Accelerated Placement Act

• Early Admission to Kindergarten - the admission of a student to kindergarten who will not yet be five years old by September 1 of that school year. The criteria includes all of the following:
  • The child has completed at least 1 full year of pre-school or private kindergarten as evidenced by a progress summary report.
  • Evidence is provided by the requestor that indicates that the child performs significantly higher than peers. ○
  • The child scores at or above the 95th percentile on the NWEA MAP assessment on reading and math, compared to kindergarten students. ○
  • The child scores at or above the 95th percentile on the CogAt assessment, compared to kindergarten students. 
• Early Admission to First Grade - the admission of a student to first grade who will not yet be six years old by September 1 of that school year and who has not completed kindergarten at a school with an appropriately licensed teacher. The criteria include all of the following:
  • The child has successfully completed at least one full year of preschool or private kindergarten as evidenced by a progress summary report.
  • Evidence provided by the requestor indicates that the child performs significantly higher than peers.
  • The child scores at or above the 95th percentile on the NWEA MAP assessment on reading and math, compared to 1st grade students.
  • The child scores at or above the 95th percentile on the CogAt assessment, compared to 1st grade students. 
• Subject-Matter Acceleration/Partial Acceleration - grade level acceleration for a specific subject. The criteria include all of the following:
  • Evidence is provided by the requestor that indicates that the child performs significantly higher than peers.
  • The child scores at or above the 95th percentile on the NWEA MAP assessment, compared to students at the grade level in the subject being requested.
  • The child scores at or above the 95th percentile on the CogAt Complete assessment, compared to students at the grade level in the subject being requested.
• Grade-Skipping - full grade level acceleration. The criteria include all of the following:
  • Evidence is provided that indicates that the child performs significantly higher than peers.
  • The child scores at or above the 95th percentile on the NWEA MAP assessment, compared to students at the grade level being requested, for reading and math.
  • The child scores at or above the 95th percentile on the CogAt Complete assessment, compared to students at the grade level being requested.

Orland School District also provides enrichment opportunities for high-achieving students. Families do not need to use the Accelerated Placement process to qualify for the enrichment and honors programs. To learn more about the enrichment opportunities, click on the Enrichment Tab on the Curriculum page.

Gifted Education Acceleration Process

A parent/guardian may request early entrance into kindergarten, first grade, or acceleration in one or multiple subjects, or full grade level acceleration on behalf of their child. Below are the procedures for completing a request.

Accelerated placement testing for early entrance to kindergarten and 1st grade and grade level acceleration will take place in July each summer. Therefore, requests for accelerated placement must be received by July 1 each year. Subject level accelerated placement requests received after July 1st will be acted upon once the school year begins and testing opportunities are available.

1. The requesting party must complete the Gifted Education Acceleration Request Form (last page of this document) and submit it, along with supporting documentation, to the Associate Superintendent and the serving school’s Principal. Supporting data and/or documentation will not be provided to parents by teachers or administrators. It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to provide supporting data/documentation that demonstrates skills far beyond that of typical peers. Testing from an outside source may be provided by the requestor at his/her own expense. *Any Request Forms submitted without supporting documentation will not be acted upon, as they will be considered incomplete.
   • Beyond outside assessments, documentations to consider to support a decision:
     • Language Arts: work samples demonstrating application, analysis, synthesis and evaluative skills), evidence of advanced vocabulary, sophisticated syntax, unusual or novel language use, and/or interpretive analysis of complex literary or non-fiction texts.
     • Mathematics: examples that demonstrate the student’s ability to apply ideas from one mathematical problem to another, use of creative or unusual strategies to solve mathematical problems, success with advanced level math concepts, and/or knowledge about a variety of mathematical topics.
   • Classroom grades assess grade level standards. As a result, they do not communicate a student’s skill beyond what is expected at that grade level and should not be provided as supporting evidence.
2. Upon receipt of request and documentation, a school evaluation team will review documentation submitted by parents and consider an individual evaluation of a student referred for gifted education acceleration.
   • The team will review all submitted documentation, current teacher reports, past records and tests.
   • The team will determine if the student qualifies for additional evaluation measures, conducted by the School District, which will include the NWEA MAP in reading and math and the CogAt assessment. Each assessment will take approximately 45 minutes.
   • Parental consent will be obtained prior to additional testing which will be completed by the District.
3. An eligibility determination meeting will follow.
   • The Associate Superintendent will convene a committee which may include the current classroom teacher, building administrator, the enrichment/honors teacher, and the Director and/or Assistant Director of Curriculum.
   • The committee will review all submitted paperwork, data, and determine if the student meets the requirements to be enrolled in the subject/class/grade being requested.
4. Following the testing and committee review, parents will receive test results and written notification regarding the decision from the Associate Superintendent within 20 days of testing.
5. If the student is eligible for gifted accelerated placement, an Accelerated Learning Plan will be developed and implemented. The plan will be reviewed annually and reevaluations will occur periodically. A review of the placement will take place within 30 days of the placement beginning. This can include the parents, teacher, building administrator, and any other member of the students’ team.
6. A parent or legal guardian of the referred student may appeal in writing the decision of the evaluation team to the local Superintendent within thirty (30) days of being notified of the committee’s decision.
   • It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to provide additional supporting data/documentation for the appeal that demonstrates skills far beyond those of typical peers.
   • Additional testing from an outside source is at the expense of the parent. Any outside test results will only be considered if the test is administered by a licensed psychologist not affiliated with a particular public or private school. Any appeals submitted without additional documentation will not be acted on, as they will be considered incomplete.
   • The Superintendent or designee shall review the appeal and notify the parent or legal guardian who filed the appeal of his or her final decision within thirty (30) days of receiving the appeal.
   • The Superintendent’s decision shall be final.