The annual highly capable referral window for all BISD students entering 1st-12th grade will take place by October conferences. Please look for the nomination announcement in your school newsletter.

Kindergarten students are screened in the spring and will be notified of their acceptance status by the fall of first grade.

All current 1st-12th grade students are eligible to be nominated and screened once per school year. Parents, guardians, staff, teachers and/or community members may nominate students for the Highly Capable program. Please look for nomination announcements in the district and school newsletters and on this webpage in the fall. 

Students previously accepted into the BISD HC program do not need to be nominated again. Students currently in the HC program remain in the HC program. 

All students who are referred will participate in a cognitive abilities assessment administered by trained BISD staff.  A staff team will review the student's cumulative file, results of recent testing, parent and teacher rating scales, and other standardized academic assessments to determine eligibility for services. The school district will notify parents/guardians of the testing results and the decision regarding placement and services.

REFERRAL FORMS: Those nominating students will need to complete 1) the nomination form and 2) the grade band appropriate rating scale.  

Highly Capable Nomination Form for Kindergarten Nominees, 2020-2021

For nomination of students currently in grades 1, 3-11:

Highly Capable Nomination Form

HC Parent Rating Scale Grades K-6

HC Parent Rating Scale Grades 7-12

How are students identified?

A BISD staff team will review all available records for each student. Students are identified as eligible for the Highly Capable program based on review of standardized assessment results, student's cumulative file, classroom performance information, and parent and teacher input.

 What is the timeline?

After the staff team have made their recommendations, parents/guardians will be notified. Parents/guardians will receive a copy of the recent testing results and the team's determination about placement and services beginning in the 2020-2021 school year. Those qualifying for HC services will also receive a permission form. Signed permission forms must be returned to the school's main office. HC services will begin shortly after receipt of the permission form. 

Will there be other opportunities for my child to be identified?

All students have the opportunity to be referred once per academic school year and at all grade levels, K-12. 

Components of the Highly Capable Education Program

We believe that every child in our district should be challenged and supported academically, emotionally and socially. You can learn more about our commitment to students and the Highly Capable program by reading BISD School Board Policy 2166 and Procedure 2166 on the BISD website within Departments/Programs. 

What is the definition of Highly Capable?

Highly capable students (“HC Students”) are students who perform or show potential for performing at significantly advanced academic levels when compared to others of the same age, experiences, or environments. Outstanding abilities are seen within students’ general intellectual aptitudes, specific academic abilities, and/or creative productivities within a specific domain. These students are present not only in the general population, but are present within protected classes.

HC Students may possess, but are not limited to, these learning characteristics:

•   Capacity to learn with unusual depth of understanding, to retain what has been learned, and to transfer learning to new situations;

•   Capacity and willingness to deal with increasing levels of abstraction and complexity earlier than their chronological peers;

•   Creative ability to make unusual connections among ideas and concepts;

•   Ability to learn quickly in their area(s) of intellectual strength; and

•   Capacity for intense concentration and/or focus.

The Highly Capable Education Program is subject to rules and regulations set by the District, state and federal government. Students in the program go through a very comprehensive identification process to make sure that they qualify as a Highly Capable student and that they have a continuous need for more challenge. 

Contact: