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High Ability Education · Indiana

Indiana High Ability Education: Mandatory K-12 Program in Every Corporation, Multifaceted Assessment, and a Six-Component Local Plan Filed at IDOE

IC 20-36 requires every Indiana public school corporation to operate a high ability program. The local plan must include a broad-based planning committee, multifaceted assessment (performance + potential + other), and four additional component plans \u2014 all filed with IDOE and available for public review.

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All
public school corporations required to operate a high ability program K-12 under IC 20-36
3
required assessment types: performance-based, potential-based, other forms of assessment
6
required local plan components, plus governing body approval, filed at IDOE for public review
HA
designation recorded with Student Test Number: HA-Math, HA-LA, HA-General Intellectual, HA-Other
The defining structural choice · \u201cHigh ability\u201d not \u201cgifted\u201d

Indiana’s “High Ability” Framing Is Deliberate and Operational

Indiana uses the term “high ability” rather than “gifted and talented” throughout statute and rule. This is not cosmetic terminology. IC 20-36-1 defines a high ability student as one who:

(1) performs at or shows the potential for performing at an outstanding level of accomplishment in at least one domain when compared with other students of the same age, experience, or environment; AND
(2) is characterized by exceptional gifts, talents, motivation, or interests.

The definition explicitly includes both demonstrated performance and potential — supporting the multifaceted assessment requirement that captures students whose abilities may be masked by economic disadvantage, cultural background, underachievement, or disability. The framing creates space for under-achieving students with high potential to be identified, which a strict “gifted” framing focused on demonstrated achievement would not.

The mandate is universal across all public school corporations. IC 20-36-2-2 requires every Indiana public school corporation’s governing body to develop and periodically update a local plan providing appropriate educational experiences for high ability students K-12. There is no opt-out. The plan must include six specific components, plus governing body approval, with all written plans filed at IDOE and available for public review.
IC 20-36-2 multifaceted assessment

Three Required Assessment Types: Performance, Potential, Other

The most distinctive operational feature of Indiana’s framework is the multifaceted assessment requirement. Under IC 20-36-2 and 511 IAC 6-9.1-2, every Indiana high ability program must use three distinct assessment types — not just performance data. The structure is explicitly designed to ensure students not identified by traditional assessments because of economic disadvantage, cultural background, underachievement, or disabilities are included:

Type 1
Performance-Based Assessment
Demonstrated achievement evidence: achievement tests, course grades, work samples, demonstrated performance. This is what students have already accomplished. Examples include ILEARN scores, NWEA MAP results, classroom-based achievement, and AP/IB performance for older students.
Standardized achievement testing + classroom evidence
Type 2
Potential-Based Assessment
Underlying capability evidence: cognitive ability tests, creativity assessments, instruments measuring potential rather than current achievement. This is what students are capable of regardless of prior opportunity. Critical for students whose performance is depressed by limited opportunity, disability, or English Learner status.
CTC creativity test + cognitive ability tests
Type 3
Other Forms of Assessment
Qualitative and contextual evidence: rating scales, observations, portfolios, teacher and parent input, student self-report. This is the qualitative evidence that surrounds the test scores and helps the identification team see the whole student. Particularly important for HA-Other domains (visual/performing arts, interpersonal).
Renzulli Profiler self-report + Leadership Assessment
The equity provision is explicit and operationalized. IC 20-36-2 requires that the multifaceted assessment process “ensure that students not identified by traditional assessments because of economic disadvantage, cultural background, underachievement, or disabilities are included.” This is statutory equity language — not aspirational policy. Universal screening (recommended at K, 2, 5, 8) operationalizes this further: every student gets screened, not just those nominated by teachers or parents, ensuring under-represented students aren’t excluded by referral bias.
IC 20-36-2-2: the six-component local plan

The Six Required Components of Every Indiana Corporation’s Local Plan

Under IC 20-36-2-2 and 511 IAC 6-9.1-2, every Indiana school corporation’s local plan must include six required components, plus approval by the local governing body. All written plans must be filed at IDOE and available for public review:

