20072010 Local Plan for Gifted Education

1
2007-2010 Local Plan for Gifted Education

• AIG Advisory Team
• May 10, 2007

2
Mission Statement (essential) and Purpose
(required)

• Mission Statement(s) (essential)
• Mission statements include a conceptual
  definition of gifted. (If the North Carolina
  state definition is expanded to include other
  areas of giftedness, these should be noted.)
• Mission statements articulate how giftedness
  develops.
• Mission statements have a concise statement on
  justification or rationale for providing
  educational services for gifted children.
• Mission statements are written free of
  educational jargon so that readers understand the
  intent of the academically or intellectually
  gifted plan.
• Purpose (required)
• An overall clear articulation of program
  components as defined by Article 9B is present
  that defines how the school district addresses
  gifted education.
• ISS Local Plan
• The new mission statement and purpose are now
  aligned with the districts mission. We have also
  included the triangle as a reference.

3
Goals (essential) and Objectives (required)

• Goals (essential) /Objectives (required)
• Plan has clearly articulated goals with
  measurable objectives that are aligned with the
  stated goals.
• The goals are comprehensive and align with the
  mission statement(s), definition of giftedness,
  purpose, screening, identification and placement
  procedures, service delivery options, evaluation
  plan and other components outlined within the
  local board approved document.
• Clearly stated goals and measurable objectives
  reflect a commitment to equity or excellence in
  teaching and learning for gifted students
  including those from traditionally
  under-represented populations.
• ISS Local Plan
• - Rather than giving a list of goals and
  objectives for the program, we have aligned our
  goals and objectives strategically with the
  department improvement plan template.

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Screening, Identification, and Placement
(required, required, required)

• Screening (required)
• Multiple research-based screening instruments
  (i.e. parent teacher inventories, interest and
  attitudes inventories and learning styles) are
  utilized.
• Plan outlines specific procedures to ensure
  screening is on-going and occurs at all grade
  levels with multiple points-of entry during the
  academic year.
• Plan clearly communicates nominations are
  accepted by school personnel, parents/guardians,
  students (self-nominations) and/or community
  members with academic knowledge of students.
• Detailed procedures regarding how nomination and
  screening processes will be communicated to the
  community at large and how such information will
  be made available in other languages that reflect
  the demographics of the community are articulated
  in the plan.
• The screening processes detailed in the plan will
  establish a broad based pool of students for
  identification.
• Articulation of how inter-rater reliability
  (check and balance process) will be ensured in
  the screening process exists across schools in
  the district (a child in School A screened would
  also be included in the pool for possible
  identification as gifted using the same criteria
  in School B).

5

• Identification (required)
• The identification process is clear and
  comprehensive.
• Identification process is defensible as evidenced
  by most current research and recommendations in
  the field of gifted education.
• Assessments in the area of intellectual and
  academic fields, K-12, use a minimum of three (3)
  appropriate criteria that include both
  qualitative and quantitative measures with
  adequate reliability and validity.
• Assessment instruments for identification reflect
  sensitivity to economic conditions, gender,
  developmental differences, learning difference
  and diversity of students so that equal
  opportunity for consideration is provided to all
  students.
• When appropriate, professional personnel
  administer individualized assessments in the
  language in which the student is most fluent.
• When appropriate individual assessments are
  designated to assess strength-based areas of
  gifted students and are administered by
  professional personnel.
• An inter-rater reliability process is clearly
  articulated that ensures a child in School A
  identified as gifted using a minimum of three (3)
  appropriate criteria that include both
  qualitative and quantitative measures with
  adequate reliability and validity would also be
  identified as gifted using the same criteria in
  School B.
• Identification process is designed to organize
  multiple kinds of data free of weighing and
  cut-off scores.

6

• Placement (required)
• Assessment instruments selected are deemed to be
  of equal importance in making placement
  decisions.
• Understandable procedures for developing
  Differentiated Education Plan (DEP) and
  Individual Differentiated Education Plans (IDEP)
  are articulated and in place for all K-12
  identified gifted students.
• Processes are articulated and in placed to assure
  that K-12 DEPs and IDEPs are accessible to
  students, parents, administrators, classroom
  teachers and teachers of gifted students.
• Clearly articulated procedures exist in the plan
  for instructional placement of identified gifted
  students who may need changes in their K-12 DEPs
  or IDEPs to address possible furloughs,
  transfers (inside or outside school district) or
  other possible instructional changes in gifted
  services.
• Procedures are clearly communicated for annual
  and midterm reviews of K-12 DEPs and/or IDEPs
  that reflect data-driven decisions specific to
  the unique needs of gifted students.

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Screening, Identification, and Placement
(required, required, required)

• ISS Local Plan
• All three large components of the rubric have
  been summarized into a flow chart with more
  details clarified than ever before. In the past,
  these sections were simply narrative.
• The TF spent a GREAT deal of time here.

