Kennesaw State University
Current Program Description I currently teach in Douglas County at a Title I elementary school. In my school there are approximately 650 students with Black students being the majority at 57%. Other demographics of Factory Shoals include Whites at 35% of the school s population, two or more races 5%, Hispanic 3%, and Asian and Pacific Islanders at 1%. 67% of the students are eligible for free lunch or reduced lunch program. Factory Shoals Elementary School became a Title I Targeted Assistance school this year that receives funds to accommodate primarily students who are below grade level and need additional support outside the classroom. The main objective is to increase student achievement. The gifted program at my school is referred to as PC which stands for Program Challenge. There are approximately 50 students served in the gifted program at my school. This is an approximate number given to me by the gifted teacher. She is new to our school this year and mentioned that she only knows how many students were served last year and not certain how many will be served this coming up year. From my observation, students with special talents and gifts do not have an extra enrichment to accommodate those talents. Primary students are pulled out of class once a week and the intermediate grade students are also pulled out once a week also.
Current Gifted Program Philosophy and Goals The philosophy of Douglas County s gifted program is as follows: Gifted students require a differentiated education because of their unique potential and needs. They require educational experiences in higher level though processes: analysis, evaluation and synthesis. Douglas County Program Challenge, in conjunction with the instructional philosophy of the county school system, recognizes the right of the student to develop to his/her fullest potential. This philosophy seems to recognize the diverse needs of gifted students, but not the diversity amongst gifted students. There are so many assumptions and stereotypes associated with gifted students. Too few teachers do not understand that giftedness is not always associated with a student s smartness or performance in a classroom. Giftedness itself encompasses diversity. Gifted students do have unique needs and these needs should be considered when differentiating. It states that differentiation is a necessary for the success of gifted students and that the philosophy of the gifted program aligns with philosophy of the county s. I agree that differentiation is a required element for the student s success. This is necessary for students to reach their highest achievement and potential. There are a number of goals listed and described on the Douglas County s website. After each goal is stated, a rationale/discussion is given for that goal. The first goal states Gifted students will develop advanced research skills and methods. Curriculum for gifted students should allow for the in-depth learning of self-selected topics within the area of study. I agree that gifted students possess an advanced level of knowledge and understanding about the world
around them. This in turn can lead to heightened curiosity and ability to research and explore concepts and interests above or outside their peers. Gifted students instruction should be structured to their interests and talents. The second goal states Gifted students will develop and practice creative thinking and problem-solving skills with a variety of complex topics within the area of study. Creativity and problem-solving link hand in hand. Gifted students have the ability to generate original ideas and solutions. The third goal states Gifted students will develop and practice higher order and critical thinking skills in the pertinent academic area. This statement involves differentiation from the teacher s end. Gifted students may need less time to acquire and master new skills than their peers. Teachers should plan lessons that involve critical thinking and provide opportunities in the classroom for gifted students to practice their higher order thinking through a variety of activities. The last goal states Gifted students will develop advanced communication skills. Curriculum for gifted students should encourage the use of new techniques, materials, and formats in the development of products that will be shared with real audiences. Advanced language skills can often be a trait of gifted students. Having the opportunity in a learning environment to advance this skill and demonstrate it in different ways can help gifted students use and further develop their communication skills. Teachers can establish a format of constructive feedback for the students to help them with this skill. Students should also have the opportunity to produce products that display their gifts and talents. The goals stated by the county cover a variety of needs of gifted students. I think these goals are broad but specific in identifying the reasons for the program. Though social and emotional growth is not mentioned or specified in the goals, I believe that students can develop these skills through different avenues in the curriculum and the goals stated. Creativity was also neglected from the goals. Creative thinking was mentioned, but this seemed to be more tied to
problem-solving rather than divergent thinkers who express their creativity through creating original ideas, products, or form of art like music and dance. Many gifted students do not necessarily excel in academics but instead outperform their peers in the arts, literature, or other inventive means. It s just as important for these students to be accommodated and properly motivated in their learning environment. Though creativity can be taught, some gifted students possess this trait naturally and need opportunities for further encouragement and development. The goals described seem to cater to the academic advancement and enrichment of those students who outperform their peers academically. My school only offers resource for students academically. Special interests and fine arts type of enrichment is not offered in my school. Many of the enrichment programs that do occur in my school are for the students who participate in the after school program and county funded tutoring program that also takes place after school. Students would greatly benefit from having exposure or opportunities to engage heavily in their interests and talents during the school day. Through my observations, PC focuses on the development of critical thinking and problem solving.
