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Gifted & Talented Education · Alabama

Gifted Education in Alabama: Meeting Rule 290-8-9-.12 with the Model ALSDE Recommends

Alabama requires identification through a three-domain matrix, a mandatory second-grade Child Find activity, and Gifted Education Plans for pull-out students. Renzulli Learning is built on the exact enrichment model Alabama’s ALSDE explicitly recommends.

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~45,000
AL students identified as gifted
~6%
of AL public school students in gifted programs
132
AL local education agencies required to serve gifted students
Grade 2
mandatory Child Find activity required for all second graders
Alabama law and a notable endorsement

What Alabama’s Rule 290-8-9-.12 Requires — and Why Renzulli Is Different Here

Under Alabama Act 106 and Alabama Administrative Code Rule 290-8-9-.12, every local education agency (LEA) in Alabama must identify and serve gifted students from age six through high school graduation. Gifted students are those who perform, or show the potential to perform, at high levels in academic or creative fields when compared to others of their age, experience, or environment.

Identification uses a state-developed matrix of multiple criteria across three domains: Aptitude, Characteristics, and Performance. Each LEA must establish a Gifted Referral Screening Team (GRST) to review referrals. A mandatory second-grade Child Find activity ensures all second graders are observed as potential gifted referrals. Every student receiving pull-out gifted services must have a written Gifted Education Plan (GEP).

ALSDE explicitly recommends the Schoolwide Enrichment Model. Alabama’s ALSDE Gifted Continuous Improvement Procedures document states: “The Renzulli Schoolwide Enrichment Model meets [Alabama’s] criteria” for gifted programs — noting that it is “dynamic and easily modifiable” across Alabama’s diverse school populations. Renzulli Learning is the only gifted platform built on the exact enrichment model Alabama’s state guidance endorses.
The ACP identification matrix

Alabama’s Three-Domain Identification Matrix

Every Alabama gifted referral is evaluated across three domains. Points are assigned in each area and totaled — a minimum of 17 points is required for eligibility. No single assessment can preclude a student from the referral process:

A
Aptitude
Cognitive ability measured by an individually administered intelligence test, or creative thinking ability measured by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (≥97th national percentile for creative thinking pathway).
Renzulli CTC supports creative thinking pathway
C
Characteristics
Gifted behaviors and traits documented through a validated rating scale such as the Traits, Aptitudes, and Behaviors Scale (TABS) completed by teachers or other observers.
Renzulli Profiler supports behavioral documentation
P
Performance
Demonstrated achievement through standardized test scores, creative writing, transformations, figural analogies, or other student products indicative of talent.
Renzulli PBL tools generate evidence products
Real challenges

What Alabama Gifted Coordinators Struggle With

These are the challenges we consistently hear from Alabama educators:

Second-grade Child Find at scale

Every second grader in every Alabama public school must be observed annually. Coordinating this across multiple campuses, training teachers on the gifted behavior checklist, and routing appropriate referrals to the GRST is a significant annual undertaking.

GEP development and tracking

Every pull-out student requires a GEP developed and signed within 30 days of identification, with accommodations forms for general education teachers. Managing this across a caseload is time-intensive for gifted specialists.

Rural equity gaps

Alabama’s 132 LEAs include many small, rural systems where a single gifted specialist may serve an entire district. Equity in access — ensuring gifted students in every ZIP code receive comparable services — requires scalable tools.

Racial equity in identification

Alabama’s 1999 rule revision introduced the multiple-criteria matrix specifically to correct historical underrepresentation. Coordinators still face the challenge of ensuring minority, EL, and economically disadvantaged students are systematically included in referral pipelines.

