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Rockwood Gifted Program

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Procedures for Whole-Grade Skipping

Step 1

Parents, teachers, administrators or students may initiate a grade skipping consideration for students currently in the District gifted program by submitting a Request for Whole-Grade Skipping form. This packet and the accompanying Acceleration Resource Packet should be reviewed before considering acceleration.

Forms and packets are also available from the Director of the Gifted Program or school secretary.

Once the Request for Whole-Grade Skipping form is completed it should be submitted to the Director of the Gifted Program. The Director of the Gifted Program will immediately inform the building principal of the request and will send copies of the form to the building principal, school counselor, and gifted program counselor.

The Director of the Gifted Program reviews the Request for Whole-Grade Skipping form.

Every attempt will be made to have a decision within 60 school days of the receipt of the Request for Whole-Grade Skipping form.

If requested, the District will consider up to two acceleration requests per student during the student's enrollment in the district.

Step 2

The following items are critical to successful whole-grade skipping. The Director of the Gifted Program will check the following four items:

  1. Whether the student is already a part of the District gifted program.
  2. Whether the student indicates that they want to be whole-grade accelerated. A discussion with the student regarding the possibility of grade-skipping will take place. This discussion, led by the school counselor and/or the gifted program counselor, will be to gain the student's perspective.
  3. Whether the student currently has a sibling in the same grade (i.e. a twin).
  4. Whether the student would be accelerated into the same grade as (or higher grade than) a sibling.

If any of the above four items apply to the student this information will be taken into strong consideration by the Acceleration Study Team.

Step 3

The Gifted Program Director will gather data from school records, parents (see Whole-Grade Skipping Request Form-Parent), teachers (see Whole-Grade Skipping Request Form-Teacher), and the student. Parts I and II of the Grade Skipping Data Collection and Decision-Making (GS-DC&DM) Form will be completed by Gifted Program Director or designee.

Step 4

An Acceleration Study Team meeting is scheduled by the Gifted Program Director for the purpose of assessing the student's suitability for acceleration. Possible team members should include: the building principal, current teacher or team, potential receiving teacher or team, school counselor and/or gifted program counselor, curriculum facilitator(s)/directors, Gifted Program Director, and others as requested by the Gifted Program Director (i.e., parents, gifted teacher, acceleration resource teacher).

The Acceleration Study Team members are sent copies of the student's GS-DC&DM Form for review prior to the meeting. The Acceleration Study Team will meet and complete the rest of the GS-DC&DM Form. A group consensus must be reached on each of the following sections of the form:

  • Part I & II – Critical Issues, School and Academic Factors
  • Part III – Developmental & Interpersonal Factors

If the decision is made to consider whole-grade skipping, proceed to Step 5.

If the decision is made not to consider whole-grade skipping, proceed to Step 6.

Step 5

If the decision of Step 4 is to consider whole-grade skipping for the student, the Acceleration Study Team should discuss and create a grade-skipping plan by using the GS-DC&DM Form (Part IV) keeping in mind the following points:

  • Acceleration should take place at natural transition points.
  • Accelerated students should be placed with the high ability students in the new class.
  • An effort should be made to combine students who have been accelerated.

If the recommendation is for whole-grade skipping the recommendation and GS-DC&DM Form are formally approved by the Gifted Program Director and sent to the Superintendent or Superintendent designee for final approval.

If approval is given by the Superintendent or Superintendent designee, a letter will be sent by the Gifted Program Director to the parents and the building principal. Included in this letter will be a parent agreement form that will be signed by the parent(s) and placed in the student's cumulative file upon receipt by the Gifted Program Director.

If approval is denied by the Gifted Program Director or by the Superintendent or Superintendent Designee, notification will be sent to the parent(s), proceed to Step 6.

Within 6 to 8 weeks following grade skipping, the Gifted Program Director will contact parents, the building principal, and the teacher(s) to review the student's progress. If the student is progressing, the current plan continues. If there is concern, the Acceleration Study Team will meet to make the necessary modifications to the plan. For exceptionally gifted students, further acceleration may be necessary.

All decisions will be recorded on Part IV of the GS-DC&DM Form which will be referred to in any subsequent acceleration meetings. The GS-DC&DM Form will be filed in the student's cumulative (confidential) file at the building level, and a copy, along with other testing data, is retained by the Gifted Program Director.

During the last quarter of each school year, the building principal will work with their building staff and other desired personnel as needed to determine the best placement for students who have been or are being grade skipped for the coming year.

A meeting between the current teacher(s) and the receiving teacher(s) will take place with the purpose of sharing student progress and successful strategies.

Step 6

If the decision of Step 4 is not to consider whole-grade skipping or appropriate approval has not been received in Step 5, the Acceleration Study Team should discuss and plan a challenging program using the Subject Acceleration Data Collection and Decision-Making Form (SA-DC&DM) as a guide (found in Subject-Matter Acceleration packet). Recommendations should include opportunities for acceleration options as listed in Board Regulation 2535.

If the decision is to consider subject-matter acceleration, refer to Subject-Matter Acceleration Packet (Step 5) for procedural guidelines.

All decisions will be recorded, referred to, and built on in the event of subsequent meetings. The SA-DC&DM Form will be filed in the student's cumulative (confidential) file at the building level, and a copy, along with other testing data, is retained by the Gifted Program Director. Parent(s) will be contacted by the Gifted Program Director.