CMS will boost screening for academically gifted students as part of new AIG plan
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ revamped plan for gifted students aims to strengthen honors coursework in middle and high school and increase professional development for educators.
District leaders presented their three-year plan for academically and intellectually gifted, or AIG, students at Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting. North Carolina law requires each public school district in the state to develop a local AIG plan, which it must review and revise every three years.
The district identifies students as AIG through a universal screening and other assessments, primarily in second grade. As of April 14, CMS has identified 18,238 current students as AIG, or around 13% of the district. AIG students are able to participate in advanced coursework, including International Baccalaureate and Cambridge curricula, honors, and advanced placement classes.
CMS also has its own program for gifted students called Horizons, which offers accelerated coursework in kindergarten through eighth grade in English, science, math and social studies. In order to qualify, students must be performing in the 98th to 99th percentile in all subjects at their current school and are “expected to function at cognitive levels that are generally two to three grade levels above the assigned grades,” according to the CMS website.
Each CMS school is required to have an AIG site-based committee, with an administrator, AIG teacher or AIG point of contact, classroom teacher and other relevant staff members. The district screens all second-graders for AIG status, but the site-based committees are responsible for all other decisions regarding testing for gifted identification.
The state allocates about $8.4 million for the district’s AIG plan, for an average of around $1,400 per student. About $1.7 million in county funds are also allocated. Those funds are for things like professional development, testing and curriculum resources and AIG teacher salaries.
What are goals of AIG plan?
The district’s 2025-28 plan has three overarching goals:
Provide high-quality standards-based instructions across Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to achieve the student outcome-focused goals
Eliminate the gaps in performance and opportunities between student groups
Expand access to advanced learning experiences, programs and courses to address the disproportionality of students identified to receive services
As part of the district’s efforts to eliminate gaps between student groups, it will be screening all second-grade students for AIG qualification and all fifth-grade students for the Horizons program.
“Previously, it wasn’t consistent across the board,” Melissa Balknight, CMS deputy superintendent, told the Board Tuesday. “We want to make sure we don’t overlook any student that qualifies for those opportunities... We’re definitely working to strengthen the fact that we want to reach all students that need this rigorous instruction.”
There are a few main changes CMS plans to implement in its 2025-28 plan. They include:
- Developing and defining clear expectations for AIG programming and resources for elementary students
- Strengthening honors coursework for middle and high schoolers
- Develop a set of “AIG Insights” for K-5 principals
- Providing AIG student performance data analysis for all elementary schools
- Increased social-emotional supports for AIG students in middle and high school
- Aligning programming with district and state curriculum
- Offering additional training and professional development for AIG educators at all levels
- Increasing local partnerships and learning opportunities for students
The CMS Board voted unanimously to approve the 2025-28 plan Tuesday night.
This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