Current Delivery Model The delivery models at the elementary and middle school levels are: contracts, interests/learning centers, resource room, collaboration, accelerated math, interest seminars, compacting, advanced content, telecommunications and mentoring (Douglas County School System :: Welcome to the Douglas County School System!. (n.d.). Douglas County School System :: Welcome to the Douglas County School System!. Retrieved, from http://www.douglas.k12.ga.us/default.asp?l=2&pn=pages&subp=level2&divisionid='1865' &DepartmentID='1723'&SubDepartmentID='0'&PageID='2724'&SubPageID='1722'). These delivery models are identified on the Douglas County website, but I have only experienced the resource class at my school. The site further states that The resource room provides an opportunity for gifted students to develop thinking, affective skills, communication, research, and independent inquiry skills in all areas of the curriculum. This aligns directly with the goals of the program. There are two gifted teachers in my school. One teacher serves students 1 st grade through 3 rd and the other teachers serves students in grade 4 th and 5 th. Each grade has a day for resource in which they get pulled out for the majority of the day and receive instruction from the gifted teachers. Students usually join their class for lunch and specials. Though not confirmed by the gifted teacher, I also think the cluster grouping delivery model takes place in my school. My principal has inquired about my completion of my gifted endorsement and informed that he usually takes the endorsements of the teachers into consideration when he makes classes. Since I will have my gifted endorsement, he plans to load my class with gifted students this Fall. This will allow the school to receive additional funding since the gifted students in my class would also be receiving similar services as their resource
class. This excited me! I did not know this occurred until the post-planning. However, I am curious how the teachers executed this model and if they had better experiences collaborating with the gifted teacher than I had. I actually hardly ever know what my students are doing in their gifted resource class until they come back to class. Though the recent gifted teacher was kind and approachable, she did not inquire about what I was doing in the class or provided me strategies or resources to work with the gifted students in the class. Collaboration is not an element or feature of the delivery model in my school that I have experienced. But I believe that it would only serve to the students best interest if teachers collaborated with the gifted teachers. The gifted teacher can inform teachers of best practices in differentiating for gifted students and provide strategies in identifying gifted students. The gifted program in my school seems to be a separate entity of a student s learning experience in school rather than an enrichment or extension of their learning. My students seemed to really enjoy attending their weekly gifted class and I do believe they get a lot of their experiences in the class, but I do not think once a week for 5 to 6 hours is enough time to enrich their gifts and talents. I realize however that it is also my responsibility to make sure that I structure my lessons and planned activities so that this can take place in my classroom.
Current Curriculum Model A curriculum model that closely aligns with the model used at my school is the Integrated Curriculum Model; the process/product dimension specifically. The gifted teacher enjoys using STEM activities to engage the students in research, inquiry-based learning, and experiments. She also uses novel studies to engage the students in discussion and critical thinking activities. Students also have the opportunities to apply their advanced mathematical and linguistic skills to projects and other hands-on activities. Students practice their higher order thinking skills while participating in a variety of interdisciplinary themes. STEM often plays a component of the interdisciplinary themes. The gifted teacher designs problems and scenarios that encourage students to be engineers and critical thinkers. This model used in my school really engages the students and forces them to think critically, but does not incorporate the talents of the students who are musically or theatrically skilled.
