Gifted

Gifted Education Program

Grades 2-6

Goals of the Jefferson Davis County School District Gifted Education Program (Parachute):

• To provide students with those activities which emphasize the process of learning rather than content; divergent thinking rather than convergent; exploration of ideas through creative problem solving; and reasoning skills.
• To provide students with a diversity of learning experiences, including instructional methods, materials, and activities.
• To provide opportunities for the students to grow in their understanding of themselves and others.

Mississippi Gifted Education Act

The Mississippi Gifted Education Act mandates that each public school district within the state provide gifted education programs for intellectually gifted students in grades 2-6.  These programs must be designed to meet the individual needs of gifted students and shall be in addition to and different from the regular program of instruction provided by the district.

Referral Process

Placement of gifted students is governed by specific policies pertaining to test scores and other criteria. Students must qualify at each step of the sequential referral process to be eligible for gifted services.

A student may be referred by a parent, teacher, counselor, administrator, peer, self, or anyone else having reason to believe that the student might be Intellectually Gifted.  The person initiating the referral shall sign the referral form and date it.  Once the student is referred, the district personnel shall collect the data required to satisfy the referral criteria.  Once a referral form has been initiated, signed, and dated, only the LSC or parents can stop the identification process. Once the Local Survey Committee has determined that a student has satisfied minimal referral criteria in order to move forward to the assessment stage, district personnel shall review and compile all data available on the student.  This data shall also be made available to a licensed examiner. At this point the parent will be sent a Parent Packet explaining the referral process.  The parent must sign permission to test before any individual testing can be administrated. The assessment stage includes an individual test of intelligence, which shall be administered by a licensed examiner.  In no case will the examiner be related to the student being tested.  A student must score at or above the 91st percentile composite/full scale or 91st percentile on approved subtest (as per publisher) in order to satisfy eligibility criteria.  Once the Assessment Report is finalized, the LSC shall meet to review all data and determine if eligibility criteria have or have not been satisfied.  The LSC shall rule that the student is or is not eligible for the intellectually gifted program.  Parents will be notified in writing of each student tested for the Intellectually Gifted program about the assessment results.  After student has been ruled eligible for the intellectually gifted program, parents must sign consent for placement form in order for their child to be placed in the intellectually gifted program.  The parent must sign yearly the consent to placement form for their child to reenter the program each school year.

*Parents can call J.E. Johnson Elementary (601-792-8338) or Carver Elementary (601-792-5251) to obtain a Parent Referral Form.

At this time, if parental permission has not been obtained, district personnel shall obtain written parental permission for testing. A student who has satisfied the minimal acceptable criteria on any three of the above measures shall have an individually administered norm-referenced intelligence test administered to them. A score of 91st  percentile or above must be obtained for eligibility. Properly certified district personnel may administer the test at no cost to parents.

Students who do not satisfy the criteria for placement in the gifted program may not be re-tested until the completion of one calendar year. A student who is referred for re-testing must complete all stages of the Gifted Identification Process. A student may be screened every year, but a student may only be tested twice in his/her school career at district's expense.

The assessment team report and recommendation profile are sent to the District Local Survey Committee for determining eligibility according to criteria set forth by the state guidelines. Once criteria are met and a written eligibility ruling has been made, the student is eligible to be placed in the Parachute program. The parent must give written consent to place the student in the program. No student is placed without a proper eligibility ruling and consent for placement.