Wake County staff present final draft of AIG plan; board to consider approval June 24

Wake County Public School System staff told the Board of Education on Tuesday that a revised Advanced Instructional/Gifted (AIG) plan is on track for final board approval June 24 and will be submitted to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction by the June 30 deadline.

District AIG staff led by Drew Cook and colleagues said the current presentation was intended to narrow the board’s feedback to specific updates and clarify steps for implementation. Cook described the session as “the third installment” of presentations dating to March and said the goal is to present a final draft so the district can meet the DPI timeline.

The staff summary highlights several substantive changes. The plan now incorporates NCDPI language under Program Standard 1 to more explicitly note the district’s commitment to serving underrepresented gifted populations, including culturally and ethnically diverse students, economically disadvantaged students, multilingual learners, twice-exceptional students and highly gifted learners. Andrea Hall, a member of the district AIG team, said the addition is intended to make the district’s priorities clearer and to spur “research[ing] and evaluating practices of other LEAs across North Carolina.”

Staff also described programmatic clarifications aimed at limiting over-testing and expanding identification pathways. The plan emphasizes a portfolio-based identification option that staff said can qualify students without additional standardized testing; district staff said the portfolio is intended to use “authentic data that’s already available in the school building.” Staff explained that students who do not qualify via portfolio will still be eligible for “talent development” services while teachers gather additional evidence.

Board members pressed staff on capacity and budget implications of expanding identification and services to earlier grades. Cook and other staff acknowledged the potential strain on school-level capacity if more primary-grade students enter the formal identification process, and told the board that identified second graders would not begin receiving formal AIG services until third grade while teachers provide preparatory supports.

Staff also described district plans to address teacher supports and professional learning. Dr. Shaniqua Moore Brown and others said the plan discusses teacher training, a proposed glossary of terms to standardize language across schools, and future work to determine how artificial intelligence tools should be used in AIG instruction. “We are going to look into how we can work with the district … and investigate professional development for [AIG teachers],” a staff speaker said.

Next steps: staff said they will incorporate final edits and return to the board for a vote June 24. The board’s June 24 meeting will also serve as the district’s mechanism to finalize the DPI submission by the state’s June 30 deadline.

Why it matters: the AIG plan determines how Wake County identifies and serves academically gifted students across 99 schools. Changes to identification, portfolio use, and staffing expectations will affect classroom workload, budget planning and the services available to students who historically have been underidentified.

What’s next: staff will circulate the updated draft after this meeting and will accept last clarifying edits before bringing the plan to the full board for approval on June 24.