The task force consisted of HISD teachers, administrators and parents who met five times beginning last November.
In its meetings, the task force reviewed the district's GT program, helped develop surveys to gather input from GT parents and students, and identified short- and long-term goals to improve GT programming in the district.
Director of Curriculum Meredith Roddy presented the task force's recommended goals to the HISD board of trustees at a June 9 meeting.
According to the presentation, HISD had 507 GT students in the 2021-22 school year, around 5% of the district's total student population.
One of the task force's primary recommendations was to ensure GT curriculum is appropriately challenging, Roddy said.
To that end, the task force recommended developing a written plan for standards of service in the GT program and providing annual updates to the board on GT students' performance.
“The framework can be a way to look at what we’re teaching and make sure it’s rigorous and engaging for our students," Roddy said.
Another priority for the task force, Roddy said, was improving communication between the district and parents of GT students, particularly students in middle and high school.
Approximately 70% of surveyed parents of GT-identified secondary students responded "disagree" or "strongly disagree" to a question about whether they felt their child's teachers communicated and collaborated about their child's learning needs.
The task force's proposed solutions included encouraging the formation of GT parent associations and organizing GT-oriented events such as family nights.
"“One of the things that really came through from the parent survey is that parents would like to have more information on how their students are doing," Roddy said. "For family engagement, we can definitely take some big steps."
Other goals outlined in the presentation included expanding GT options for secondary students and ensuring GT materials sent home are translated to the student's home language.
"[The task force] had some amazing ideas, and there's a lot of energy there to make some positive changes," Roddy said.
