What are the 2024 NC AIG Program Standards?

The NC AIG Program Standards were most recently revised and adopted by the State Board of Education on July 11, 2024. They encompass six principle standards with accompanying practices, integrated with NCDPI's Equity and Excellence Call to Action: Standard 1 (Student Identification), Standard 2 (Comprehensive Programming within a Total School Community), Standard 3 (Curriculum and Instruction), Standard 4 (Personal and Social Support), Standard 5 (Professional Development), and Standard 6 (Program Accountability). LEAs self-assess against these standards as part of each three-year plan revision cycle.

What is a Differentiated Education Plan (DEP) in North Carolina?

A Differentiated Education Plan (DEP) is North Carolina's individualized planning document for AIG-identified students, documenting identified areas of giftedness, differentiated services, academic and intellectual goals, social-emotional support, and progress monitoring. The DEP is updated annually and evolves across grade levels — enrichment at elementary, advanced coursework at middle school, honors/AP and independent study at high school. For twice-exceptional students, the DEP is coordinated with the IEP or 504 Plan. For multilingual learners, it aligns with the LIEP.

How does Renzulli Learning support NC's AIG program requirements?

Renzulli Learning supports all six 2024 AIG Program Standards. For Standard 1, the Renzulli Profiler and CTC contribute qualitative and creative data to the comprehensive Learner Profile, surfacing gifted potential in underrepresented students. For Standards 2 and 3, the enrichment database and PBL tools deliver K–12 differentiated services with depth, complexity, and higher-order thinking. For Standard 4, the Leadership Assessment and EFA address social-emotional and executive function needs, especially for 2E students. For Standard 6, PSP progress exports support three-year plan accountability reporting. The Profiler's interest-based approach is particularly valuable for talent development with students from underrepresented backgrounds.

AIG Gifted Education · North Carolina

Gifted Education in North Carolina: Article 9B, the 2024 AIG Program Standards, and the Local Flexibility That Defines the State’s Approach

Q: What is North Carolina's AIG program and what law governs it?

North Carolina's Academically or Intellectually Gifted (AIG) program is mandated by Article 9B of the NC General Statutes (N.C.G.S. §§ 115C-150.5–150.9), passed in 1996. AIG students are those who perform or show the potential to perform at substantially high levels of accomplishment compared to others of similar age, experience, or environment — exhibiting high performance capability in intellectual areas, specific academic fields, or both — and who require differentiated services beyond the regular program. The statute states that outstanding abilities are present in students from all cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor. Article 9B requires every LEA to develop a three-year local AIG plan. AIG programming is optional for charter schools.

Q: Does North Carolina have a statewide gifted identification cutoff score?

No. North Carolina deliberately does not mandate a statewide cutoff score. Each LEA sets its own specific identification thresholds, assessments, and criteria, documented in its local three-year AIG plan. The NC AIG Program Standards require multiple measures — both quantitative and qualitative — to build a comprehensive Learner Profile, and no single data point can disqualify a student. An AIG team reviews the complete profile and reaches a consensus decision. This local flexibility is a deliberate feature of NC's approach.

Q: What is NC's Equity and Excellence Call to Action for Gifted Education?

NCDPI's Equity and Excellence Call to Action is the statewide equity framework embedded in the 2024 AIG Program Standards. It requires LEAs to actively broaden access to advanced learning for underrepresented populations — culturally and ethnically diverse students, economically disadvantaged students, multilingual learners, highly gifted students, and twice-exceptional students. Practices include screening the top 10% of each underrepresented subgroup, using local norms alongside national norms, providing talent development before formal identification (frontloading), and monitoring excellence gap data disaggregated by demographic group.

North Carolina mandates K–12 AIG identification and services for all public LEAs — but deliberately gives each district flexibility in how it identifies and serves students. The 2024 AIG Program Standards center equity and excellence. Renzulli Learning supports all six standards and every component of the three-year local AIG plan.

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~175,000

NC students identified as AIG

~12%

of NC public school students in AIG programs

115+

LEAs with mandated local AIG plans plus charter schools

2024

most recent AIG Program Standards revision (SBE July 11, 2024)

North Carolina’s AIG framework

Article 9B and the Defining Feature of NC AIG: Mandated Outcomes, Local Flexibility

North Carolina has governed gifted education through statute since 1961, making it one of the states with the longest legislative history in this area. The current framework, Article 9B (N.C.G.S. §§ 115C-150.5–150.9), passed in 1996, defines AIG students as those who “perform or show the potential to perform at substantially high levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment” — exhibiting high performance capability in intellectual areas, specific academic fields, or both — and who require differentiated services beyond the regular program.

