations for re-entry should be
        forwarded to the above office directly by the cooperating teacher.

Adopted: 1/10/90
Reclassified an Administrative Rule: 9/1/04
Revised: 9/25/03; 1/26/06