The Texas State Plan for the Education of Gifted/Talented Students ( in English; in Spanish) indicates five categories of giftedness: general intellectual ability, specific academic aptitude, creativity, leadership, and visual/performing arts. Austin ISD serves students who are currently identified as advanced intellectually and academically. Their giftedness may surface as an outstanding aptitude in one or more of the areas of language arts, math, science and social studies or in their ability to process information more rapidly with greater depth and complexity. AISD is committed to meeting the needs of all the children in its schools, including those of high academic/intellectual ability whose needs may not be met by the regular curriculum.

The Gifted/Talented program seeks to provide an appropriate match between a child’s ability, interest and motivation and the educational opportunities that can nurture these qualities to the highest degree. Students in the K-12 Gifted/Talented program interact with trained teachers who recognize the students’ special needs and design and implement instruction to meet those needs. In recognizing the special educational needs of these children and by providing for those needs, AISD seeks to encourage gifted/talented children to continue in the lifelong development and acquisition of knowledge, as they become adults, and to become responsible contributors to the community and to society.

AISD accepts the challenge to find and identify giftedness through a broad screening process with the support and help of teachers and their campuses. These students might have special needs, be underachieving, or have cultural differences. Effective and sensitive training of teachers and support staff to identify these students, using a variety of criteria in which testing is only one measure, will ensure that these students are not overlooked.

Finally, AISD recognizes the social and emotional concerns that arise from the special abilities of the gifted/talented learner. A knowledgeable guidance staff at local campuses can counsel and assist gifted/talented students so that these students experience not only intellectual growth, but also emotional and social growth. AISD is committed to provide teachers, as well as campus-wide support staff, training on the nature and needs of the gifted/talented child.