Yazoo County School District
Gifted EXCEL Program
Mission Statement and Philosophy of the Yazoo County Gifted Excel Program

The Mississippi Gifted Education Act of 1989, amended in 1993, mandates that each public school district within the state provide gifted education programs for intellectually gifted students in grades two through six. Services are provided by a properly endorsed teacher for a minimum of 240 minutes per week.

Intellectually gifted children are those who are found to have an exceptionally high degree of intelligence as documented through the gifted identification process.

It is the belief of the Yazoo County School District that intellectually gifted students need more challenges than are provided in the general education classroom atmosphere. YCSD believes intellectually gifted students' potential must be enhanced through creative and differentiated avenues of exploration.

After an individual determination of each child's strengths, needs, and interests, instructional activities and units are created, designed, and implemented to motivate and empower each student to achieve his/her maximum academic potential.

Strategic instruction is carried out so that the student's independent study skills and academic knowledge base will serve him/her in every aspect of life. The Yazoo County School District is dedicated to the guidance and motivation of gifted students through a student-centered, quality education.

 Teaching strands in the YCSD Gifted program provide:

(1) Higher level thinking.

(2) Objective decision making.

(3) Critical Thinking.

(4) Leadership.

(5) Creative problem-solving.

Program Goals for the YCSD Gifted Program – EXCEL

It is the expectation of the Yazoo County School District to implement the following program goals in the implementation of the gifted program:

 
1.  To provide students with those instructional teaching and learning sequences which emphasize the process of learning rather than content;

2.   To provide students with those instructional teaching and learning sequences which focus on divergent thinking rather than convergent;

3.  To provide students with those instructional teaching and learning sequences which invite exploration of ideas through creative problem solving and reasoning skills;

4.   To provide students with a diversity of learning experiences, including instructional methods,  materials, and learning endeavors;

5.   To provide opportunities for the students to grow in their understanding of themselves and others; 

6.   To provide students opportunities to increase their capacity for decision making and problem solving;

7.   To provide students with the opportunity to utilize thinking skills to discover, analyze, and evaluate  information to solve problems;

8.  To provide students with the ability to demonstrate the use of creative problem solving skills;

9.  To provide students with the ability to work effectively in group situations, both as a leader and as a member of the group;

10.  To provide students with the ability to acquire the skills to retrieve and disseminate information using a variety of media;

11.  To afford students the opportunity to design and construct meaningful research and the ability to pursue areas of interest through in-depth investigation, and finally for the Yazoo County School        District Gifted Program-Excel: 

12.  To afford students the opportunity to develop an understanding of themselves and their own unique interests and abilities that will foster a feeling of belonging to society in order to assist them in reaching their intellectual potential.

Objectives

• Students will utilize thinking skills to discover, analyze and evaluate information to solve problems.
• Students will demonstrate the ability to use creative problem solving skills.
• Students will work effectively in group situations, both as a leader and as a member of the group.
• Students will acquire the skills to retrieve and disseminate information using a variety of media.
• Students will design and construct meaningful research.
• Students will demonstrate the ability to pursue areas of interest through in-depth investigation.
• Students will develop an understanding of themselves and their own unique interests and abilities that will foster a feeling of belonging to society in order to assist them in reaching their intellectual potential.

Expected Outcomes of the YCSD Gifted Program – EXCEL

• Thinking Skills;
• Creativity;
• Information Literacy;
• Success Skills;
• Affective Skills; and
• Communication Skills.

Gifted Tools and Support Information

•  Scope and sequence Gifted
•  YCSD Gifted Instructional Management Plan
•  Gifted_EXCEL Brochure
•  MDE Gifted Programs