Component 1 — Broad-Based Planning Committee: A planning committee with representatives from diverse groups in the school and community, meeting periodically to review and update the local plan. Suggested members per the IDOE High Ability Coordinator Handbook include school board members, superintendent, district-level administrators, the High Ability Coordinator, building-level administrators, teachers, instructional coaches, parents, students, and community members. This is distinct from the Identification Committee (which makes individual student decisions) — IDOE explicitly requires the two committees serve different purposes.
Component 2 — Multifaceted Student Assessment Plan: Documenting the corporation’s use of performance-based, potential-based, and other forms of assessment. Plan must specify which instruments are used in each category, how data is integrated, and how the equity provision (under-represented students) is operationalized.
Component 3 — Curriculum and Instructional Strategies Plan: Documenting the differentiated curriculum and instruction the corporation provides for identified high ability students — the K-12 service delivery framework.
Component 4 — Counseling and Guidance Plan: Documenting how the corporation supports the social-emotional and academic counseling needs of high ability students — not just academic acceleration but whole-child support.
Component 5 — Professional Development Plan: Documenting how the corporation builds educator capacity to identify and serve high ability students. Indiana does not require a specific gifted teacher certification, but professional development is statutorily required as a plan component.
Component 6 — Systematic Program Evaluation Plan: Documenting how the corporation will evaluate program effectiveness, including disaggregated data on identified students. IDOE is required to disaggregate high ability student data from total ILEARN and AP results, providing statewide comparison data corporations can benchmark against.
Identification domains · HA designations

How Indiana Designates High Ability Students

Indiana identifies high ability students in two required domains plus optional additional domains. The HA designation is recorded with the Student Test Number (STN) assigned to each student, enabling statewide tracking and IDOE’s required disaggregation of high ability data from total ILEARN and AP results:

HA-General Intellectual

Exceptional capability or potential recognized through cognitive processes including memory, reasoning, learning speed, spatial reasoning, problem-solving, and handling abstract ideas. Students with this designation typically receive academic support in both English Language Arts and Math. The most comprehensive HA designation.

HA-Math

Exceptional skill or potential in mathematics specifically. Students may show strong math performance and potential without necessarily showing comparable general intellectual or English Language Arts strength. Required identification domain.

HA-LA

Exceptional skill or potential in English Language Arts specifically. Students may show strong reading, writing, and verbal performance and potential without necessarily showing comparable mathematical strength. Required identification domain.

HA-Other (Optional)

Exceptional capability or potential in additional domains the LEA chooses to identify, including visual/performing arts and interpersonal. Pathways for identification in these areas vary depending on available measures of aptitude, performance, and outstanding characteristics in each domain.

Universal screening operationalizes equitable identification. IDOE recommends universal screening of all students at least twice in the elementary years — ideally at K, 2, 5, and 8 — using a norm-referenced ability measure. After universal screening, the top 20\u201325% of scorers typically proceed to full identification testing. This structure operationalizes IC 20-36-2’s equity provision: every student gets screened, not just those nominated by teachers or parents, ensuring under-represented students aren’t excluded by referral bias.
Real challenges

What Indiana High Ability Coordinators Struggle With

These are the operational challenges we consistently hear from Indiana high ability coordinators and corporation curriculum directors:

Potential-based assessment evidence

The multifaceted assessment requirement is statutorily distinct from a multi-measure achievement-only approach. Many corporations have strong performance-based data (ILEARN, NWEA MAP, course grades) but struggle to produce defensible potential-based evidence beyond a single cognitive ability test. Scored creativity assessments, structured interest profiles, and validated rating scales are the categories most often missing from corporation evidence portfolios.

Equity provision operationalization

IC 20-36-2’s equity provision is explicit: students not identified by traditional assessments because of economic disadvantage, cultural background, underachievement, or disabilities must be included. This is statutory language coordinators are accountable to. Operationalizing it requires instruments that reduce SES, language, and disability bias \u2014 a documentation requirement, not just a value statement.

HA-Other domain pathways

Visual/performing arts and interpersonal domains are optional identification areas, but corporations that choose to identify in these domains often struggle to construct defensible identification pathways. Standard ability and achievement tests don’t apply; portfolios, performances, and structured rating scales become the primary evidence types, and corporations need infrastructure to organize and review them.

Six-component plan maintenance

The six-component plan must be filed at IDOE and available for public review. Plans drift: the multifaceted assessment plan from 2019 may not reflect current instruments, and the program evaluation plan may not include the disaggregated data IDOE expects. Year-round documentation infrastructure is operationally easier than reconstruction at plan-update time.

