Encinitas Union School District Gifted and Talented Education

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Encinitas Union School DistrictGifted and
Talented Education

• 2006-2007

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What we will review

• State Requirements for Gifted and Talented
  Education (GATE)
• What the Research Says
• What We are Doing as a District
• What the School is Doing
• What Classrooms are Doing
• Resources

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GATE From the State Level

• To participate in the state program and thereby
  receive funding, the district must submit an
  application to the state for approval.
• The application may be approved for one, two, or
  three years.
• Our application is up for renewal at the end of
  this year.
• The application must meet the requirements of Ed.
  Code and California GATE Standards.

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California Education Code 52200-52212

• The Legislature is committed to the belief that
  programs
• for gifted and talented pupils include all of the
  following
• Differentiated opportunities commensurate with
  pupils particular abilities and talents.
• Learning environments in which pupils can acquire
  skills and understanding at advanced ideological
  and creative levels commensurate with their
  potential.

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California Education Code 52200-52212

• Elements that help gifted and talented pupils
  develop sensitivity and responsibility to others.
• Elements that help to develop a commitment
  ethical standards.
• Elements that assist pupils to develop problem
  solving abilities to expand each pupils
  awareness of choices for making contributions to
  his or her environment.
• Elements that help gifted and talented pupils
  develop realistic, healthy self concepts.

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California Standards for the Gifted

• Program Design
• Identification
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Social and Emotional Development
• Professional Development
• Parent and Community Involvement
• Program Assessment
• Budgets

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So what does all this mean?

• The district has certain criteria they must meet
  for ongoing state financial support of our
  program.
• The standards and education code both support our
  focus for gifted students on
• differentiated curriculum and
  opportunities within the classroom
• Staff Development
• Service Learning

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What is recommended

• Differentiated Curriculum
• Flexible Grouping
• Clustering students within classes
• More than one identification instrument.
• Strong staff development programs for teachers.
• Parent Education

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What is not recommended(not supported by
research)

• Pull-out instruction that is unrelated to state
  standards or content being covered in the
  classroom.
• After school /lunchtime programs which could
  exclude some students.
• One-time presentations/field trips.

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Gifted Learners

• The Learner
• Precocity
• Intensity
• Complexity

• The Curriculum
• Advanced content(Well beyond 2 years)
• Process/product depth
• (ability to concentrate over extended periods of
  time)
• Issues/concepts/themes
• (Ideas across domains of learning)

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Gifted Learners

• Uneven development
• majority of gifted kids develop this way.
  (Stronger in one domain than another)
• Manifested in one area or several model that
  child is bright everywhere is not realistic.
• Degrees of giftedness within across areas
• Non-intellectual factors matter in predicting
  program success (motivation, persistence)

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Programs and Services

• Necessary components
• Curriculum Alignment and Adaptation to Standards
• Philosophy Statements
• Goals
• Student Assessment
• Organizational Arrangements

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Program and Services

• Flexible grouping with differentiation is what is
  proven through research to work
• Acceleration vs. enrichment acceleration yields
  better results
• Cluster grouping smaller is better, diads to
  quads. Pull-out and self contained lead to about
  the same results

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Curriculum

• Gifted students tend to use higher order thinking
  even without training, but benefit significantly
  from being trained.
• Gifted students prefer a structured learning
  environment, but prefer open-ended tasks and
  assignments.
• Academically gifted students tend to be
  uncomfortable taking risks or dealing with
  ambiguity, therefore there is a need for teaching
  divergent thinking
• Needs to be Standards-Based

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Differentiated Curriculum

• What the teacher differentiates
• Content
• Process
• Product
• Learning Environment

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Differentiated Curriculum

• Why is the Teacher Differentiating
• Access to Learning
• Motivation to Learn
• Efficiency of Learning

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Differentiated Curriculum

• Features of a GATE Differentiated Curriculum
• Acceleration
• Complexity
• Depth
• Challenge
• Creativity

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50 year longitudinal Study

• Students given an accelerated curriculum, do
  better over time
• Gains for students were across groupings how
  students were grouped did not matter

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What the District is Doing

• Differentiation Task Force
• Composition of the Group
• Primary Teachers
• Intermediate Teachers
• Parents
• Principals
• District Office Administrators

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Process

• Discuss definitions of Differentiated Instruction
  and GATE Program
• Review existing GATE Plan
• Look at what research tells us
• Articles
• Findings from William Mary
• Teacher presentation from William and Mary
• Recommendations/Next Steps

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Recommended Next Steps

• Review and Revise District GATE Plan
• Revisit Identification Process
• Professional Development in Differentiated
  Instruction for Gifted Learners
• Address needs of Gifted Students at all Grade
  Levels
• GATE Certification of Teachers
• Stronger Communication with Parents
• Provide Resources for Parents
• Form District Parent Advisory

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Resources for You

• Books
• Helping Gifted Children Soar, Carol A.Strip
• Guiding the Gifted Child, Webb, Meckstroth,
  Tolan
• Reforming Gifted Education, Karen Rogers
• Web Sites
• California Association for the Gifted
  http//www.cagifted.org/
• National Association for Gifted Children
• http//www.nagc.org/default.aspx?id48
• Supporting the Needs of Gifted Children
• http//www.sengifted.org/