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Program Service Options (required)

• Program Service Options (required)
• A range of Program Service Options to address the
  unique needs of identified gifted students is
  presented.
• Program Service Options exist for K-5, 6-8, 9-12
  identified gifted students.
• Program Service Options are described K-5
  (primary/elementary).
• Program Service Options are described for 6-8
  (middle school).
• Program Service Options descriptions are
  described for 9-12 (high school).
• ISS Local Plan
• These basically look the same, but some details
  have been changed and there is more consistency
  throughout all the levels.
• K-2 is now its own separate piece rather than
  being with K-5. We chose to do this because the
  difference between group identification and
  individual identification.
• 3-5 and 6-8 services are now all the same (before
  the math achievement component was different).
• High school now has service options and
  identification criteria. The learning environment
  options have also been updated to reflect what
  our local high schools are attempting.
• An additional column has been added to all
  levels support services available at each
  school.

9
Personnel and Professional Development (required)

• Personnel and Professional Development (required)
• The plan specifies the roles and responsibilities
  of personnel who are responsible for the delivery
  of gifted program services (teachers,
  administrators and support services) with a
  statement of the necessary preparation for each
  position.
• Specified qualifications indicate that all
  teachers of the gifted and administrators of
  gifted programs must have either licensure or
  degrees in gifted education.
• A well-defined, research-based staff development
  and implementation plan exists that is aligned
  with the three-year service delivery plan and
  prepares teachers to address the academic, social
  and emotional needs of the gifted, including
  those special populations.
• Plan articulates how partnerships with
  colleges/universities gifted licensure training
  programs support newly gifted licensure teachers.
• Training for personnel and faculty in gifted
  education emphasizes study groups, inquiry teams
  and action research processes and is structured
  to emphasize participants depth in
  understanding rather than just knowing and
  doing.
• Plan articulates how value-added is determined
  for professional development experiences
  especially with their effects on student
  achievement, staff performance and organizational
  ability.
• Gifted teacher induction program represents a
  commitment to assure that new teachers receive
  the support and resources required for success.

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Personnel and Professional Development (required)

• ISS Local Plan
• In the personnel descriptions, we added the BOE,
  GIST, AIG Facilitator, LTs, and our two advisory
  teams.
• On other roles, we simply refined the
  descriptions.
• Professional development is very different from
  the old plan. It describes the new AIG
  certification process, as well as how we align
  our professional development with the district
  initiatives.

11
Differentiated Curricula/Instructional Practices
(required)

• Differentiated Curricula/Instructional Practices
  (required)
• A well-defined policy exists for developing
  curricula that builds upon and extends beyond the
  North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NCSCOS).
  
• District curriculum and curriculum models for the
  gifted education program are aligned with the
  programs mission statement.
• The process for evaluating the implemented
  curriculum to determine its impact on student
  achievement is articulated.
• Procedures are in placed to assure that all
  teachers who teach gifted students use
  differentiated instruction to accommodate the
  strengths and needs of gifted students as
  identified by assessment and evaluation.
• Policies are clearly stated that ensure all
  teachers of gifted students effectively use
  multiple assessment and evaluation tools for
  monitoring student understanding and achievement.
  
• Plan provides scheduled planning time for
  teachers of gifted students for the development
  of differentiated curricula and programs.
• Available possibilities are clearly articulated
  and are detailed within district
  parameters/guidelines on partial or full
  acceleration in appropriate areas (grade level
  and/or content) for any student displaying
  instructional need

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Differentiated Curricula/Instructional Practices
(required)

• ISS Local Plan
• We now have a deployment plan describing the
  steps our district takes to differentiate
  curriculum for our gifted learners (DEPs,
  enrichment programs, etc).
• This category of the rubric has never existed
  before.

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Evaluation (required)

• Designated individuals responsible for conducting
  program evaluation process have an expertise in
  gifted education and program assessment.
• The district gifted plan reflects most current
  best practices and research in gifted education.
• Plan identifies a range of assessment tools and
  processes to collect and analyze formative and
  summative evaluation data to determine the value
  added and effect gifted programs produce relative
  to desire results.
• Evaluation process includes parents and community
  members from special populations in the planning
  and decision making process of program design and
  implementation.
• Plan outlines how identified gifted academic
  performances and programs will be disseminated
  and reported. (The legislation requires local
  plan evaluation to focus on student achievement.)
• The plan clearly articulates how formative
  evaluations are addressed with summative
  evaluations occurring every three years on
  programmatic growth.
• Instruments used for evaluations are appropriate
  for targeted gifted populations and possess a
  high degree of reliability and validity.
• Evaluation process includes the collection and
  analysis of demographic data from the schools,
  the gifted program and the community at large to
  investigate potential inequities in the
  identification of gifted students.
• Needs Assessment (essential)
• The needs assessment process for gifted
  programming is continuous, consistent and
  concise.
• Needs assessment provides suggestions for the
  types of data that might be collected and
  delineates who will be involved in the process.
• The needs assessment process details how and with
  whom recommendations for improvement will be
  communicated at the school, district and state
  level.

14
Evaluation (required) and Needs Assessment
(essential)

• ISS Local Plan
• The Advisory Team concept has not changed, but it
  now has a deployment plan and a more specific
  membership description.
• We have also added the Needs Assessment component
  in the same deployment plan as they naturally fit
  together.