Platform tools

What Renzulli Learning Provides: Mapped to Indiana’s Framework

Each tool maps directly to Indiana’s multifaceted assessment requirement and six-component plan, with particular strength on potential-based assessment evidence and HA-Other domain identification:

Cebeci Test of Creativity (CTC) — Potential-Based Assessment Evidence: A validated, standardized creativity assessment (US Patent 12,087,176) measuring fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. The CTC qualifies as potential-based assessment under IC 20-36-2 \u2014 measuring underlying creative capability rather than demonstrated achievement. Non-verbal and culture-independent design supports IC 20-36-2’s explicit equity provision for students whose abilities are masked by economic disadvantage, cultural background, or English Learner status.
Renzulli Profiler — Other Forms of Assessment + Multiple Sources: A 20\u201330 minute strength-based interest and learning style inventory available in 20+ languages through the Global Profiler. The Profiler qualifies as “other forms of assessment” under IC 20-36-2 (questionnaire and student self-report) and contributes student-as-source evidence supporting equitable identification across Indiana’s linguistically diverse corporations.
Leadership Assessment — HA-Other Interpersonal Domain Evidence: Provides scored evidence of leadership characteristics. For corporations that choose to identify in the interpersonal domain (HA-Other designation), the Leadership Assessment provides structured behavioral evidence supporting identification decisions. Also contributes to the “other forms of assessment” category under IC 20-36-2.
Executive Function Assessment (EFA) — Twice-Exceptional Identification: Measures self-regulation, planning, working memory, and metacognition. For Indiana corporations evaluating students whose abilities are masked by ADHD or other executive function differences, the EFA provides functional profile data supporting accurate HA identification — particularly important given IC 20-36-2’s explicit inclusion of students with disabilities in the equity provision.
Enrichment Database — Differentiated Curriculum (Component 3): Over 40,000 interest-matched, SEM-aligned activities. 511 IAC 6-9.1-2 requires a curriculum and instructional strategies plan delivering differentiated content. The enrichment database delivers above-grade-level content across all four HA designation areas, including arts content for HA-Other identification.
Project-Based Learning (PBL) Tools — Authentic Performance Evidence: SEM-based investigations producing authentic student products and performances. PBL projects produce the kind of student work that supports both performance-based assessment evidence (demonstrated capability) and HA-Other domain documentation (visual/performing arts portfolios). Outputs serve as evidence for the systematic program evaluation plan (Component 6).
Personal Success Plan (PSP) — Plan Documentation & Program Evaluation: A student-driven goal and progress tracker. PSP records consolidate identification evidence, services delivered, progress against goals, and family communication \u2014 producing exportable documentation supporting both Component 6 (systematic program evaluation) and IDOE grant reporting. Year-round documentation rather than plan-update-time reconstruction.
Indiana statute and rule alignment

How Renzulli Learning Aligns with IC 20-36 and 511 IAC 6-9.1

IC 20-36-1 IC 20-36-2 IC 20-36-2-2 511 IAC 6-9.1-2
Indiana RequirementRenzulli Learning Contribution
IC 20-36-1 Definition
Performance OR potential at outstanding level in at least one domain
Plus exceptional gifts, talents, motivation, or interests		The platform supports both demonstrated performance evidence (PBL products, achievement-aligned activities) and potential evidence (CTC creativity, Profiler interests, Leadership Assessment, EFA executive function). The dual emphasis aligns with Indiana’s definitional structure.
IC 20-36-2 Multifaceted Assessment
Performance + Potential + Other forms
Equity provision: economic disadvantage, cultural background, underachievement, disability		CTC (potential), Profiler (other forms / student self-report), Leadership Assessment (other forms / rating scale), PBL products (performance / portfolios). Multilingual Profiler and culture-independent CTC operationalize the equity provision rather than treating it as aspirational language.
IC 20-36-2-2 Local Plan
Six required components + governing body approval
Filed at IDOE; available for public review		PSP documentation supports Component 2 (assessment plan), Component 3 (curriculum strategies), and Component 6 (program evaluation). Enrichment database and PBL populate Component 3 curriculum content. Multi-stakeholder evidence aggregation supports Component 1 broad-based planning committee work.
511 IAC 6-9.1-2
Educational opportunities to reach highest possible level
Differentiated program K-12		40,000+ activity enrichment database delivers above-grade-level content across HA-Math, HA-LA, HA-General Intellectual, and HA-Other domains. SEM-based PBL tools support student-driven investigation and authentic performance opportunities. Web-based delivery scales across Indiana’s diverse corporation sizes from urban to rural.
Universal Screening
Norm-referenced ability measure; K, 2, 5, 8 recommended
Top 20-25% proceed to full identification		Renzulli Learning instruments complement (do not replace) the norm-referenced ability measure required for universal screening. After screening identifies the candidate pool, Profiler, CTC, Leadership Assessment, and EFA contribute the multifaceted evidence base required for full identification under IC 20-36-2.
HA-Other Domain Identification
Optional visual/performing arts and interpersonal
Identification pathways vary by domain		PBL tools generate visual/performing arts portfolios and products supporting HA-Other arts identification. Leadership Assessment provides scored interpersonal evidence supporting HA-Other interpersonal identification. Enrichment database includes arts content for service delivery after identification.
From Indiana educators

