North Carolina Academically or Intellectually Gifted Programs Overview for Charter Schools March 2010 Director of Gifted Education and Advanced Programs Sneha Shah-Coltrane Office of Charter School Contact Cande Honeycutt

Our Purpose To review Charter School and AIG possibilities To introduce the SBE-adopted NC AIG Program Standards. All plans must align with these standards. To review the local AIG Plan process as it relates to Charters

AIG Programs and Charter Schools Is a choice, not a mandate. Allows you to identify and serve AIG students officially, so may be entered in NC WISE. Maintains identification and service. Cannot have own program without state guidelines. Follows regular LEAs process. Does not provide more funding; AIG funds are already bundled with Charter allotment.

NC AIG Program Standards Background Information History: NC has had legislation related to AIG, close to fifty years. No federal legislation. Current: Article 9B, N.C.G.S. § 115C , mandates identification and services for AIG students; local plans to be written; and provides a state definition. State Audit: May 2007–January 2008, DPI-AIG/EC audited. Major recommendations were: –Clarify monitoring of programs: increase accountability; develop performance standards, evidence-based; clarify process, done regularly –Clarify budget allocations/transfers AIG Program Standards: Adopted by SBE, July Guides local AIG Programs and Plans. Put in SBE policy, December 2013

NC AIG Program Standards… Provide a statewide framework for quality and comprehensive AIG programs and services, while honoring local context and flexibility; Convey expectations for local AIG programs; Articulate best practices for local AIG programs; Guide the development, revision, and monitoring of local AIG programs; serve as the current official guidelines; and Serve as a vehicle for continuous program improvement and accountability, responding to the Audit.

NC AIG Program Standards Synergy! DIFFERENTIATED CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION PERSONNEL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMMING PARTNERSHIPS ACCOUNTABILITY STUDENT IDENTIFICATION AIG LEARNERS

Synthesis of AIG Program Standards Words from the LEAs themselves Shared Responsibility for school/LEA. Not just gifted for half-hour/day! Connect with other programs. Social and emotional needs too. All types of gifted, under-represented too. Families need to be in the loop, don’t assume. Professional Development for all. Gifted: no longer the forgotten! Purposeful and intentional. What and if we do, matters.

These AIG Program Standards will help to… Guide LEAs to develop, coordinate, and implement thoughtful and comprehensive AIG programs. Better meet the academic, intellectual, social and emotional needs of gifted learners. Optimally develop AIG students’ potential.

Local AIG Plan Submission Overview Based on a Self-Assessment, LEAs will determine practices on which to focus and improve for this 3- year plan cycle. Each practice will need to be addressed as something you are working on or maintaining. Local school board-approved plans due to SBE/DPI by July 15, 2013; submitted electronically. GOAL: Meaningful, effective and reasonable.

Implementation Process Develop a local AIG plan and program. Use the NC AIG Program Standards as a guide. Please note that these standards that indicate best practices for the most effective programs, as adopted by SBE. Use the online system to guide your development. Released in Early Feburary Create a local AIG plan, approved by your governing Board, to follow for the next three years, Plan submitted online at DPI. Use this online system as an outline of what to develop/write.

Next Steps, if you are interested: Let Sneha or Cande know if you will be planning on actually developing an AIG plan. Begin development of your program, based on NC AIG Program Standards. Attend an Orientation of the online plan submission system in Early February 2013 Develop, gain approval from Board and submit to DPI.

… Failure to help gifted children reach their potential is a societal tragedy, the extent of which is difficult to measure but is surely great. How can we measure the loss of the sonata unwritten, the curative drug undiscovered, the absence of political insight? They are the difference between what we are and what we could be as a society. James J. Gallagher, Ph.D. Senior Scientist Emeritus, FPG CDC, UNC-CH