The purpose of the Academically Gifted (AG) program is to provide an appropriately challenging educational program for students who perform, or show potential for performing, at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared to others of their age, experience or environment.  The AG program is not intended to be enrichment benefiting all students, nor is it intended to address all of the multiple intelligences.  Only students whose needs cannot be met through instruction in the regular grade level program are eligible for gifted service.  Straight A's alone do not determine a need for gifted services. 

In order for a student to qualify for differentiated AG services, there must be sufficient evidence to support the student's need for services.  With the use of multiple criteria, there are both formal indicators (standardized test scores) and informal indicators (observable learning behaviors) to consider.  While these factors are not "weighted," at least one of the formal criteria should be present to warrant referral to the program.

If a student is referred to the School-Based Committee for Gifted Education (SBC-GE), the committee will review the performance indicators to determine the student's eligibility for program options as well as the appropriate level of service (moderate, strong, very strong).

The needs of each student are assessed on an individual basis and appropriate service options are recommended based on that need.  Each service option has specific criteria which must be met in order for the student to receive that service.  Students with a moderate need for differentiation are most often served in the regular education classroom.  Information on individual school options, is available for review in consultation with the AG contact at your school.