Riverside outlines 'GEAR' gifted services plan; aims to expand trained providers and embed PD

Julie Weber, Riverside’s early childhood director and the district’s gifted coordinator, presented a new brand for district gifted programming — GEAR (Gifted Education At Riverside) — and a roadmap the district says will expand equitable access to gifted services.

Weber explained how Riverside identifies gifted students: screening begins in second grade using the MAP assessment (students scoring at the 95th percentile in math or reading may be identified in that subject), group cognitive tests (the INV) use a superior-cognitive cutoff score of 128, and the district also considers SAT scores in 11th grade. Weber provided counts by grade band: roughly 1,200 students in grades 2–5 with about 18% identified as gifted; about 640 students in grades 6–7 with around 19% identified; and approximately 1,500 students in grades 8–12 with near-19% identified.

On services and staffing, Weber said the state allows general-education teachers to be gifted service providers after completing 60 hours of approved professional development over a four-year period; AP teachers must meet a different clock (24 hours AP training plus additional gifted PD). The district currently has about 25 staff participating in gifted PD and two district staff with an official gifted license; Weber said many of the 25 are near the 60-hour threshold and that the district hopes to increase the number of teachers qualified to provide gifted services by embedding PD opportunities into normal professional-development days.

Weber described a three-tier continuum of gifted services — tier 1 differentiation in general classrooms, tier 2 intentional clustering and written education plans, and tier 3 acceleration (single-subject or whole-grade acceleration, early kindergarten entrance, dual enrollment) — and said the district will convene a district-level gifted learning team led by licensed staff to coordinate districtwide practice. She flagged goals to strengthen onboarding for parents, increase identification equity across elementary buildings, and boost the percentage of identified students who are actively receiving services.

Trustees asked how the district will incentivize teachers to undertake the 60-hour PD; Weber said embedding PD in the workday and using PLC/TBT structures should increase participation. The presentation included sample PD schedules (sessions in November, February and March plus PLC/Zoom check-ins) and an MTSS approach for gifted students.

Next steps: the district will continue to expand embedded PD and update its district gifted plan during the summer, then monitor uptake and service rates in the coming school year.