What Implementation Looks Like in Indiana Corporations

“The multifaceted assessment requirement is what corporations get audit-flagged on. Performance data is everywhere — ILEARN, NWEA, course grades. The gap is potential evidence and other forms. A scored creativity test plus a structured student-self-report instrument plus a leadership rating scale fills that gap with documented evidence rather than just stating in the plan that we ‘consider potential.’”
High Ability Coordinator · Central Indiana school corporation
For large urban and suburban corporations Indianapolis Public Schools, Fort Wayne Community Schools, Hamilton Southeastern Schools, and other large Indiana corporations serve thousands of high ability students across many schools. District-level reporting infrastructure that produces consistent multifaceted evidence and supports the systematic program evaluation plan (Component 6) is operationally critical for both compliance and IDOE’s required disaggregation of high ability data.
For smaller and rural Indiana corporations Smaller Indiana corporations often have a single high ability coordinator overseeing multiple schools. Web-based delivery means the coordinator can scale evidence-gathering, post-identification enrichment, and family communication across the corporation without requiring specialist staffing at each school. The platform’s structure supports the six-component plan in corporations that don’t have full-time gifted teachers.
Frequently asked questions

Indiana High Ability Education: Common Questions

Questions Indiana corporation high ability coordinators, classroom teachers, and parents ask most often:

