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Talent Development, Advanced Learning, Acceleration, and Early Entry

Definitions

Talent development refers to the deliberate cultivation of ability in a specific domain or domains (e.g., math, language arts, music). Schools that use a talent development approach provide all students with opportunities for enrichment, helping them to discover their strengths and interests. As students’ learning needs are identified, services are provided to maximize growth.

Advanced Learning provides students in 5th grade and up who demonstrate readiness with an enriched, accelerated learning program in English language arts and math to ensure appropriate academic rigor for growth. Services are provided based on students’ areas of exceptional strength and need for instruction beyond what can be provided in the core classroom. 

Early entrance to kindergarten is the admission of a student to kindergarten who will not yet be five years old by October 1st of that school year. 

Early entrance to first grade is the admission of a student who will not yet be six years old by October 1st of that school year and has not completed kindergarten. 

Whole grade acceleration is the practice of assigning a student to a higher grade level than is typical, given the student’s age, on a full-time basis for the purpose of providing access to appropriately challenging learning opportunities.

Individual subject acceleration is the practice of assigning a student to specific content at a higher instructional level than is typical, given the student’s grade, for the purpose of providing access to appropriately challenging learning opportunities in one or more subject areas.

D31 Early Entrance & Accelerated Placement Procedure 

The Accelerated Placement Act (Public Act 100-0421) requires Illinois public school districts to adopt and implement policies on acceleration that, at minimum, provide opportunities for early entrance to kindergarten and first grade, opportunities for accelerating a student in a single subject area, and opportunities for whole grade acceleration (sometimes referred to as “grade skipping”).

The law requires that district acceleration policies include:

  • A provision that states that participation in accelerated placement is not limited to those children who have been identified as gifted and talented, bProcedures for notifying parents or guardians of a child of a decision affecting that child’s participation in an accelerated placement program; andut rather is open to all children who demonstrate high ability and who may benefit from accelerated placement;
  • A fair and equitable decision-making process that involves multiple persons and includes a student’s parents or guardians;
  • An assessment process that includes multiple valid, reliable indicators.