Skip to main content
Gifted and Talented » G & T Program Overview

G & T Program Overview

OVERVIEW OF GIFTED AND TALENTED EDUCATION


The Weehawken Township School District is committed to ensuring a quality education for all students. Outstanding talents are present in students from all socioeconomic, ethnic, and cultural populations. Gifted learners are a special population of students who have unique academic, social, and emotional needs. When these needs are met, there can be a realization of potential by the individual who, in turn, can contribute to the school and to society.


The Weehawken Township School District believes that all children will achieve their full potential in instructional environments that respond to their unique needs. We are dedicated to providing a continuum of services that match identified gifted and talented students’ individual needs, strengths, and interests



DEFINITION OF GIFTED AND TALENTED


On June 1, 2005 the State Board of Education readopted with amendments N.J.A.C. 6A: 8, Standards and Assessment for Student Achievement, which includes more specific requirements for gifted and talented programs. 

 

The regulations define gifted and talented students as:


Those students who possess or demonstrate high levels of ability, in one or more content areas, when compared to their chronological peers in the local district and who require modification of their educational program if they are to achieve in accordance with their capabilities.


KEY POINTS


  • All public schools must have a board-approved gifted and talented program.
  • Students are to be compared with their peers in the local school district.
  • District boards of education shall make provisions for an ongoing K-12 identification process for gifted and talented students that includes multiple measures, including but not limited to, achievement test scores, grades, student performance or products, intelligence testing, parent, student and/or teacher recommendation, and other appropriate measures.
  • The regulations do not establish state-level criteria for giftedness (such as an IQ score or grade point average). Specific tests are not required to be used to identify gifted and talented students.
  • Local school districts should ensure that the identification methodology used is developmentally appropriate, non-discriminatory, and related to the programs and services offered.
  • N.J.A.C. 6A: 8-3.1(a)5 ii requires local district boards of education to provide appropriate K-12 educational services for gifted and talented students. Therefore, the identification process and appropriate educational challenges must begin in kindergarten.
  • District boards of education shall take into consideration the PreK-Grade 12 Gifted Program Standards of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) in developing programs for gifted and talented students.