What does Indiana’s IC 20-36 require for high ability education?
Indiana Code Article 36 (IC 20-36: High Ability Students), implemented under Indiana Administrative Code 511 IAC 6-9.1, requires every Indiana public school corporation to operate a high ability program that identifies students needing more than the core curriculum to be appropriately challenged. Under IC 20-36-2-2, every corporation’s governing body must develop and periodically update a local plan providing appropriate educational experiences to high ability students K-12. Indiana uses the term “high ability” rather than “gifted and talented,” a deliberate framing that emphasizes both demonstrated performance and developing potential. The mandate applies to all public school corporations \u2014 there is no opt-out for districts that don’t want to operate a formal program.
How does Indiana define a “high ability student”?
Under IC 20-36-1, a high ability student is one who: (1) performs at or shows the potential for performing at an outstanding level of accomplishment in at least one domain when compared with other students of the same age, experience, or environment; AND (2) is characterized by exceptional gifts, talents, motivation, or interests. The definition explicitly includes both demonstrated performance and potential, supporting the multifaceted assessment requirement that captures students whose abilities may be masked by economic disadvantage, cultural background, underachievement, or disability. A student may be designated as high ability in math (HA-Math), English/language arts (HA-LA), General Intellectual (both math and ELA, HA-General Intellectual), or Other (optional domains such as visual/performing arts or interpersonal, HA-Other). The HA designation is recorded with the Student Test Number assigned to each student.
What is Indiana’s multifaceted assessment requirement?
Under IC 20-36-2 and 511 IAC 6-9.1-2, every Indiana high ability program must use a multifaceted assessment process that includes three required assessment types: (1) Performance-based assessments (achievement tests, course grades, work samples, demonstrated performance); (2) Potential-based assessments (cognitive ability tests, creativity assessments, instruments measuring underlying capability rather than current achievement); and (3) Other forms of assessment (rating scales, observations, portfolios, teacher and parent input, student self-report). This three-pronged structure is explicitly designed to ensure that students not identified by traditional assessments because of economic disadvantage, cultural background, underachievement, or disabilities are included. The assessments must identify students with high abilities in the General Intellectual domain and Specific Academic domains.
What are the six required components of Indiana’s local high ability plan?
Under IC 20-36-2-2 and 511 IAC 6-9.1-2, every Indiana school corporation’s local high ability plan must include six components, with all written plans filed at IDOE and available for public review: (1) A broad-based planning committee with representatives from diverse groups in the school and community, meeting periodically to review the plan; (2) A multifaceted student assessment plan (performance-based, potential-based, other forms); (3) A curriculum and instructional strategies plan; (4) A counseling and guidance plan; (5) A professional development plan; and (6) A systematic program evaluation plan. The plan must also have approval by the local governing body. The plan must be developed and periodically updated by the governing body to provide appropriate educational experiences K-12.
What is Indiana’s Broad-Based Planning Committee and how is it different from the Identification Committee?
The Broad-Based Planning Committee, required under IC 20-36-2-2(1), is a stakeholder body that designs and monitors the continuous development and implementation of the high ability program at the corporation level. Suggested members per the IDOE High Ability Coordinator Handbook include: school board members, superintendent, district-level administrators, the High Ability Coordinator, building-level administrators, teachers, instructional coaches, parents, students, and community members. The committee must include diverse representation from the school and community. The Identification Committee is a separate, distinct body that makes individual student identification decisions \u2014 reviewing assessment data and recommending whether a specific student qualifies for high ability designation. IDOE explicitly notes that the two committees serve different purposes and should not be combined: the Broad-Based Planning Committee is strategic (program-level), while the Identification Committee is operational (student-level).
How does universal screening work in Indiana high ability identification?
IDOE recommends that universal screening of all students occur at least twice in the elementary years, ideally in kindergarten, second grade, fifth grade, and eighth grade \u2014 occurring prior to each change in programming. Universal screening must use a norm-referenced ability measure to ensure equitable access for all students. After universal screening, the top 20\u201325% of scorers typically proceed to full identification testing using both ability and achievement measures. At the primary level, only ability screeners (not achievement screeners) should be considered, since young children’s achievement scores often reflect prior opportunity rather than potential. The screening structure operationalizes IC 20-36-2’s equity provision \u2014 ensuring that students who would not be referred by teachers or parents still have an opportunity to be identified.
What are Indiana’s identification domains and HA designations?
Indiana identifies high ability students in two required domains plus optional additional domains. The General Intellectual domain is exceptional capability or potential recognized through cognitive processes including memory, reasoning, learning speed, spatial reasoning, problem-solving, and handling abstract ideas \u2014 students designated HA-General Intellectual typically receive academic support in both English Language Arts and Math. Specific Academic domains refer to exceptional skill or potential in particular subject areas \u2014 students may be designated HA-Math (math only), HA-LA (Language Arts only), or HA-General Intellectual (both math and ELA). Optional additional domains include visual/performing arts and interpersonal, with designation HA-Other. LEAs may choose to provide identification and services in these additional domains, with pathways depending on available measures of aptitude, performance, and outstanding characteristics in each domain.
How does Renzulli Learning support Indiana’s IC 20-36 framework?
Renzulli Learning provides instruments and content aligned to Indiana’s multifaceted assessment requirement and six-component plan. The Renzulli Profiler captures interest depth, learning patterns, and motivation indicators \u2014 supporting potential-based assessment and the “other forms of assessment” category. The Cebeci Test of Creativity provides scored creativity evidence for potential-based assessment, with non-verbal design supporting equitable identification of students whose abilities are masked by economic disadvantage or cultural background. The Leadership Assessment provides scored leadership evidence. The Executive Function Assessment supports identification of twice-exceptional students. The 40,000+ activity enrichment database and SEM-based PBL tools deliver the differentiated curriculum required by 511 IAC 6-9.1-2 \u2014 including content for HA-Other designations in visual/performing arts. The Personal Success Plan documents student progress, supporting the systematic program evaluation plan and grant reporting that IDOE expects.
Official sources

Indiana High Ability Education Resources

All identification, plan development, and service delivery decisions should reference primary IDOE and statutory sources. Renzulli Learning is designed to complement \u2014 not replace \u2014 your corporation’s six-component local plan and locally adopted identification procedures.

Custom Corporation Alignments

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