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Board approves Orange County AIG plan for 2025–28 with new ID pathways and student conferences
Summary
The board approved the district's 2025–28 academically and intellectually gifted (AIG) plan, which adds a nationally normed assessment to the identification pathway, a streamlined portfolio process, and individualized differentiated education plans for highly gifted students.
The Orange County Board of Education approved the district’s 2025–28 AIG (academically and intellectually gifted) plan at its May 5 meeting, accepting several changes staff described as updates to align the local plan with state guidance and to improve consistency in identification and service delivery.
Emily Myers, the district AIG lead, briefed the board on the changes, which include using a nationally normed achievement test (the Iowa) as part of the second identification pathway for second‑grade students who meet CogAT qualifying criteria; a revised portfolio process for alternative identification with district oversight; and new Individualized Differentiated Education Plans (IDEPs) for highly gifted students.
Myers also described procedural changes: AIG specialists will meet families in person to discuss identification decisions, transition meetings will be held as students enter sixth and ninth grades, and AIG specialists will provide annual professional development for classroom teachers. The plan also calls for clustering gifted students with classroom teachers who hold AIG licensure when feasible and for stronger high‑school data collection on participation in advanced coursework and dropout trends among identified AIG students.
Myers said the district currently identifies 1,343 formally‑identified AIG students served by 12 full‑time AIG specialists across the district and that the plan revision resulted from stakeholder feedback, including an advisory committee and DPI review. The plan will be submitted to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) ahead of the July 15 deadline.
Board members asked about clustering and potential unintended effects. Myers said clustering is intended to reduce “singletons” in classrooms and to allow teachers with AIG certification to deliver differentiated instruction for small groups (for example 4–6 students in a classroom of 24), not to segregate students or create whole tracked classrooms. The board approved the plan after brief discussion.
The approved plan also expands AIG advisory‑committee meetings to twice annually (not just in revision years), increases district communications to families (quarterly newsletters), and asks district staff to explore community partnerships to support AIG programming across K–12.
