Dolores Elementary School
PEAKS Program
Parents, Educators, Administrators, Kids, Success
Quick Resource Guide for Gifted Education
What is this?
This is a user friendly guide for parents written by parents to help them understand the steps necessary to advocate for their children.
If you are concerned about how to address academic or behavioral needs of your child, then this is the guide for you.
When do I start?
As soon as you become concerned about your child�s academic, behavioral or social development, get involved. If problems exist at home or in school there could be a need for additional supports.
Why is early intervention important?
It is critical not to allow your child to become disconnected from classroom learning and perhaps to even fall behind in academic, behavioral, or social development. It is important to address academic or behavioral needs at the earliest point possible. It is extremely important that a child who has gifted potential have his or her academic and social emotional needs addressed.
Where do I start?
Start by sharing your concerns with the classroom teacher. Ask the teacher if he/she sees these needs in the classroom. Sometimes a gifted student hides their abilities from the teacher and other students so as not to appear �different�. You can also contact the school counselor and school principal. The Gifted and Talented team may also become involved at this point depending on the issues and identified needs.
Response to Intervention (RtI) is a process used to support learning, behavior, and social-emotional needs. For students who may be gifted, RtI is used to determine eligibility for special educational services or gifted programming. Initially, the classroom teacher will try differentiating the curriculum in the regular classroom to see how your child responds to increased levels of complexity or advanced work. This adjustment in the curriculum is called an intervention. How your child responds could be part of evidence collected to determine if he or she may be gifted. This evidence is equally important as any formal testing.
Where do I start? Continued�
For more information on the RtI process and identification for gifted education, ask your child�s teacher or administrator. You can also contact the Southwest BOCS at 565-8411 and ask for Carol Jones. You can also visit the Colorado Department of Education�s web site at
www.cde.state.co.us/gt/index.htmlWhat else can I do if these steps are not working?
Expect this process to take time. As a parent, you can ask for frequent progress reports to see if the interventions are working. Ask for feedback and for an explanation of how RtI is working for your child. Consider yourself a partner working with the school and expect frequent communication.
If you feel your concerns are not being addressed, you can contact the Southwest BOCES, the administrative unit responsible for gifted and talented education in our area. In addition, you have the right to request, in writing, an evaluation to determine eligibility. Examples of evaluations include cognitive assessment and/or rubrics completed for non-academic giftedness, behavioral checklists completed by the teacher and the parent, evidence collected from differentiating the curriculum, and other test data from school.
