Gifted Education
Gifted Programming is a special part of the overall educational program for children identified by a Certified School Psychologist as mentally gifted.
Identification is based on a multi-criteria evaluation that includes two components. 1) Building level evaluations of academic performance, teacher observations, and a norm-referenced screening assessment 2) Individual norm-referenced achievement and cognitive ability assessments administered by a Certified School Psychologist.
Students may be referred for a gifted screening by a teacher and/or this screening may be requested in written or oral form by a parent. If a child meets the minimum requirements at the building-level gifted screening, or when staff or parents request a full gifted multidisciplinary team (GMDT) evaluation, individual achievement and intelligence testing is performed by a Certified School Psychologist. A Gifted Written Report (GWR) is completed by the psychologist including the results of the screening, achievement and ability assessments, and parent input. The psychologist indicates if the child is eligible for gifted programming and in need of specially designed instruction to meet their gifted needs. Once a student is identified, a team of parents and school personnel called a “GIEP Team” meets and agrees upon individual goals, outcomes, specially designed instruction (SDI) and related services for that student. This team meets at least annually to review the student’s progress and review and revise goals, outcomes, SDI and related services as needed.
Chapter 16 and Pennsylvania Department of Education Links:
Chapter 16 of the Pennsylvania School Code
Gifted Education Frequently Asked Questions
Gifted Education Guidelines - Interpreting Chapter 16
Parents of Exceptional Children
The Methacton School District provides gifted education and related services for identified resident children who attend Methacton schools while they are of school age and enrolled in District schools. School age is the period of a child's life from the earliest admission to a school district's kindergarten program, or when no kindergarten program is provided, the district's earliest admission for beginners the child turns 21 or graduates from high school, whichever occurs first. Per Chapter 16 of the Pennsylvania School Code, resident children who attend private school are not eligible for gifted services from The Methacton School District. For information regarding school age and attendance in public schools see Article 13 of the Pennsylvania Public School Code and Chapter 11 of the Pennsylvania Code. For items related specifically to gifted education see Chapter 16 of the Pennsylvania Code.
The Methacton School District offers services in the form of acceleration, enrichment or both as appropriate, along with other programming options as needed for students who are identified by a gifted multidisciplinary team (“GMDT”) as “mentally gifted.”