Current Program Evaluations Teams conduct evaluations based on their recommendations. The Torrance Test of creativity is given, but only if recommended. This will only be scored by the Gifted Evaluator or TTCT Certified teacher. Once evaluations are completed, the eligibility of each student will be assessed and determined and the gifted teacher will prepare the Gifted Program Eligibility Report. Referrals for testing can be received by teachers or parents. Students are tested in mental ability, achievement, creativity, and motivation. Referred students are also administered the CogAt. Students must meet either three of the four criteria or scores at the 99 th percentile (grades K-2) or 96 th percentile (3-12) on the composite or full scale score of a standardized mental ability test and meet the achievement criteria. Teachers are given once in the first semester and once in the second semester to submit referrals for the gifted program in my school. Teachers are sent notifications about the referrals along with documents in the form of a referral packet. The documents consist of rating scales, sample work covers, and test scores. Teachers are encouraged to begin collecting (if they have not already done so) data from the students they are considering referring for the gifted program. But students in 3 rd -5 th grade may also be referred if they obtain high score on the ITBS score or CRCT. The year before, all students took the CRCT, but this year only students in 3 rd through 5 th took the test. I believe that this is useful in the referral process, but again, this is all subjective and exclude so many students that are gifted but do not demonstrate it in ways that are acceptable or recognizable to the teacher. I also think that there are too many teachers who are ignorant of the vast variety of characteristics of a gifted student and only look for stellar academic performers. From my experience, the evaluation process does include those students
who exhibit talents and strengths in other intelligences outside of the academic arena. The evaluation process also seems to have a fit all approach and does not accommodate the students who are culturally and linguistically diverse.
Needs Assessment The survey conducted included 6 participants. However, I emailed the questionnaire to 5 teachers, 3 parents, and 2 administrators. Four teachers, one administrator, and one parent responded to the survey. Three of the teachers that responded to the survey are second grade teachers and the other is a fifth grade teacher. The parent that responded was a parent of a gifted student I had in my class last year. I requested that she help her son complete the survey as well, but he was out of town. Some of the teachers that responded had similar responses regarding the needs of the gifted students in the gifted program. Most of the responses in the now section of the questionnaire fell between a three and four. When responding in the future section, the teachers did not seem that optimistic in changes being made and scored mostly three and fours, with some being scored a five. They seem to all recognize that gifted students are being served, but how they re being served and who in particular is being served appropriately may be under slight scrutiny. Another question that I thought was interesting was number 14 which was about teacher-education opportunities. Learning how to accommodate the needs of the gifted in our school does not seem to be a current priority, but the teachers seem to feel that this is a critical area of need and improvement. The assistant principal however, displayed a more positive view about the needs of the gifted in our school. Most of her responses were fours and fives for the now portion. She answered all fives in the future portion. Teachers and administrators tend to have a different experience regarding teaching and interacting with the students and staff. I thought the profound difference in her responses from the teachers was interesting. The parent I sent this survey to had a few questions about this questionnaire. She emailed me because she was not familiar with some of the lingo in the questions and felt awkward about answering some of the questions because they did not apply to her son. But I encouraged her to answer them to the
best of her ability. She answered a three on one question and that was about teacher-education opportunities. I m not sure why she answered this question this particular way, but I do remember her telling me in previous conversations that her son s previous teachers did not challenge him enough and he often got in trouble in class from talking. I m assuming that she feels that teachers are not well-trained on teaching gifted students based on this particular experience. This assessment provided great insight on how the teachers felt about the gifted program in our school compared to the parent.