The statute explicitly embeds equity from the start: “Outstanding abilities are present in students from all cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor.”

What makes NC unique in this series: North Carolina deliberately does not set a statewide identification cutoff score. There is no mandated “must score at the 97th percentile” rule applicable statewide. Each LEA determines its own specific thresholds, assessment instruments, and criteria — guided by the NC AIG Program Standards — and documents those local decisions in its three-year AIG plan. This local-control philosophy means NC AIG programs vary meaningfully across the state in how they identify and serve students, but must all adhere to the same framework standards and equity expectations. Charter school AIG participation is optional.

2024 NC AIG Program Standards — adopted SBE July 11, 2024

Six Standards: What Every LEA’s Three-Year AIG Plan Must Address

The 2024 revised NC AIG Program Standards serve as the statewide framework — incorporating NCDPI’s Equity and Excellence Call to Action for Gifted Education. Every three-year local AIG plan must respond to all six standards. LEAs self-assess against these standards as part of each plan revision cycle:

Standard 1

Student Identification

Clear, equitable, comprehensive K–12 identification using multiple measures; comprehensive Learner Profile; no single score disqualifies; AIG team consensus; responsive to underrepresented populations; multiple screening windows.

Renzulli: Profiler, CTC, EFA

Standard 2

Comprehensive Programming

K–12 array of services meeting academic, intellectual, social, and emotional needs; total school community involvement; integration with EC/ESL/504 teams for 2E and multilingual learners.

Renzulli: Enrichment DB, PBL

Standard 3

Curriculum & Instruction

Differentiated curriculum with depth, complexity, and higher-order thinking; acceleration and enrichment; inquiry-based learning; alignment to NC Standard Course of Study and beyond.

Renzulli: 40,000+ activities, PBL

Standard 4

Personal & Social Support

Social and emotional needs addressed K–12; collaboration with counselors; attention to perfectionistic tendencies, twice-exceptional profiles, and underachievement patterns in gifted learners.

Renzulli: Leadership, EFA, PSP

Standard 5

Professional Development

Specific, appropriate PD for all AIG personnel: specialists, classroom teachers, instructional coaches, administrators; ongoing; focused on understanding and serving the unique needs of gifted learners.

Renzulli: Implementation support

Standard 6

Program Accountability

Systematic program evaluation; disaggregated data monitoring for excellence gaps; annual plan progress updates; stakeholder input; local board approval; submitted to SBE/DPI for review and comment.

Renzulli: PSP exports, activity logs

Identification — Standard 1

The Comprehensive Learner Profile: How NC AIG Teams Identify Students

North Carolina’s identification is built around a comprehensive Learner Profile — a multi-source evidence file assembled through a structured screening and referral process. No single data point can disqualify a student. The AIG team reviews the complete profile and reaches a decision by consensus:

Screening

Universal ability screening (many districts; grade 2 common)
EOG/EOC scores, diagnostic benchmarks (i-Ready, MAP)
Top 10% of each underrepresented subgroup
Ongoing all year; multiple windows

Referral

Teachers, parents, admins, or students may refer at any time
Rating scales, observation checklists
Work samples, portfolios
Referral does not guarantee identification

Assessment

CogAT or individual IQ test
Iowa, SAT, ACT, AP scores
Creativity assessments
For 2E/ML: IEP data, ACCESS, psychosocial evaluations

AIG Team Decision

Reviews complete Learner Profile
Both quantitative and qualitative data
Consensus decision
No single score disqualifies
Parent notification + appeal rights

Parent appeal rights under Article 9B: If a parent disagrees with an identification decision or how the local AIG plan is being implemented for their child, they may first use the local district’s dispute resolution process. If that fails, the parent may file a petition for a contested case hearing under NC General Statute Chapter 150B — a formal administrative appeal limited to: (i) whether the LEA improperly failed to identify the child as AIG, or (ii) whether the local plan is being properly implemented. This is one of the strongest parent protection provisions in gifted education law nationally.

Equity and Excellence Call to Action

Broadening Access: NC’s Equity Mandate for Underrepresented Gifted Students

NCDPI’s Equity and Excellence Call to Action for Gifted Education — embedded in the 2024 AIG Program Standards — acknowledges that students from underrepresented populations have been historically excluded from gifted identification and advanced learning. The Call to Action requires LEAs to actively address this. Populations explicitly named:

Culturally & Ethnically Diverse Economically Disadvantaged Multilingual Learners Highly Gifted Twice-Exceptional (2E) Under-Achieving Gifted

Concrete equity practices NC districts are implementing: screening the top 10% of each underrepresented subgroup in addition to general screening pools; using local norms (school-level peer comparisons) alongside national norms; providing talent development experiences before formal identification (“frontloading” in K–3); monitoring excellence gap data disaggregated by race, income, and language status; and training teachers to recognize giftedness in nontraditional learner profiles — including students who underachieve, refuse work out of boredom, or whose gifts are masked by a disability.

Twice-exceptional (2E) students: NC districts require AIG facilitators to attend IEP meetings when students are both AIG-identified and have a disability. The DEP must be developed in coordination with and aligned to the IEP or 504 Plan — with collaboration between AIG specialists, EC teachers, counselors, and administrators. Teachers are trained to consider giftedness as a potential factor when a student underachieves, shows behavior concerns, or presents a nontraditional profile.

The Differentiated Education Plan

The DEP: North Carolina’s Annual Individualized Plan for Every AIG Student

Every identified AIG student receives a Differentiated Education Plan (DEP) — the individualized planning document recording identified strengths, services, goals, social-emotional support, and progress monitoring. Updated annually; evolves across grade levels:

Identified Areas

Specifies whether the student is Intellectually Gifted (IG), Academically Gifted (AG) in reading/math, or both (AI) — local categories vary by district plan

Differentiated Services

Specific enrichment, acceleration, or advanced coursework; service setting (pull-out, cluster, honors/AP); frequency; provider; evolves elementary → middle → high school

Academic & Intellectual Goals

Aligned to student strengths and district AIG curriculum framework; updated annually; may include subject-level acceleration targets at transition points

Social-Emotional Support

Addresses affective and social-emotional needs specific to gifted learners; counselor collaboration; attention to perfectionism, anxiety, and twice-exceptional profiles

Progress Monitoring

How and when progress toward DEP goals is assessed; shared with parents; reviewed at key transitions (rising 6th grade, rising 9th grade); updated in student data system

Coordination with Other Plans

For 2E students: aligned with IEP or 504 Plan; joint goals by AIG + EC teams. For multilingual learners: aligned with LIEP. For HS: integrated with four-year academic plan

Platform tools

What Renzulli Learning Provides: Mapped to Each AIG Program Standard

Standard 1 — Renzulli Profiler: A 20–30 minute interest and learning style inventory. Contributes qualitative Learner Profile data — interests, strengths, and learning preferences — supporting both identification and DEP planning. Particularly valuable for identifying potential in students from underrepresented backgrounds whose abilities may not surface through standardized testing alone, directly supporting the Equity and Excellence Call to Action and the talent development frontloading NC districts use pre-identification.

Standard 1 — Cebeci Test of Creativity (CTC): A validated, scored creativity assessment. Provides creativity evidence to the comprehensive Learner Profile alongside aptitude and achievement data — expanding the evidence base for AIG team consensus decisions and supporting growing emphasis on creativity in NC AIG identification and talent development practices.

Standards 2 & 3 — Enrichment Database: Over 40,000 interest-matched, above-curriculum activities addressing depth, complexity, and higher-order thinking — the curriculum and programming goals Standards 2 and 3 require. Activity logs document services delivered for DEP progress tracking and three-year plan accountability reporting. The breadth of the database supports K–12 service continuity across the elementary pull-out, middle school advanced coursework, and high school honors/AP progression NC AIG plans describe.

Standards 2 & 3 — Project-Based Learning (PBL) Tools: SEM-based student investigations generating authentic products. Delivers the inquiry-based, student-driven learning NC’s AIG curriculum standards require — and produces the work samples and creative products that serve as qualitative evidence in Learner Profiles, DEP goal documentation, and the academic portfolios many NC districts use in ongoing screening and progress monitoring processes.

