Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H622 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2573 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 622
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Meghan K. Kilcoyne
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to an expert panel on the education of advanced and gifted students.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Meghan K. Kilcoyne12th Worcester1/16/2025 1 of 5
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2573 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 622
18	18	By Representative Kilcoyne of Clinton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 622) of
19	19	Meghan K. Kilcoyne that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education be authorized
20	20	to establish an advisory panel for the development of advanced and gifted students. Education.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
24	24	(2025-2026)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act relative to an expert panel on the education of advanced and gifted students.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 SECTION 1.
30	30	2 (a) There shall be a gifted education expert panel to develop recommendations to ensure
31	31	3advanced and gifted students in the commonwealth are being educated and developed
32	32	4appropriately within the public education system and are thereby provided the opportunity to
33	33	5reach their full potential and to lead lives as participants in the political and social life of the
34	34	6commonwealth and as contributors to its economy. The panel shall consist of 9 members: the
35	35	7secretary of education, who shall serve as co-chair, and 8 persons appointed by the secretary, in
36	36	8collaboration with the commissioners of early education and care, elementary and secondary
37	37	9education, and higher education, who shall be experts on gifted education; provided, however,
38	38	10that 2 shall be selected from a list provided to the secretary from the chairs of the joint committee
39	39	11on education and the chairs of the joint committee on higher education, and that 2 shall be
40	40	12selected from a list provided to the secretary from the Massachusetts Association for Gifted 2 of 5
41	41	13Education. Panel members shall each be appointed for a term of 4 years. The panel shall
42	42	14designate a co-chair every new term. No member, with the exception of the secretary, shall serve
43	43	15for more than 2 consecutive terms. The members of the panel shall serve without compensation
44	44	16but may be reimbursed for expenses necessarily and reasonably incurred in the performance of
45	45	17their duties. Panel members shall not be, by virtue of their membership, state employees under
46	46	18chapter 268A of the General Laws. The panel shall meet not less than 4 times annually for the
47	47	19first 4 years. After the first two years, the panel co-chairs shall determine the time period in
48	48	20which the panel shall continue to meet.
49	49	21 (b) The panel shall advise the legislature, the departments of early education and care,
50	50	22elementary and secondary education and higher education and the executive office of education
51	51	23on the development, refinement and implementation of state plans and policies for the
52	52	24development of the state’s advanced and gifted children including, but not limited to, education
53	53	25of the general populace regarding gifted children, appropriate strategies to identify and serve
54	54	26gifted children to meet their unique academic and other developmental needs including activities
55	55	27and programs through the education collaboratives, district and school assistance centers, and
56	56	28readiness centers to support gifted education for children from age three through college,
57	57	29inclusive. The panel shall make recommendations to the legislature, the secretary and the
58	58	30commissioners of early education and care, elementary and secondary education and higher
59	59	31education on the alignment, coordination and implementation, including, but not limited to the
60	60	32following areas:
61	61	33 (1) strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of academic, social and emotional curricula
62	62	34on the unique academic, other developmental and psychological needs of gifted children, that (i)
63	63	35is anchored in rich and relevant content; (ii) uses a wide variety of types of activities to support 3 of 5
64	64	36content under study; (iii) emphasizes the role of community interaction in promoting social
65	65	37skills; and (iv) contains a balanced instructional design focused on developing academic, social,
66	66	38and emotional skills.
67	67	39 (2) effective instructional practices to promote advanced and gifted children’s
68	68	40understanding of unique social and emotional feelings and experiences.
69	69	41 (3) pre-service and in-service professional development and training for educators on
70	70	42gifted education children, over-sensitivities commonly experienced by many, the administration
71	71	43of screenings and assessments, and the analysis of data gained through screenings and
72	72	44assessments to make instructional decisions to improve the academic, social, and emotional skill
73	73	45acquisition in young children;
74	74	46 (4) developmentally appropriate screening and assessment to identify, monitor and report
75	75	47on gifted children’s progress toward achieving benchmarks in developmental skills such as
76	76	48sociability, emotional regulation, organization, time management, persistence, resilience,
77	77	49productive use of coaches, compensatory skills, and learning how to experience and react to
78	78	50failure, across educational levels from age three to college, inclusive;
79	79	51 (5) family partnership strategies for improving the quality, frequency and efficacy of
80	80	52homeschool interactions to support gifted children’s development, as well as for building
81	81	53community capacity to support gifted children within their families; and
82	82	54 (6) action steps to implement the research-based recommendations contained in reports
83	83	55written by experts in gifted child development, academically and otherwise. 4 of 5
84	84	56 (7) action steps to implement research-based recommendations contained in reports
85	85	57written by experts in gifted education on student screening and teacher preparation methods with
86	86	58respect to gifted children’s needs including, but not limited to, highly or profoundly gifted and
87	87	59twice exceptional students. The panel shall also advise on leveraging existing and new federal
88	88	60grant opportunities and private funding to support gifted children from age three to college,
89	89	61inclusive. Subject to appropriation, the secretary and commissioners of early education and care,
90	90	62elementary and secondary education and higher education may appoint personnel necessary to
91	91	63coordinate the activities of the panel and provide administrative support as needed.
92	92	64 SECTION 2. The secretary of education, in coordination with the gifted education expert
93	93	65panel co-chair and the commissioners of early education and care, elementary and secondary
94	94	66education and higher education, shall prepare and submit an annual report on the activities of the
95	95	67gifted education expert panel in advising the departments and the activities of the departments.
96	96	68The report shall include information on the alignment and collaboration between the 3
97	97	69commissioners, as overseen by the secretary, on gifted child development for children from age 3
98	98	70to college, inclusive, and on teacher training and professional development on gifted children,
99	99	71their education, and all subject areas covered in clauses (1) to (6), inclusive, of subsection (b) of
100	100	72section 1. The report shall also include a description of all state and federal funding related to
101	101	73gifted education and the programs such funding supports. The secretary shall submit the report
102	102	74not later than June 30 to the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives, who shall
103	103	75forward the report to the senate and house chairs of the joint committee on education and the
104	104	76senate and house chairs of the joint committee on higher education. The report shall also be
105	105	77made available on the websites of the departments of early education and care, elementary and 5 of 5
106	106	78secondary education and higher education and on the website of the executive office of
107	107	79education.
108	108	80 SECTION 3. The gifted education expert panel shall conduct its first meeting not later
109	109	81than 60 days after the effective date of this act.