Questionnaire Bar Graph 6 5 4 3 2 Teacher Teacher2 Teacher3 Teacher4 Administrator Parent 1 0
Needs Assessment Chart - Now Teacher Teacher Teacher Teacher Administrator Parent Question 1 5 4 5 5 4 4 Question 2 5 5 5 5 5 5 Question 3 5 5 5 4 5 5 Question 4 3 4 4 5 5 5 Question 5 2 1 4 4 4 4 Question 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 Question 7 5 3 4 5 5 5 Question 8 4 2 4 4 5 5 Question 9 4 4 4 5 5 5 Question 10 4 4 4 4 5 5 Question 11 2 4 3 5 4 5 Question 12 4 4 4 5 5 5 Question 13 3 4 5 4 5 4 Question 14 2 2 4 4 4 3 Question 15 4 5 5 5 5 5
Proposed Philosophy My school does not have a separate philosophy regarding gifted education. The new gifted teacher has explained that she has not been made aware of a different philosophy other than the philosophy stated on the Douglas County School system s website. She did say that she has a philosophy of her own though. She believes that every gifted student should have the opportunity to explore, extend, and learn their gifts in a structured environment through a variety of techniques and activities. She also stated that she thinks students learn best when they work and collaborate with students who have different perspectives and talents than them. It s my responsibility to make sure students see and reach their potential and how their strengths can help the community and world around them. I appreciated this gifted teacher s philosophy and thought she had some strong points in her beliefs. Her belief seemed to be a bit broader than the county s philosophy and included a theme of diverse learners. My philosophy and goals for my school are as follows: Talents and gifts come in an extensive spectrum that is not often recognizable through academics. Gifted students possess vast possibilities of characteristics and their needs should be accommodated in a program that is structured around their interests and talents. Students who have the ability to excel above their peers in the areas of fine arts and academics are of significant value to the program. It s imperative that students have the opportunity to extend their critical thinking skills, creativity skills, social skills, and emotional skills. The learning environment should stimulate the student through diverse activities and encourage intrinsic motivation as well as life-long learning. Cultural relevant lessons are an important thread as this closes the gaps between the disadvantaged
and advantaged. Students should come through the program with a clearer view of themselves, their talents, as well as aware of the diversity around them.
Proposed Delivery Model The delivery model will consist of the resource class, cluster grouping, advanced content, as well as the collaborative teaching model. Resource classes should be structured around students interests or talent areas. While once a week may be most feasible due to scheduling and time restrictions, collaborative teaching should take place on a regular basis with grade levels that have gifted students in their classroom. An open line of communication should be established and encouraged between teachers and the gifted teacher. Communication can take place via email or in an in person meeting. Gifted teachers should have suggestive input in the development of lessons in teachers classroom. Gifted teachers should be active in providing teachers with strategies, best practices, and support in teaching gifted students. Classroom teachers should also be knowledgeable on the lessons and curriculum that takes place in the gifted resource as well. This will allow teachers to plan lessons that connect and extend their students experiences into the classroom which will make for a more impactful and meaningful learning experience as a whole. Correspondence needs to be a regular element in the differentiation for the diverse needs of the gifted students. Teachers who have obtained a gifted endorsement and remain within a general Ed. classroom should have their classes loaded with no more than 6 gifted students. These students will be better served by a teacher who is familiar with the learning needs of gifted students. Students will benefit from the differentiation the teacher will provide in constructing lessons that require higher thinking skills, creativity, and advanced content. Advanced content can also be implemented along with the other models. Advanced content classes can be the resource class students participate in. The advanced content class would occur outside of the student s regular classroom. Advanced content classes would be structured and designed around the strengths and
talents of the students. Though the advanced content classes are mostly used for grade 6-12, I think this would be beneficial for the intermediate grades in my school. These classes can include math and language arts and be integrated with science, social studies, and the fine arts. Students who exhibit a strong ability in any fine art should have the opportunity to participate in an enrichment program offered.
