Research conducted nationally and within Iowa’s public schools has demonstrated that academic acceleration can be a powerful and cost-effective strategy for providing appropriately challenging, standards-based instruction for students who are ready to learn above grade-level content. Acceleration has also been shown to increase motivation, reduce apathy, and enhance the social and emotional well-being of appropriately selected students.

Policy on Academic Acceleration:

In accordance with the belief that all students are entitled to an education commensurate with their particular needs, students who can exceed the essential skills and concepts set forth in the curriculum standards must be afforded the opportunity and be encouraged to do so.

The Diagonal Board of Education believes that such students often require access to advanced curriculum in order to realize their potential contribution to themselves and society.

All students learn and experience success given time and opportunity, but the degree to which academic content standards are met and the time it takes to reach the standards will vary from student to student. The Diagonal Board of Education believes that all students, including advanced learners, should be challenged and supported to reach their full potential. For many advanced learners, this can best be achieved by affording them access to curriculum, learning environments, and instructional interventions more commonly provided to older peers.

This policy describes the process that shall be used for evaluating students for possible accelerated placement and identifying students who should be accelerated in one or more individual subject areas, promoted to a higher grade level than their same-age peers, and granted early graduation from high school.

1)   Referrals and Evaluation

a)   Any student residing in the district may be referred by a teacher, administrator, gifted education specialist, guidance counselor, school psychologist, or a parent or legal guardian of the student to the principal (or his or her designee) of his or her school for evaluation for possible accelerated placement. A student may refer himself or herself or a peer through a district staff member who has knowledge of the referred student’s abilities.

b)   Copies of this policy and referral forms for evaluation for possible, whole-grade acceleration, individual subject acceleration, and early high school graduation shall be made available to district staff and parents at each school building. The principal of each school building (or his or her designee) shall solicit referrals of students for evaluation for possible accelerated placement annually, and ensure that all staff he or she supervises are aware of procedures for referring students for evaluation for possible accelerated placement.

c)   The principal (or his or her designee) of the referred student’s school shall obtain written permission from the student’s parent(s) or legal guardian(s) to evaluate the student for possible accelerated placement. The district shall evaluate all students who are referred for evaluation and whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) have granted permission to evaluate the student for possible accelerated placement.

d)   Students who are referred for evaluation for possible accelerated placement sixty or more days prior to the start of the school year shall be evaluated in advance of the start of the school year so that the student may be placed in the accelerated placement on the first day of school. Students who are referred for possible accelerated placement sixty or more days prior to the start of the second semester shall be evaluated for possible accelerated placement at the start of the second semester. In all other cases, evaluations of a referred student shall be scheduled at the student’s principal’s discretion and placed in the accelerated setting(s) at the time recommended by the Acceleration Evaluation Committee – if the committee determines the student should be accelerated.

e)   A parent or legal guardian of the evaluated student shall be notified in writing of the outcome of the evaluation process within 45 days of the submission of the referral to the referred student’s principal. This notification shall include instructions for appealing the outcome of the evaluation process.

f)   A parent or legal guardian of the referred student may appeal in writing the decision of the evaluation committee to the local Superintendent within thirty days of being notified of the committee’s decision. The Superintendent shall review the appeal and notify the parent or legal guardian who filed the appeal of his or her final decision within thirty days of receiving the appeal. The Superintendent’s decision shall be final. However, the student may be referred and evaluated again at the next available opportunity if he or she is again referred for evaluation by an individual eligible to make referrals as described in this policy.

2)   Acceleration Evaluation Committee

The referred student’s principal (or his or her designee) shall convene an evaluation committee to determine the most appropriate available learning environment for the referred student. This committee shall be comprised of the following:

(a) A principal or assistant principal from the student’s current school;

(b) A current teacher of the referred student;

(c) A teacher at the grade level to which the student may be accelerated (with the exception of students referred for possible early graduation from high school);

(d) A parent or legal guardian of the referred student or a representative designated by a parent or legal guardian of the referred student;

(e) A gifted education coordinator or gifted intervention specialist. If a gifted coordinator or gifted intervention specialist is not available in the district, a school psychologist or guidance counselor with expertise in the appropriate use of academic acceleration may be substituted.

(f) The Acceleration Evaluation Committee shall be charged with the following responsibilities:

(i) The Acceleration Evaluation Committee shall conduct a fair and thorough evaluation of the student.