Warden School District

Highly Capable

Warden School District strives to recognize, support, and encourage the unique needs of highly capable students and to provide challenging and invigorating curriculum and opportunities.

How is a student determined to be eligible for the highly capable program?

Definition

The Warden School District recognizes the state definition of highly capable students as students who perform or show potential for performing at significantly advanced academic levels when compared with others of their age, experience, and environments. Outstanding abilities are seen within students’ general intellectual aptitudes, specific academic abilities, and/or creative productivities within a specific domain. Highly capable students may possess, but are not limited to, the following learning characteristics:

Capacity to learn with unusual depth of understanding, to retain what has been learned, and to transfer learning to new situations;
Capacity and willingness to deal with increasing levels of abstraction and complexity earlier than their chronological peers;
Creative ability to make unusual connections among ideas and concepts;
Ability to learn quickly in their area(s) of intellectual strength; and
Capacity for intense concentration and/or focus

The Warden School District Highly Capable Program seeks to identify the most highly capable students in our district who will benefit the most from highly capable services. A student will be identified as highly capable, and therefore qualify for highly capable services.

Services

Kindergarten

1st Grade - 8th Grade

9th Grade - 12th Grade

Differentiated

Instruction

Small Groups

Cluster Grouping

STEAM Enhancement Program

Students can self-select any of the following

service options:

Subject-based Acceleration

Honors Option: See Course Catalog

Advanced Placement Courses: See Course Catalog

College in the High School: See Course Catalog

Running Start Program: Participating colleges and

universities (11^th & 12^th grade students).

Advanced Level Mathematics: Above grade level mathematics classes are offered to

students who meet eligibility criteria for the specific class

Differentiated Instruction: Teachers adapt instruction on the basis of advanced needs of learners. Materials and resources are varied according to a student's readiness, interests, and learning preferences.

Cluster Grouping: Highly capable students of the same grade level are assigned to a single classroom with a teacher who has specialized training in how to teach highly capable students. Students who are not receiving highly capable services are also assigned to the same classroom.

Overview of the process

- The individual making the referral submits completed Referral Form to school psychologist.
- Classroom teacher or advisor completes the Teacher Referral and Feedback Form, attaches a copy of the student’s current report card, and submits packet to the school psychologist.
- The Highly Capable Selection Committee reviews referrals to determine which students meet the eligibility requirements to move forward to cognitive testing.
- The committee notifies parents/guardians of their student's eligibility to test and communicates the date of testing for eligible students.
- All students may be considered for the program.
- If students meet criteria in academic achievement or cognitive ability, they will be considered or referred to the program.
- Students may only be assessed once per academic year.
The district’s Multidisciplinary Selection Committee will review available data for each student who is referred for Highly Capable consideration. A student will be identified as highly capable and qualify for services based on multiple sources of data that the MSC considers as a whole.
- Parents will be notified of qualification within thirty calendar days.
Students identified as highly capable begin receiving services:
- Immediately after selection is complete for fall testing (kindergarten and transfer students only).
- The following school year after selection is complete for spring testing.

Transfer Students

Students who transfer from out-of-district and have qualified to receive highly capable services in their previous district are not automatically enrolled in the Highly Capable Program. The Highly Capable Selection Committee will review tests scores and placement letters from the prior district to determine if they meet the selection criteria of the Warden School District. Students who transfer from a district that does not offer highly capable testing and/or services are eligible to be referred for highly capable services during the October and February referral periods.

Appeals Process

Any student or parent/guardian who is aggrieved by the student not meeting the criteria for highly capable services has the right to appeal the Highly Capable Selection Committee’s decision. Appeals must be based upon one of the following conditions:

A condition or circumstance believed to have caused a misinterpretation of the testing results.
An inequitable application of the identification process.
An extraordinary and temporary circumstance that negatively affected the validity of the test results.

Individuals appealing the selection committee’s decision must submit a written letter of appeal outlining one of the conditions of appeal listed above and, to support reconsideration, provide additional evidence of significantly advanced cognitive or academic levels and/or outstanding intellectual, academic, or creative abilities. Letters of appeal must be submitted to the assistant superintendent within ten business days of the notification of the selection committee’s decision being sent. Upon receipt of the letter of appeal, an informal conference between the parent/guardian and the Highly Capable Selection Committee will be scheduled and held within ten business days. The sole purpose of this meeting will be to resolve the grievance. The parent/guardian will be notified in writing of the selection committee’s response to the appeal within ten business days of the meeting. The decision of the selection committee is final.

Exit Procedure

A parent/guardian or student can request that a student be exited from services and the parent/guardian’s wishes will be honored, but a meeting will be scheduled between the parent/guardian and the Highly Capable Program director to discuss the reason for the request prior to formally withdrawing the student from program services. If a student no longer demonstrates a need for services, an educator familiar with the student may request that the Highly Capable Selection Committee review the student’s initial identification records and any subsequent assessment records to determine if the student continues to meet program eligibility criteria. If the committee determines that the student no longer qualifies for services, it may recommend that the student be exited from services. This recommendation is very rare and is based on the best interest of the student.

Confidentiality is maintained during all steps of the process. If you have a question about this process, please contact the Director of Support Services at (509) 349-2366 ext. 1440.