Gifted Education
Columbus Municipal School District
S.P.I.R.I.T
" Seeking to Provide Individual Release of Intellectual Talent"
Note: Assessment for new students and students in grades 5-6 is ongoing, year-round.
The mission of the Columbus Municipal School District program for intellectually gifted is to create a learning environment that fosters and encourages thinking, creativity, metacognition, healthy enriching relationships and appropriate expectations and understanding of self.
Hunt
Intermediate Gifted Education Goals are:
To provide qualitatively, differentiated and challenging learning beyond the regular curriculum through in-depth enrichment in order to develop and maintain our students' commitment to the love of learning as a life long process.
To help students through self-awareness, better understand themselves, develop social interest, and a feeling of belonging in order to assist them in reaching their full potential.
To help students develop independence and self-direction, to challenge them through various activities, and mentors to become productive citizens of society.
Currently,
CMSD provides programming for students who meet the criteria for intellectually
gifted in grades 2-8.
A Mississippi eligibility ruling for gifted MUST be secured on all students
served. Students with documented evidence of previous participation in a gifted
program in another state or country must be assessed according to Mississippi
criteria. Once a student has been recognized as gifted, there is no need to be
reevaluated to benefit from gifted programs offered at other grade levels.
Identification Process
A student may be referred by a parent, teacher, counselor, administrator, peer, self or anyone else having reason to believe that the student might be intellectually gifted.
Referral Criteria
A student shall satisfy a minimum of two of the following criteria before moving forward in the identification process: (a) a group measure of intelligence that has been administered within the past twelve months, (b) published characteristics of giftedness measure, (c) published measure of creativity, and (d) published measure of leadership.
Eligibility Determination
This district uses it own Local Survey Committee to determine gifted eligibility. This committee is a district committee, which meets regularly. The committee adheres to the MDE's required criteria (evidence of at least three of the required criteria PLUS an individual norm-reference intelligence test with a minimal score at the 90th percentile) to warrant a ruling of ELIGIBLE.
Re-testing
A required waiting period of at least six months must expire before a student who was previously ruled ineligible may be referred again. Students may be tested a maximum of two times at the expense of the school district. A child who has been found to be ineligible twice through the district-administered testing may be tested privately, at the expense of the parent. Test results showing evidence of eligibility as a result of a private administration of testing will be accepted if (1) the child met all referral and assessment criteria within the accepted timelines and (2) there is proof that the person administering the test possesses the proper licensure.
Contact Information
Shelia
Heatherly (5th grade):
Holly
Engberg (6th grade):
Characteristics of Gifted
Learners