Garland Area Parent Association for Gifted and Talented

During last summer’s legislative session, the Texas Congress adopted House Bill 3 which includes language directing the Texas Education Agency to develop new accountability standards for gifted education. HB3 has been signed into law by Governor Perry. The responsibility now rests with the Commissioner of Education to develop and implement the standards.

TEA has solicited input from across the state using focus groups in the 20 regional educational service centers.  TAGT has provided members with “Talking Points” to facilitate a well-rounded discussion that covers what are considered key issues in this process.

Although no focus group was planned for our ESC, Linda Phemister, GISD GT Coordinator, and Diana Cooley, GAPAGT 1st Vice-President, attended a focus group in Keller ISD on January 26. The results of that meeting will be compiled with those from other focus groups at a GT Leadership Conference in late February and eventually sent as recommendations to the Commissioner.

Specifically, the law requires that standards be adopted to evaluate school district programs for gifted and talented students to determine whether a district meets the requirements of the State Plan for the Education of Gifted and Talented Students.

Recommendations from our focus group included utilizing a State Rubric aligned with each section of the State Plan, and asking district school boards to evaluate and endorse the rubric, forwarding the results to TEA. The results would then be used to document current performance as well as form a basis for progression to Recommended and Exemplary levels. Incentives would give recognition to local districts that achieve or exceed these levels.

For more information, or to read the newly revised State Plan for GT, visit www.tea.state.tx.us and select “Gifted and Talented” under the A-Z index or click on http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=6420.