Davie County Schools details AIG plan revisions, moves universal screening to end of second grade

Sherry White, Davie County Schools district AIG coordinator, told the school board that the district’s three-year AIG plan has been revised to reflect new state guidance and local priorities and that the proposed document will be placed on a future consent agenda for board approval.

The revisions, contained in a plan White described as about 61 pages, change the district’s universal screening to the end of second grade using a picture-based form of the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT), while maintaining formal identification at the end of third grade. White said the earlier screening will allow the district to “ease them into it” and form nurturing groups for rising third graders; identification and parent notification will remain a multi-data process completed before fourth-grade services begin.

White told the board the district currently identifies 15.23% of students for AIG services and that state funding for AIG is provided at 4% regardless of local identification rates. She said Davie County employs 33 licensed staff (state gifted-education endorsement on their license) and 23 locally endorsed staff who completed the district’s 30-hour local endorsement course. The district supports AIG work with specialists at elementary, middle and high school levels and with a lead AIG specialist who serves as a high-school liaison.

White walked the board through specific changes across the state’s six AIG program standards: identification and screening (Standard 1); honors‑level coursework and talent development (Standard 2); differentiated curriculum and collaboration with EC and ESL (Standard 3); professional development (Standard 4); partnerships (Standard 5); and accountability and written procedures (Standard 6). She said honors-level high-school teachers will complete a Canvas module of guidance and submit artifacts to ensure honors courses meet the state’s instructional expectations. The plan also adds talent-development initiatives such as STEM camps, kindergarten readiness camps and the freshman academy pathways as district practices.

On assessment and data, White said the district will expand screening pools for students in grades 3–8 (for example, new-in-district students and level‑5 scorers not previously identified), clarify high‑school Gifted Services Team (GST) roles and begin setting identification thresholds after a year of data. She described plans to use RTI Stored, a data platform, to centralize evidence and measure program effectiveness.

Board members asked clarifying questions about funding, screening timing and the permanence of AIG identification. White confirmed the state funding percentage is not under local control, that universal screening will be administered at the end of second grade but identification will remain at the end of third grade, and that students, once formally identified, retain AIG status though services and placements can change with GST and parent involvement.

White said the revised AIG plan follows the North Carolina Board of Education’s updated AIG program standards (approved July 2024) and noted that local advisory input — including students, principals and AIG specialists — informed the revisions. She told the board she anticipates submitting the plan for the board’s consent‑agenda approval at the next meeting so it can be sent to the state Department of Public Instruction for review.

The presentation concluded with board acknowledgment of the volume of material and White’s offer to place the plan on the consent agenda; White told members she was “all for” immediate approval but that the plan would appear on the next consent agenda if the board preferred.

The board did not take a formal vote on the AIG plan during the presentation; White said the plan will be added to the consent agenda for the next meeting.