Gifted Services

Welcome to Gifted Education

The School District of Indian River County (SDIRC) is committed to both improving the educational achievement and maximizing the ongoing progress of all learners, including those students who demonstrate a need for gifted education and supports. Currently, the SDIRC provides a range of educational supports to identified students in grades K-12 who demonstrate a need for enrichment as part of their broader educational programming. The ultimate goal of gifted education in the SDIRC is to prepare advanced learners with skills and characteristics that will enable them to both thrive and contribute in meaningful ways to a diverse array of 21st Century communities.

Learn more about our Gifted Service Models & Curriculum, as well as Project e2, a plan developed and implemented by the Exceptional Student Education Department to enhance enrichment supports for high achieving and gifted students.

Gifted Identification

Learners in the SDIRC are identified as gifted according to Florida State Board of Education Rule 6A-6.03019. They are identified through the following steps:

  1. The student is nominated for gifted screening by a teacher, parent, staff member, peer, or self.
  2. The parent is sent home a "Notice of Screening." The student receives vision/hearing screenings, and "Checklists of Gifted Characteristics" are sent to and completed by the parent and teacher.
  3. The student is administered an intellectual screening instrument (e.g. KBIT2, RIST2) by school-based staff.

 

If the information collected results in the required number of points on the Gifted Screening Matrix:

  • Further testing is recommended. A "Parent Permission for Evaluation" is sent home.
  • Further testing is conducted by a district school psychologist/psychologist.

If the information collected does not result in the required number of points on the Gifted Screening Matrix:

  • No further testing is recommended. A "Notice of Stopped Screening" is sent to the parent.

 

 

Gifted Service Models & Curriculum

Gifted Service Models & Curriculum

Our gifted service models and curriculum vary depending on the level of schooling. Across all levels of schooling, examples of strategies that are used in enhancing the learning environment of gifted learners include the following: 

• Accelerating the pace of instruction and streamlining the content taught related to core area subject matter
• Presenting core academic areas with increased complexity and rigor
• Providing opportunities for in-depth study of specific areas of interest or focus
• Differentiating grade level curriculum through the provision of enrichment activities and flexible grouping of students
• Incorporating variety in learning processes and products with the support of technology

 

Elementary

Gifted learners receive primarily pull-out, resource services incorporating enrichment activities and academic content presented with increased complexity and rigor.

Middle

Gifted learners receive accelerated, rigorous, and differentiated gifted coursework in targeted core academic subject areas.

High

Gifted learners are supported through a consultative teacher of the gifted and a broad range of differentiated curricular options (e.g., Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Dual Enrolmment) to meet the wide range of needs and goals of high school gifted students.

Project e2

Strategic Goal 2018-2021

Increase the percentage of high performing students at the primary middle school levels demonstrating academic learning gains through the increased provision of high-quality curricular and instructional resources and broadened service delivery models of enrichment supports and gifted services for diverse student learners.



Providing high quality enrichment supports for high achieving and gifted learners is integral to the educational advancement and success of identified students. Given this, the Department of Curriculum & Instruction has engaged in detailed data review to identify opportunities for growth and improvements to the manner in which high achieving students receive instruction and associated supports. Additionally, in recent years, the department has steadily worked on identifying procedures and practices to increase the participation of historically underrepresented populations in enrichment supports and gifted education. Ultimately, the aim of the current strategic plan (i.e., Project e2: Excellence in Enrichment Supports) is to increase achievement of high performing students through both identifying opportunities for growth in instructional and supports for all students in need of enrichment, as well as identifying and implementing targeted procedural and practice improvements for historically underrepresented student populations.


Project e2 is comprised of three strategic components

Strategy One

Increasing district and school curricular and instructional capacity for the provision of effective enrichment and gifted supports by a variety of stakeholders.

Strategy Two

Strengthening procedures and practices to specifically address issues of disproportionality in the identification and provision of gifted services.

Strategy Three

Expanding access to unique, accelerated blended learning approaches for all gifted students, as well as students in need of enrichment supports at historically underrepresented schools.

