Colorado § 22-20-202 - Definitions.

§ 22-20-202. Definitions.

As used in this part 2, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Administrative unit" means a school district, a board of cooperative services, a charter school network, a charter school collaborative, or the state charter school institute that is providing educational services to exceptional children and that is responsible for the local administration of this article 20.

(2) "Advanced learning plan" means a written record of a gifted student's strengths and academic and affective learning goals and the resulting programming utilized with each gifted child and considered in educational planning and decision-making.

(3) "Annual plan" means an administrative unit's comprehensive gifted education plan and annual proposed budget form that the administrative unit submits to the department pursuant to state board rules.

(4) "Aptitude" means an exceptional ability to reason and learn. Screening procedures for gifted children may consider aptitude in the context of a defined top range of performance or test scores for purposes of recognizing gifted potential or for identifying a talent pool for developing giftedness in one or more domains, as defined by rule of the state board.

(5) "Assessment" means methods, tools, and data collected as a body of evidence for use in the following gifted education processes:

(a) Identification and programming; and

(b) Monitoring the gifted child's performance and outcomes.

(6) "Board of cooperative services" means a regional educational services unit created pursuant to article 5 of this title and designed to provide supporting, instructional, administrative, facility, community, or any other services contracted by participating members.

(7) "Competence" means documented performance, achievement, or test scores on standardized or locally normed test results. Screening procedures may consider competence in the context of a defined range of student performance, as described by rule of the state board, for purposes of recognizing gifted potential or identifying a talent pool for developing giftedness.

(8) "Department" means the department of education created and existing pursuant to section 24-1-115, C.R.S.

(9) "Evaluation" means evaluation procedures, methods, and tools used to initially identify a gifted child, assess and monitor the child's progress, and evaluate the child and the gifted program. "Evaluation" includes, but need not be limited to:

(a) Identifying the child's unique strengths, interests, and needs;

(b) Monitoring the child's academic achievement and growth;

(c) Identifying the priorities and concerns of the child's family and resources to which the family and the child's school have access; and

(d) Determining program strengths and areas for program improvement.

(10) "Exceptional child" means:

(a) A child defined in section 22-20-103 (5) as a child with a disability. An administrative unit shall serve every child with a disability from three to twenty-one years of age and may serve children with disabilities from birth through two years of age.

(b) A child defined in subsection (11) of this section as a gifted child. Pursuant to section 22-20-204 (1), an administrative unit shall adopt and submit to the department a program plan to identify and serve gifted children who are at least five years of age.

(11) "Gifted child" means a person from four to twenty-one years of age whose aptitude or competence in abilities and talents and potential for accomplishments in one or more domains, as defined by state board rule, are so outstanding that he or she requires special provisions to meet his or her educational needs.

(12) "Gifted education services" or "gifted education programs" means the services or programs provided to gifted children pursuant to this part 2. "Gifted education services" and "gifted education programs" include, but need not be limited to, strategies, programming options, and interventions reflecting evidence-based practices, such as acceleration, concurrent enrollment, differentiated instruction, and affective guidance.

(13) "Highly advanced gifted child" means a gifted child that an administrative unit, using criteria and a process established by rules that the state board promulgates pursuant to section 22-20-204.5 (4), has identified as a highly advanced gifted child.

(14) "Individual career and academic plan" means the plan created for each student pursuant to sections 22-30.5-525 and 22-32-109 (1)(oo).

(15) "Program elements" means components of a program plan, which include, but need not be limited to, definition, communication, identification, programming, personnel, accountability, reporting, record keeping, and resolution of disagreements.

(16) "Program plan" means a comprehensive and complete narrative of program elements described in state board rules. A program plan must include, but need not be limited to:

(a) The procedures the administrative unit will use to identify gifted students;

(b) The programming and documentation options that the administrative unit will implement in operating the gifted program; and

(c) Actions and tools for ensuring accountability for the academic achievement of gifted children and for evaluating the gifted program, which actions and tools are aligned with state accountability and program evaluations.

(17) "Qualified person" or "qualified personnel" means an educator that holds or is working toward attaining a gifted education license endorsement, a director of gifted education license endorsement, or a master's degree or higher in gifted education.

(18) "School district" means a school district organized and existing pursuant to law, but shall not include a local college district.

(19) "State board" means the state board of education created and existing pursuant to section 1 of article IX of the state constitution.

Source: L. 2011: Entire part added, (HB 11-1077), ch. 30, p. 79, § 11, effective August 10. L. 2014: Entire section amended, (HB 14-1102), ch. 330, p. 1462, § 2, effective August 6. L. 2022: (1) amended, (HB 22-1294), ch. 242, p. 1796, § 14, effective August 10.