Gifted & Talented

The GT department fully supports the Black Lives Matter Movement and the disruption of systemic racism.  Last August, we began discussing the “Why” of our work and our purpose in gifted education. Throughout the 2019-2020 school year, our entire GT department (schools and central) focused to develop an understanding of the systems that perpetuate oppression of students of color.  The  current (and ongoing) racial injustices have only strengthened our focus on systemic racism and white supremacy culture to identify the barriers students are facing with identification, access, opportunities, and programming and make changes. 

Please check back for more information about how we are moving forward in this important work. 

It is the goal of  DPS  to provide all of our students with appropriate academic services. When there is a disagreement on matters pertaining to the identification, evaluation and eligibility for gifted services the appeals process may be initiated.

Written appeals based on one of the following criteria may be sent to the Gifted and Talented Department:

• Additional information about my child which may include, but is not limited to, newly obtained district assessment data, parent examples of advanced abilities, etc. Please note: Private testing will not be considered as a reason for appeal.
• A condition or circumstance believed to have caused a misinterpretation of the testing results.
• An extraordinary circumstance occurred during the testing period that may negatively affect the validity of the test results such as a death in the family or extreme physical ailment.
• The suspicion of an error in the administration of the assessment.  For example: The designated proctor did not follow assessment prescribed protocols.  Testing day or time of assessment within the school day are not considered to be errors in administration.

Written appeals must include:

• your name, address, phone number, and email (if available)
• the student’s name, student identification number (if known), date of birth, and school of attendance
• reason for the appeal based on the above criteria
• any supporting additional data that would be helpful to the Appeal Review Team (e.g. district testing data, observation scales, personal observations of the child’s advanced abilities/thinking)

For the 2020-2021 school year, appeals must be completed and sent to the giftedandtalented@dpsk12.org email. In the email subject, please list as Test Results Appeal and Your Child’s Name.

The Gifted and Talented Department’s Appeal Team will notify you of receipt of the appeal. However, appeals will not begin being processed until mid-February 2021. Additionally, extra testing considerations may be unavailable or delayed.

All appeals will go before the Appeal Review Team, and you will be notified of the decision by email. The team may contact you for additional information if necessary.  The decision of the Appeal Review Team is final.