Gifted & Talented

FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Gifted and Talented Programs K-8
A Continuum of Gifted Services

Fairfax County Public Schools offers a continuum of gifted services that provides all students with opportunities to engage in complex subject matter and helps prepare them for more challenging and rigorous classes as they advance in grade level. Teachers, administrators, and specialists work together to make decisions that will provide the level of service that is most appropriate for each learner, preparing students to move to another level when they are ready.


What is the GT Center?

The GT center program provides full-time academic placement for highly gifted students. Teachers follow a curriculum framework to differentiate the depth, breadth, and pace of instruction based on the FCPS Program of Studies. Students work with academic peers in all core subject areas.

If you would like to refer your child for the GT Center, please pick up a GT Center Screening Parent Information Packet in the main office or you may download one via the internet. Please email Mrs. Tempel-Milner or call 703-914-6900 with any questions.


Level I Services

Grades K-2 Response Lessons

The GT resource teacher provides each classroom teacher with a collection of model Response Lessons that may be used throughout the school year. These lessons are designed to develop critical and creative thinking skills in all students. The lessons also serve as a useful tool for identifying students with advanced academic potential.

Grades 3-6 Model Thinking Lessons

These lessons are connected to the Program of Studies (POS) and are designed to teach all students higher order thinking skills. The GT resource teacher models these lessons and provides the classroom teacher with a collection of lessons that enrich and extend the POS for each core subject area at each grade level.


Level II Services

Grades K-8 Differentiated Services

Differentiated Services are offered to students who have specific academic strengths. The GT resource teacher collaborates with classroom teachers to support differentiated instruction and to provide additional challenges within the general education program. Middle school students who take one or two honors classes are receiving Level II services.

Grades K-8 Young Scholars (YS) Model

The Young Scholars model is designed to find and nurture gifted potential in students from historically underrepresented populations beginning in kindergarten. The GT resource teacher works with classroom teachers to strengthen basic skills and to develop gifted potential in young learners.


Level III Services

Grades 3-6 School-based Services

Each year a local GT screening committee screens all 3-6 grade students for possible participation in GT school-based services. The GT resource teacher provides direct services for these students. Students who receive GT school-based services are challenged through lessons, models, and strategies designed to extend and enrich the POS in the four core subject areas.


Level IV Services

Grades 3-8 Center-based Services or Full Honors

The GT center program provides full-time academic placement for highly gifted students. Teachers follow a curriculum framework to differentiate the depth, breadth, and pace of instruction based on the POS. Students work with academic peers in all core subject areas. GT center eligibility is determined by the central selection committee. At the middle school level students who take full Honors receive Level IV services.

All second grade students, and students in grades 3-7 who are missing ability test scores, take the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) and/or the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) in the fall. A second grade screening pool is established using these test results. Parents/guardians of students not in the second grade screening pool may refer students for GT center placement by completing and submitting a Gifted and Talented GT Center Referral Form to the local school by February 1, 2007. The Gifted Behaviors Rating Scale (GBRS), ability and achievement test data, student progress reports, and other academic information are used to determine eligibility.


FAQs about the Different Levels of GT Services

1. How are students identified for the school-based program?

All students are considered for school-based services. Parents/guardians of students currently enrolled in FCPS may also initiate screening for the school-based program by submitting a Referral for School-Based Gifted and Talented Services to the school's Gifted and Talented Specialist. The Local Screening Committee considers ability and achievement test scores, the Gifted Behavior Rating Scale (GBRS), progress reports, and parent/guardian input to determine the need for gifted services.


2. What services are available for students in grades K, 1, and 2?

Response Lessons are provided for all K-2 students in critical and creative thinking through learning activities that are connected to the FCPS Program of Studies. Students who exhibit characteristics of emerging giftedness are considered for differentiated services within the classroom. These services are specifically planned for the identified child to provide more challenging content, assignments, resources and/or instructional grouping within the classroom.


3. What services are available for students in grades 3-6?

GT school-based services are delivered to students in grades 3-6 through a collaborative model that supports a continuum of gifted services. The model is designed to strengthen direct services for gifted learners and to enhance the quality of instruction offered to all students. The gifted and talented resource teachers collaborate with classroom teachers to design differentiated lessons that challenge students to learn at a faster rate, think on a higher level, and/or study sophisticated and complex content through extensions of the FCPS Program of Studies.


4. What is the Young Scholars Initiative?

Young Scholars is a K-6 initiative that is designed to increase the proportion of historically underrepresented students in gifted programs. School administrators, teachers, and GT specialists work together to find and nurture gifted potential in young learners. Through flexible grouping, summer school, and after-school programs, students are provided an educational setting that raises their personal expectations and prepares them for more challenging and rigorous courses as they advance in grade level.