State Definitions of Gifted—Tennessee

State definition

  1. "Child with disabilities" means children with disabilities and youth between three (3) and twenty-one (21) years of age, inclusive, who have been certified under regulations of the state board of education by a specialist as being unsuited for enrollment in regular classes of the public schools, or who are unable to be educated or trained adequately in such regular programs without the provision of special classes, instruction, facilities or related services, or a combination thereof. Any child with disabilities who turns twenty-two (22) years of age between the commencement of the school year in August and the conclusion of the school year the following June, will continue to be a "child with disabilities" for the remainder of that school year; 
  2. "Child with disabilities" means a child with mental retardation, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, specific learning disability, developmental delay, functional delay, and the intellectually gifted.  ( TCA 49-10-102)
  • Gifted legislation does exist ( TCA 49-10-102) . There is a state mandate for identification but no mandate regarding programming for the gifted. Funding is available.
  • Students can be identified at any grade level.

Tennessee Resources

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