Title-1

In South Dakota, gifted/talented services are locally designed and supported by the South Dakota Department of Education (SD DOE) through state guidance and federal Title programs. SD DOE explicitly allows districts to use Title II-A professional learning funds to strengthen identification practices and instruction for gifted and talented students.

SD DOE’s updated Consolidated State Plan (ESSA) affirms support for innovative, individualized education opportunities for “all students, including gifted and talented,” signaling state-level encouragement for locally led programming.

Cultivating Talent Across the Mount Rushmore State

South Dakota emphasizes local flexibility with state supports that touch program staffing and data: the state maintains course codes for Gifted Education and a staffing category for Gifted Teachers, enabling districts to schedule, staff, and report services consistently.

Renzulli Learning supports this mission by:

• Developing a holistic picture of each learner with the Renzulli Profiler, Learning Styles Inventory, Executive Function Assessment, Leadership Assessment, and creativity insights via the Cebeci Test of Creativity (to support programming decisions; districts continue to apply their local identification procedures).

• Supporting student-driven learning strategies that match enrichment to each student’s strengths, interests, and readiness.

• Expanding equitable access with a web-based platform districts can implement consistently across schools and grade bands.

Turning South Dakota’s Vision into Practice

Renzulli Learning helps districts operationalize South Dakota’s locally led approach by:

• Adding multiple, strength-based insights (interests, creativity, learning styles, executive function, leadership) to complement locally selected screening/evaluation evidence and professional learning funded through Title II-A.

• Delivering differentiated & enriched learning through thousands of curated resources and Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM)-style projects that extend depth, complexity, and creativity beyond the regular program.

• Streamlining documentation & communication with exportable plans, activity logs, and progress artifacts—useful for district planning, staffing, and federal/state reporting.