Student & Family Resources

Student Resources

Web-Based Learning and Enrichment Opportunities

America’s Battle of the Books
Basic-256 http://basic256.org/index_en

Brain Teasers https://kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/brainteasers/index.htm

Chess Kid https://www.chesskid.com/

duoLingo for Schools https://schools.duolingo.com/

Mensa for Kids https://www.mensaforkids.org/

Mensa for Kids Ted Connections https://www.mensaforkids.org/teach/ted-connections/

Power Typing https://powertyping.com/

Puzzlements http://puzzlements.co/

Smithsonian Tween Tribune https://www.tweentribune.com/

TedEd https://ed.ted.com/

West Point Bridge Design https://stem.neu.edu/programs/ayp/fieldtrips/activities/wpbd/

West Point Bridge Design Competition http://competitions.umd.edu/west-point-bridge

Whooo’s Reading https://www.whooosreading.org/

Parent Resources 

Florida Standards

Florida Gifted Standards http://www.cpalms.org/Public/search/Standard

Organizations

Florida Association for Gifted Children http://www.flagifted.org/

Future Problem Solving Program International https://www.fpspi.org/

National Association for the Gifted https://www.nagc.org/

National Center for Research on Gifted Education https://ncrge.uconn.edu/

Odyssey of the Mind https://www.odysseyofthemind.com/

Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted http://sengifted.org/

Web-Based Enrichment Resources

Academy of Achievement http://www.achievement.org/

Atlas Obscura https://www.atlasobscura.com/

Brain Teasers https://www.puzzleprime.com/brain-teasers/

Code.org https://code.org/

Science Friday https://www.sciencefriday.com/

Sudoku https://www.websudoku.com/

US DOE Internet Resources for Gifted & Talented https://www.state.gov/m/a/os/70150.htm

West Point Bridge Design https://stem.neu.edu/programs/ayp/fieldtrips/activities/wpbd/

Whooo’s Reading https://www.whooosreading.org/

Community-Based Opportunities for Enrichment

Environmental Learning Center https://www.discoverelc.org/

IRSC Planetarium https://www.irsc.edu/visitors/shows/planetarium/planetarium.aspx?id=1273

Riverside Theatre https://www.riversidetheatre.com/

Vero Beach Museum of Art https://www.vbmuseum.org/

St. Lucie County Historical Museum https://www.americanheritage.com/content/st-lucie-county-historical-museum

 

Parent-Initiated Evaluations

The Gifted Services Department is continuously working to ensure that the procedures and processes we utilize to identify and provide services to students in need of gifted services are consistent with state rules and regulations and support best practices in educational decision making. Ultimately, we strive to make certain that student needs are accurately identified so that we may appropriately align and allocate services in a way that promotes positive outcomes for all students in our school community.

 

Effective September 1, 2014, our ESE/Student Services Department will be implementing “Procedures for Review of Parent-Initiated Gifted Evaluations Completed at Private Expense.” Consistent with Florida State Board of Education Rule 6A-6.03313, results of independent evaluations obtained at private expense will be considered by the school district with respect to eligibility decision-making for exceptional student education services. The intent of the current review procedures are to ensure that gifted evaluations completed at private expense are:

  • Being processed for eligibility consideration in a timely manner
  • Being conducted by practitioners who are sufficiently credentialed and qualified to provide such services
  • Yielding results which are both valid and reliable for educational decision-making to ensure the appropriate identification and provision of services is occurring
  • Yielding results which aid in developing an overall understanding of a student’s needs when taken into consideration with other existing educational data related to the student

Attached below you will find the Procedures for Review of Parent-Initiated Gifted Evaluations Completed at Private Expense. As is required by the Florida State Board Education Rule 6A-6.03019, the following criteria will be considered for determining eligibility for gifted services:

  • Evidence of need for a special program
  • Evidence of demonstration of a majority of characteristics associated with students who are gifted
  • Levels of intellectual development

We greatly appreciate the time you have taken to acquaint yourself with these procedures. Please feel free to contact either your school-based ESE Resource Specialist or Dr. Christina Jacobs, District Program Specialist for Psychological and Gifted Services (772-564-6077), if you have any questions.