15
Parent and Community Involvement (required)

• Parents and Community Involvement (required)
• Specific plans are evident regarding the
  inclusion of parents and the community on the
  ongoing implementation and monitoring of the
  three-year plan.
• Plan indicates how community members from special
  populations will be involved in planning and
  decision making regarding program design,
  implementation and evaluation.
• Provisions are clearly stated for regular parent
  participation K-12 in the development of the
  annual Differentiated Educational Plan (DEP)
  and/or Individual Differentiated Education Plan
  (IDEP).
• A description is given of efforts (e.g. seminars,
  trainings, special programs) to keep parents and
  the community regularly informed about the
  education of gifted students in the school
  district including evaluation results.
• Communications concerning the gifted program and
  students are provided in appropriate languages,
  when needed, for parents and communities within
  the school district.
• Plan articulates how reciprocal relationships
  with a range of community organizations are/will
  be established.
• ISS Local Plan
• We now have a deployment plan for this component
  as well. The former plan merely had narrative
  describing how parents could be involved.

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Socio-Emotional Guidance and Counseling
(essential)

• Socio-Emotional Guidance and Counseling
  (essential)
• K-12 counseling services are outlines that
  support differentiated guidance services (e.g.,
  peer support groups, mentors, after school
  programs and/or summer enrichment programs that
  foster affective growth needs) to address social
  and emotional needs of gifted learners including
  those from special populations.
• Evidence that the unique needs of underachieving
  gifted students, gifted students from diverse
  populations, twice-exceptional students and
  students who have been accelerated are addressed
  with details regarding the specific guidance and
  counseling services to be implemented.
• Guidance and counseling services include
  acceleration options (i.e., grade skipping,
  subject acceleration, early entrance to
  kindergarten and concurrent enrollment).
• Guidance and counseling services to be offered
  gifted students include a scope and sequence for
  the affective curriculum.
• A career counseling programs is well-defined and
  with an implementation timeline for providing
  gifted students and their families with
  information pertaining to changing career
  paradigms, academic planning and personal/social
  awareness.
• ISS Local Plan
• We now have a deployment plan on how this
  component will be integrated into the overall
  program.
• This category of the rubric has never existed
  before.

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Nurturing (essential)

• Nurturing Programs (essential)
• A well-defined nurturing program based on
  appropriate data as defined by the LEA to
  identify high intellectually potential in
  students exists at all grade levels.
• Identification processes in nurturing program, if
  used, are free of gatekeepers (e.g.,
  standardized test scores, matrices with summed
  scores) that inhibit students from special
  populations being identified high-potential for
  and participating in gifted programs.
• Nurturing program articulates alternative
  instruments (interviews, classroom performance
  data, student portfolios with rubrics/reflections)
  to better identify high potential students from
  special populations.
• Program articulates how students are provided
  with advanced and enriched learning experiences
  before a formal identification process begins.
• Plan articulates programming that supports
  affective growth as well as cognitive growth in
  diverse learners.
• ISS Local Plan
• After MUCH discussion, the team decided we would
  like to create a K-2 Nurturing Task Force next
  year to examine various possibilities.
• This category of the rubric has never existed
  before.

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Links to Other System-Wide Efforts (required)

• Links to Other System-Wide Efforts (required)
• Description is given of efforts to coordinate the
  education of gifted students with other
  system-wide initiatives, such as technology
  plans, staff development, research-based teaching
  and learning strategies and programming planning.
• ISS Local Plan
• We chose to explain this with our mission and
  purpose.

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Timeline (recommended) and Budget (recommended)

• Timeline (recommended)
• The plan includes a timeline that charts the
  expected program initiatives for each of the
  three years of the plan.
• The timeline addresses the various components of
  the plan so that a total portrait of the next
  three years of the program can be seen and
  understood.
• Budget (recommended)
• A statement/chart of how the school system
  intends to spend the state allotment is given.
• The budget submitted reflects the local plan.
• Other sources, if any, of additional funds
  (local, other state revenues and federal) are
  stated and explanations are given as to how these
  funds will be allotted.
• Plan outlines how AIG coordinators and/or
  administrators participate in the budget process
  to provide essential services to students in the
  gifted program.
• Plan articulates commitment for financial
  resources to accomplish programs
  goals/objectives.
• ISS Local Plan
• Our local plan timeline is included on the
  Department Improvement Plan.
• Our budget proposal is included.

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Forms (Procedure to Disagree required)

• The DEPs have been made more user-friendly and
  aligned with district vocabulary.
• Procedure to disagree has not changed very much
  we just took one step out that was redundant
  (Principal and GIST).
• The old school site decision and student
  identification form have been combined and
  clarified.

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Loose Ends

• System Commitment (Required-Must Be Approved by
  Local Board)
• A statement is enclosed from the responsible
  fiscal agent (e.g., chair of school board or
  superintendent) stating the systems approval and
  intent to implement the plan.
• Coordinator still needs to add per recommendation
  of Local Plan Task Force, but these pieces are
  not required appendix, glossary, and table of
  contents.