Platform tools

What Renzulli Learning Provides: Feature by Feature

Each tool maps to a specific Alabama requirement — and is grounded in the Schoolwide Enrichment Model that ALSDE recommends:

Cebeci Test of Creativity (CTC): A validated, standardized creativity assessment producing a scored report in under an hour. Supports the Aptitude domain of Alabama’s ACP matrix for students pursuing the creative thinking pathway — providing a school-administered creative thinking measure comparable to the Torrance Tests.
Renzulli Profiler: A 20–30 minute interest and learning style inventory. Generates a scored student profile documenting gifted characteristics and behavioral strengths — supporting the Characteristics domain and providing data that informs GEP goal development aligned to student strengths and passions.
Project-Based Learning (PBL) Tools: Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM)-based student investigations that generate creative writing, research products, and talent evidence relevant to the Performance domain of the ACP matrix — all built on the exact framework ALSDE recommends.
Personal Success Plan (PSP): A student-driven goal and progress tracker aligned to GEP goal structures. Generates exportable parent summaries for annual GEP communication and tracks progress toward the curricular options and program goals described in each student’s GEP.
Enrichment Database: Over 40,000 interest-matched, SEM-aligned enrichment activities. Alabama’s ALSDE recommends concept-based, differentiated curriculum for gifted learners — the database provides this at scale, deployable by any gifted specialist in minutes without building materials from scratch.
Executive Function Assessment: Measures self-regulation, planning, and metacognition — especially valuable for identifying gifted potential in students from underrepresented groups whose abilities may not surface through traditional aptitude testing during the second-grade Child Find process.
Leadership Assessment: Identifies psychosocial and leadership strengths — broadening the behavioral evidence base for the Characteristics domain and the GEP enrichment plan beyond purely academic measures.
Requirement-by-requirement

Alabama Rule 290-8-9-.12 Requirements & Renzulli Learning: Side by Side

Ala. Admin. Code r. 290-8-9-.12 Alabama Act 106

How Renzulli Learning addresses each core Alabama requirement:

Alabama Requirement Renzulli Learning Contribution
ACP Matrix — Aptitude
Cognitive ability OR creative thinking ≥97th percentile; individually administered assessment		 The CTC provides a validated creative thinking assessment for students pursuing the creative aptitude pathway — a school-administered tool that produces a scored report comparable to the Torrance Tests. Renzulli complements — not replaces — district-administered intelligence tests for the cognitive aptitude pathway.
ACP Matrix — Characteristics
Gifted behaviors documented via validated rating scale (e.g., TABS)		 The Renzulli Profiler generates a scored student behavioral profile documenting characteristics across interests, learning styles, and expression preferences — supplementing formal rating scale data with a comprehensive student-centered strengths picture for the GEP and matrix.
ACP Matrix — Performance
Standardized achievement, creative writing, transformations, figural analogies, or other products		 PBL tools and enrichment activities generate authentic student products — creative writing, research investigations, and creative problem-solving outputs — that serve as Performance domain evidence in the ACP matrix.
Second Grade Child Find
All second graders observed annually using state gifted behavior checklist		 The Profiler’s interest-based and behavioral data help gifted specialists follow up with students identified through Child Find, providing a deeper profile for those referred to the GRST and supporting equitable identification of students from underrepresented groups.
Gifted Education Plan (GEP)
Required for all pull-out students; must include services, accommodations, parent consent; developed within 30 days		 The PSP tracks GEP goals and generates exportable parent summaries. Enrichment activity logs document the curricular options and services provided. All records are exportable to support the signed GEP documentation process.
Differentiated Enrichment
Concept-based curriculum differentiated for gifted learners; ALSDE recommends SEM as the enrichment framework		 Renzulli Learning is built on the Schoolwide Enrichment Model — the exact framework ALSDE recommends. The enrichment database provides 40,000+ concept-based, interest-matched activities. PBL tools deliver the authentic investigations Alabama’s Gifted Standards and Student Outcomes call for.
From Alabama educators

What Implementation Looks Like in Alabama Districts

What we consistently hear from Alabama gifted specialists and coordinators:

