The Dexter R-XI School District uses a systematic process for the identification of advanced students that is comprised of multiple criteria, including objective measures and competent professional evaluation. Academically-advanced students eligible to receive state aid shall be defined as those students who exhibit precocious development of mental capacity and learning potential, as determined by competent professional evaluation, to the extent that continued educational growth and stimulation could best be served by an academic environment beyond that offered or expected in the regular classroom program of the district. The following procedures are used in the identification of these students.

SCREENING

The district will provide preliminary screening for all students to ensure that all potentially advanced students have an opportunity for consideration. All available data will be considered during the initial screening process including, but not limited to information contained in the permanent record; norm-referenced and criterion-referenced achievement test results; grades; group-administered intelligence tests; recommendations from teachers, parents, and other personnel; anecdotal records demonstrating creativity or problem-solving skills; and other district-developed criteria.

The district will use a variety of screening methods that reduce the chance of bias and provide an opportunity to identify the strengths of all students, including those traditionally under-represented such as students with limited English proficiency, students from culturally diverse backgrounds, and students with learning disabilities.

FURTHER EVALUATION

The district will target those students meeting the screening criteria for further evaluation. Students in the targeted group will be further evaluated by a more expansive application of the criteria above.

INDIVIDUAL EVALUATION

Those student whose evaluation scores warrant an individual evaluation will receive one. Students will be individually evaluated in at least three (3) of the following four (4) areas:

• General Mental Ability including a full-scale score on an individualized intelligence test at or above the 95th percentile.

• Academic Ability including a norm-referenced test with a cut-off score at the 95th percentile or higher.

• Creativity, Reasoning, and Problem-Solving Ability including use of the SAGES-2.

• District-developed criteria including the ACE enrichment scale

SELECTION AND PLACEMENT

Students who meet at least three (3) of the four (4) evaluation criteria may be enrolled in the district’s enrichment program.

WITHDRAWAL FROM THE ACE PROGRAM

From time to time it may be deemed necessary and/or appropriate for a student to be withdrawn from the Academic Class Enrichment (ACE) program. With acceptance of a student into the program, the parents should be made aware of the conditions, which would provide for a student to be withdrawn. A student may be withdrawn from the program for any of the following reasons: failure to maintain a B in each core academic subjects quarterly; parent recommendation; ACE teacher, principal and program coordinator recommendation.

Removal does not preclude subsequent placement back into the ACE program. Students leaving the program under the second and third conditions above and subsequently wishing to return will be considered for placement back in the program based on approval of the ACE teacher, principal, and program coordinator. Students in the Middle School program can opt to take ACE by semester.

Students failing to maintain requirements of item one above will be given one quarter probationary period to correct the situation. If at that time the situation has not been rectified, the student will be removed from the program. Removal does not preclude subsequent placement back into the ACE program. Conditions, which caused the initial withdrawal, may have changed and placement in the program may be appropriate at a later date with approval of the ACE teacher, principal, and program coordinator.

COORDINATION WITH THE REGULAR CLASSROOM

Students in the ACE program are considered to be educationally talented and are placed in the program to receive enrichment activities beyond those presented in the regular classroom.

As a result of ACE students being removed from the regular classroom for a portion of the school day at Central Elementary, classroom teachers should be cognizant of the fact that an undue hardship is placed on the student and the student’s family when homework modifications are not articulated.

The ACE student will follow the district’s homework policy.

When possible, a representative sample of homework problems should be given to the ACE student in lieu of an entire assignment. As a rule, the advanced student has the knowledge base to master concepts in a more proficient manner that his/her peers. It is not the intention of this program to inundate the ACE student with work from both the ACE program and the regular education program. Teachers should use discretion in assigning homework in a fashion, which places the ACE student in situations where he/she cannot appreciate the benefits of the ACE and regular education programs.