Standard 4 — Executive Function Assessment: Assesses planning, self-regulation, and metacognition. Directly addresses Standard 4’s personal and social support requirement — particularly for twice-exceptional students whose gifted profile co-occurs with ADHD, learning disabilities, or anxiety. EF data informs both the DEP social-emotional goals and the coordination between AIG facilitators and EC/504 teams that 2E students require.

Standard 4 — Leadership Assessment: Identifies leadership strengths and psychosocial capacities. Supports Standard 4’s social-emotional component and contributes qualitative behavioral data to the Learner Profile — particularly valuable for students whose giftedness expresses through interpersonal influence and leadership rather than traditional academic metrics.

Standards 3 & 6 — Personal Success Plan (PSP): A student-driven goal and progress tracker. Generates exportable progress summaries documenting student advancement toward DEP goals — supporting Standard 6’s accountability requirement. PSP records provide the program effectiveness evidence AIG coordinators need for annual plan updates submitted to NCDPI and for the three-year self-assessment process the standards require.

Standard-by-standard

2024 NC AIG Program Standards & Renzulli Learning: Side by Side

N.C.G.S. § 115C-150.5 Article 9B 2024 NC AIG Program Standards

NC AIG Standard / Requirement	Renzulli Learning Contribution
Standard 1: Identification Multiple measures (quantitative + qualitative); comprehensive Learner Profile; no single score disqualifies; AIG team consensus; equitable procedures responsive to underrepresented populations; multiple screening windows K–12	The Renzulli Profiler contributes interest and strengths qualitative data; the CTC contributes scored creativity evidence; the EFA documents functional performance for 2E students. Together these expand the Learner Profile beyond test scores to capture the full range of gifted potential — especially for students whose abilities may not surface on traditional aptitude measures.
Standard 2: Comprehensive Programming K–12 array of differentiated services; total school community involvement; social-emotional support integrated; coordination with EC/ESL/504 teams; services at elementary, middle, and high school levels	The enrichment database and PBL tools provide ready-to-implement K–12 programming across all grade-level contexts — from elementary pull-out enrichment through middle school advanced coursework to high school independent study. PSP documents service delivery and DEP goal progress across years.
Standard 3: Curriculum & Instruction Differentiated curriculum with depth, complexity, and higher-order thinking; acceleration and enrichment; inquiry-based learning; alignment to NC Standard Course of Study and above	40,000+ interest-matched, above-curriculum activities provide the depth-complexity-rigor NC’s curriculum standard requires. PBL tools deliver inquiry-based investigation. The Profiler’s interest data personalizes curriculum matching — ensuring that depth and complexity connects to each student’s genuine intellectual passions.
Standard 4: Personal & Social Support Social and emotional needs addressed K–12; counselor collaboration; attention to perfectionism, underachievement, and 2E profiles; affective goals in DEPs	The EFA and Leadership Assessment provide data that drives DEP social-emotional goal development. EF data is particularly critical for 2E students whose perfectionism, anxiety, or disability challenges intersect with their gifted profile. The PSP embeds reflection and self-advocacy into the enrichment experience.
Equity & Excellence Call to Action Broadening access for underrepresented populations; local norms; top 10% subgroup screening; talent development before formal identification (frontloading); excellence gap monitoring disaggregated by subgroup	The Renzulli Profiler’s interest-based approach is culturally responsive — it surfaces strengths independent of language proficiency or cultural testing bias. Enrichment activities provide the pre-identification exposure that NC’s frontloading approach recommends for underrepresented students in grades K–3.
Differentiated Education Plan (DEP) Annual individualized plan documenting identified areas, services, goals, social-emotional support, and progress monitoring; aligned with IEP/504/LIEP for 2E and ML students; transitions documented	PSP progress summaries provide organized, exportable goal progress documentation for DEP annual reviews. Enrichment activity logs document service delivery. Profiler data informs DEP interest-based goal development. For 2E students, EFA functional performance data coordinates with IEP/504 goal planning.
Standard 6: Program Accountability Three-year plan with annual progress updates submitted to NCDPI; self-assessment of program against six standards; disaggregated data monitoring; stakeholder input; local board approval	PSP exports and activity logs generate organized student performance and program participation evidence by grade level, teacher, and time period — giving AIG coordinators the data infrastructure needed for annual progress updates, three-year self-assessments, and the excellence gap monitoring Standard 6 requires.