“The second-grade Child Find is our most important equity tool, but following up on every referral with meaningful enrichment was always the gap. The Renzulli enrichment database and PBL tools give us something to actually do with students once we find them — activities that are challenging, interest-matched, and don’t require a gifted teacher to build from scratch every time.”
Gifted Specialist · Central Alabama school district
For rural and small districts Alabama’s 132 LEAs include many districts where a single gifted specialist serves multiple schools. Renzulli’s enrichment database means that specialist can assign differentiated, SEM-aligned activities to identified students across all grade levels without building materials from scratch — maintaining service equity statewide.
For equity in identification Alabama’s 1999 rule revision was specifically designed to correct racial disparities in gifted enrollment. The CTC and Profiler’s non-traditional evidence sources help coordinators surface gifted potential in students from underrepresented groups who may not score at threshold on traditional aptitude measures.
Frequently asked questions

Alabama Gifted Education: Common Questions

Questions Alabama gifted specialists and coordinators ask most often:

Alabama’s Rule 290-8-9-.12 uses a state-developed matrix of multiple criteria across three domains: (A) Aptitude — cognitive ability on an approved individual intelligence test, or creative thinking at or above the 97th national percentile on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking; (C) Characteristics — gifted behaviors documented through a validated rating scale such as TABS; and (P) Performance — achievement or creative performance through standardized test scores, creative writing, transformations, figural analogies, or other products. Points are assigned in each domain and a minimum of 17 points is required for eligibility. No single assessment can exclude a student from the referral process.
Under Rule 290-8-9-.12(2)(c), all second-grade students in Alabama public schools must be observed as potential gifted referrals using a state-provided gifted behavior checklist — the Second Grade Child Find (SGCF) activity. During the first semester, second-grade teachers observe students and complete the checklist for any student demonstrating gifted behaviors. This is separate from standard referrals (which can occur at any time for students age six and older). Referrals from the second-grade Child Find must be completed by the beginning of the student’s third-grade year. The activity was designed to ensure students from all races, cultures, and economic backgrounds are considered as potential referrals before they become invisible in later grades.
A Gifted Education Plan (GEP) is required under Rule 290-8-9-.12 for all gifted students receiving pull-out services. It must be developed and signed within 30 days of initial identification and requires at least two signatures. The GEP must include: the services to be provided (curricular options and program description), and accommodations for the general education classroom during pull-out time (including policies on missed class work). Parents must receive prior written notice of the GEP meeting and written consent is required before services begin. GEPs are not required for students receiving only general education classroom services, but a monitoring plan must be in the LEA’s Plan for Gifted.
Yes — explicitly. Alabama’s ALSDE Gifted Continuous Improvement Procedures document recommends Renzulli’s Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) as the enrichment framework for gifted programs, noting: “The Renzulli model meets these criteria” for being “dynamic and easily modifiable” across Alabama’s diverse school populations. ALSDE provides SEM-aligned guidance and recommends schools develop a five-year plan based on the model. Renzulli Learning is the only platform built on the exact enrichment model Alabama’s state guidance endorses.
Under Rule 290-8-9-.12, the following can make a standard referral: teachers, counselors, administrators, parents or guardians, peers, the student themselves, or any other individual with knowledge of the student’s abilities. Standard referrals may occur at any time for students age six and older. Each LEA must establish a Gifted Referral Screening Team (GRST) of at least three individuals to review referrals and determine if further assessment is warranted. Parents must be notified when a student is referred. Eligibility must be determined within 90 days of receiving parental consent for standard referrals.
Renzulli Learning supports Alabama GEPs at multiple points. The Renzulli Profiler generates a student behavioral and interest profile supporting the Characteristics domain and GEP goal development. The CTC supports creative thinking Aptitude pathway evidence. The PSP tracks GEP goal progress and generates parent summaries. The enrichment database delivers the SEM-aligned, concept-based differentiated curriculum ALSDE recommends. Since ALSDE explicitly endorses the Schoolwide Enrichment Model, Renzulli Learning is grounded in Alabama’s own state-recommended enrichment framework.
Official sources

Alabama Gifted Education Resources

All compliance decisions should reference these primary ALSDE sources. Renzulli Learning is designed to complement — not replace — your state’s requirements and local LEA plans.

Explore Renzulli Learning’s gifted education alignment for other states:

All States G&T Alignment Georgia Florida Mississippi Tennessee North Carolina

Ready to See Renzulli Learning in Your Alabama District?

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