| "To assist local
school districts in examining the quality of their programming for
gifted learners, the National Association for Gifted Children
adopted a framework of requisite, or minimal, standards that
describe nominal requirements for satisfactory programs. The
exemplary, or visionary, levels of performance represent excellence
in gifted education programming. These standards may serves as: (1)
benchmarks for measuring the effectiveness of programming; (2)
criteria for program evaluation; (3) guidelines for program
development; and (4) recommendations for minimal requirements for
high-quality gifted education programming" (NAGC Standards Manual,
p. xi)
NAGC
identifies seven critical and essential criteria of gifted
education programming, each represented as a standard. You may
click here to go to the NAGC website that further explains the
standards. Pre-K through Grade 12 Gifted Program
Standards
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Who does the National
Association for Gifted Children identify as
gifted?
"A
person's giftedness should not be confused with the means by which
giftedness is observed or assessed. A parent's, teacher's or
student's recommendation, a high mark on an examination, a high IQ
score, are not giftedness; they may be a signal that giftedness
exists…We assert that there are children who demonstrate high
performance, or who have the potential to do so, and that we have a
responsibility to provide optimal educational experiences for
talents to flourish in as many children as possible, for the
benefit of the individual and the community (NAGC
ParentInfo).
According to NAGC, "It
is generally recognized that approximately five percent of the
student population, or three million children, in the United States
are considered gifted" (NAGC ParentInfo).
During the 04-05
school year, 2.7% of the Seattle Public Schools student population
was served as academically highly gifted and 3% were served as
academically gifted. Given the demographics of our community (e.g.,
adult education level, employers/business such as the University of
Washington, Hutch, Microsoft, Boeing) it is not surprising that we
are serving over the 5% identified by NAGC as a typical percentage
of students served. Also of note is that some states/districts have
significantly increased the number of students they identify as
gifted, with as many as 20% of the student population identified
and served through gifted education programs.
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