Implementation realities

What NC AIG Coordinators and Teachers Navigate Every Day

“Our three-year plan has to address all six standards, and every standard has a self-assessment component. What NCDPI is really asking is: can you show us that your program is reaching all kinds of learners — not just the kids who score well on the CogAT, but also the ones from low-income families, the 2E kids, and the ones who underachieve because nothing in their day is challenging enough. The Profiler and the creativity data give us a way to surface those students and make a case for them.”

AIG Coordinator · Piedmont region North Carolina school district

For large districts (Wake, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Guilford, Forsyth) NC’s largest districts serve thousands of AIG students with dedicated specialists at every school. These districts need documentation systems that scale across hundreds of DEPs simultaneously — consistent progress tracking, organized learner profiles, and program effectiveness data that can be disaggregated by school, grade, and demographic subgroup for the excellence gap monitoring Standard 6 requires.

For smaller and rural districts Many of NC’s 115+ LEAs are small and rural, often served by a single AIG coordinator or itinerant specialist. These coordinators need a web-based enrichment platform classroom teachers can use independently between specialist visits — with interest-matched activities that don’t require specialist expertise to deploy, and documentation that builds the DEP progress record without adding administrative burden.

Frequently asked questions

North Carolina AIG Education: Common Questions

What is North Carolina’s definition of AIG students?

Under Article 9B (N.C.G.S. § 115C-150.5), AIG students are those who “perform or show the potential to perform at substantially high levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment.” They exhibit high performance capability in intellectual areas, specific academic fields, or both, and require differentiated services beyond those ordinarily provided by the regular program. The statute explicitly states that outstanding abilities are present in students from all cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor — embedding the equity mandate into the foundational definition itself.

Does North Carolina have a statewide gifted identification cutoff score?

No. North Carolina deliberately does not mandate a statewide cutoff score. Each LEA sets its own specific identification thresholds, assessment instruments, and criteria — documented in its local three-year AIG plan. The NC AIG Program Standards require multiple measures (both quantitative and qualitative) to build a comprehensive Learner Profile, and no single data point can disqualify a student. An AIG team reviews the complete profile and reaches a consensus decision. This local flexibility is a deliberate feature of NC’s approach, not a gap in the framework.

What is the three-year local AIG plan?

Every public school LEA must develop a three-year local AIG plan under Article 9B, documenting identification procedures, programming services, curriculum approach, equity strategies, professional development requirements, and program evaluation process — all aligned to the 2024 NC AIG Program Standards. The plan is approved by the local board of education and submitted to SBE/DPI for review and comment. DPI provides feedback but does not approve plans. Plans are revised every three years with annual progress updates. LEAs conduct a self-assessment against all six standards as part of each revision cycle.

What is a DEP and what must it include?

A Differentiated Education Plan (DEP) is the individualized planning document for each AIG-identified student, documenting identified areas of giftedness, differentiated services and learning experiences, academic and intellectual goals, social-emotional support, and progress monitoring. Updated annually and evolving across grade levels — enrichment at elementary, advanced coursework at middle school, honors/AP and independent study at high school. For twice-exceptional students, the DEP is coordinated with the IEP or 504 Plan. For multilingual learners, aligned with the LIEP. DEPs are distinct from IEPs — AIG services in NC are not special education under IDEA.

Are charter school students served under NC’s AIG program?

AIG programming is optional for charter schools in North Carolina. Charter schools are not mandated by Article 9B to identify or serve gifted students. Some charters voluntarily develop local AIG plans and identify and serve gifted learners — using the same NC AIG Program Standards framework as LEAs. Families should ask each charter school directly about their AIG identification and service practices.

What are parent rights under Article 9B?

Under Article 9B, parents who disagree with an identification decision or how the local plan is being implemented may first use the district’s dispute resolution process. If that fails, they may file a petition for a contested case hearing under NC General Statute Chapter 150B. The scope of review is limited to: (i) whether the LEA improperly failed to identify the child as AIG, or (ii) whether the local plan is being properly implemented. This is one of the strongest parent protection provisions in gifted education law nationally.

Official sources

North Carolina AIG Education Resources

All local plan development and compliance decisions should reference these primary NCDPI sources. Renzulli Learning is designed to complement — not replace — your district’s locally determined AIG identification criteria and service delivery approach.

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

All States G&T Alignment South Carolina Virginia Tennessee Georgia

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