Knox County shifts gifted-and-talented services to teaching-and-learning; elementary model emphasizes daily small-group enrichment

The Knox County Schools board heard details of a reorganization that moves services previously labeled “gifted and talented” (GT) into the teaching and learning department and into school-based delivery. Dr. Phillips, representing the teaching and learning department, told the board that former GT coaches have been reassigned to support ELA and math content teams and that the district will increase frequency of small-group academic enrichment, particularly at the elementary level. “Under the former model, our students who had advanced learning needs met with a GT coach one time per week for a pull out small group support session,” she said. “The goal is that we increase the amount of small-group support moving from one time a week to multiple times a week.” Key points and limits: Dr. Phillips said there will be no change to services for intellectually gifted students who have been formally identified and who receive supports under special education IEPs. Those students must continue to be case-managed by staff who hold a gifted endorsement or meet the Tennessee Employment Standard, she said; if a direct service provider lacks one of those qualifications, consultation by a qualified staff member is required and “that is required by law.” At the elementary level, the district plans to use existing master-schedule intervention blocks — described in the meeting as a minimum 40-minute daily segment — for strategic small-group instruction that will include enrichment. The district stressed that the enrichment materials developed by the former GT team remain available and will be “highly encouraged” for use in tier 1 and intervention small groups. Training and staffing: Dr. Phillips said the district will work with the University of Tennessee to expand the number of licensed educators at each school who can support both special education and gifted needs. The partnership was described as a roughly 9–12 month process; district representatives said they expect more qualified staff to be on school sites in the fall and suggested midyear and end-of-year checkpoints in 2026 to review progress. Questions and board concerns: Board members asked whether GT-endorsed staff would be part of the new plan (Dr. Phillips: yes, currently reassigned GT coaches are advising principals and teachers), whether general-education classroom teachers would be expected to deliver enrichment (Dr. Phillips: yes; that teacher may be the child’s classroom teacher or another grade-level colleague depending on strategic grouping), and how the district will communicate the change to staff (Dr. Phillips: principals were briefed and are responsible for sharing details with school staff prior to students’ start date). What remains undecided: Dr. Phillips said the district has not finalized every point about qualification pathways and how students will be identified for enriched services; those details are still under interdepartmental discussion and will be refined with special education, RTI and talent acquisition teams. Why it matters: the reorganization changes the service delivery model from district-run GT pull-outs to school-embedded enrichment, shifts day-to-day responsibility onto general-education teams, and relies on a training partnership to expand site-level capacity. The board and district staff said they plan scheduled checkpoints to evaluate implementation.