IDENTIFICATION OF THE GIFTED: AN OVERVIEW OF LEGAL ISSUES
This chapter reviews the steps and to provide information on selected due process hearings and court cases that have occurred addressing the identification and/or admission processes for gifted learners. The federal government has been slow to respond to the needs of the gifted in our country. While a mandate for the identification of disabled students exists at the federal level, the lack of a federal mandate for the gifted leaves the responsibility for identifying and serving these students to the discretion of each state. Though the federal government can establish parameters that guide state educational policy, states have considerable freedom in setting their own policies that directly impact the education of gifted students. While Local Education Agencies typically desire some flexibility in order to establish those procedures that best meet the needs of their respective student population, too much leeway can lead to misinterpretation or misrepresentation of the law and/or policy, thus creating a mass of inconsistencies across the state.