Proposed Curriculum Model The curriculum model that I would propose for my school is the Autonomous Learner Model. This model has five major dimensions that will benefit and support the diverse gifted and talented students not currently represented in the program. The ultimate goal of the program is to create independent learners who are active in the direction of their learning process. The teacher in this model is the facilitator. Students are driven to develop responsibility, a positive self-perception, problem and critical thinking skills, interpersonal skills, creative thinking skills, as well as a deeper passion for their interests and talents. Creating life-long learners is primary in the foundation as oppose to teaching a set of skills or standards within a content area. The student is the focus. The five dimensions are orientation, individual development, enrichment activities, seminars, and in-depth study. The orientation involves student becoming reflective about their intelligence and their gifts. Students get the opportunity to learn about their abilities and more about the ALM (Autonomous Learner Model). Group building also takes place in orientation. This component allows students to interact with other students whom may possess different talents and gifts than differ from their own. Group process and interaction is then learned. Individual development focuses directly on opportunities for the students to develop cognitive, emotional, social and physical skills, concepts, and attitudes that promote life-long learning. Autonomy learning begins to develop in the students. Students also develop skills in technology as well as inter/intrapersonal skills. Orientation and individual development can happen within a regular classroom setting. Enrichment allows students to become engaged in their areas of passion and interests. Lessons and activities are not centered around the regular curriculum or
standards. Differentiation is usually left up to the teacher to carry out for the benefit of the students, but ALM calls for the students to become involved in differentiating their own learning. Gifted students are free to explore the content or curriculum in their own style. Students can pursue their areas of passion through explorations, investigations, cultural activities, performing a service, or plan an adventure trip. Seminars provide a small group of students the opportunity to research a topic and present it to their peers. This dimension creates an environment where the students learn from one another. The final dimension, in-depth study gives students the opportunity to pursue independently or with a group a topic or area of interest in a long-term study. Completion of this dimension is the highest level of autonomous learning model. Students have free reign on how they will present their skills and knowledge. The teacher serves as the facilitator and guided support for students. Mentors are also ideal to incorporate as they can provide additional support. This curriculum model aligns with the proposed philosophy and gives all gifted students to steer their learning, engage in student-centered and driven activities, and develop their social and emotional skills while interacting with diverse learners. The curriculum is not limited to academic success but includes gifts of a broad array. The proposed delivery model will also correspond well with this curriculum model as well. Students who participate in advanced content classes can integrate elements of this model and extend their learning beyond the standards. Learning won t be limited to mastering the standards, but creating students who are multifaceted and independent in their learning experiences. A sense of responsibility and pride will be infused in activities and lessons. Gifted teachers who teach a regular class with a homogenous group can differentiate and build opportunities in the classroom where the gifted students are clustered together so the ALM can take place.
Students who are not academically stellar, but possess talents in other intelligences and areas can also excel and grow through the implementation of this model. The choice aspect of the model will encourage students to reflect and learn about their talents and how they can contribute to the learning environment. Socially and culturally diverse students who are gifted can also grow in their self-confidence by relying and trusting their background experiences and funds of knowledge to contribute to the learning environment. An air of acceptance of oneself and other learners can be enhanced through the implementation of this model with the proper facilitation of the teacher.
Proposed Program Evaluation To identify gifted students, a multidimensional assessment along with the use of multiple criteria should be used. Using multidimensional assessments will allow students with multiple types of gifts and talents be identified and included. Students who are economically disadvantage, a minority, or underachievers will have a higher chance of being identified. Equitable representation can take place. IQ and achievement cut-off scores will not be the only determining factors. Though this evaluation is already place, it still is restrictive and can deny some students services. This is why a quota system may also be beneficial to ensure there is a fair representation of students in the program. Another identification tool that would broaden the scope of students who are identified is a nonverbal IQ test like the CogAT and the UNIT. These types of tests have shown to identify Title I students, which the school mostly consists of. In identifying creative students, the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking should continue to be used. Teacher nominations can be another tool used in the evaluation process. The Needs Assessment demonstrates the need for proper teacher training and education on serving gifted students. Many teachers nominate students who excel in academic areas only and actively display their gifts in the classroom. Providing training opportunities on the vast characteristics of gifted children as well as how to effectively accommodate the needs of diverse gifted students will give teachers the proper foundation on referring students. The goal of this evaluation system is to include students from disadvantaged groups, culturally diverse backgrounds, underachievers, and students who possess gifts and talents in creative arenas. The combination of these evaluation tools can improve the represented population in the gifted program and be a means of motivation for students who are gifted in some facet, but do not have the tools to reach their potential. My experience in speaking with
fellow teachers about the gifted referral process has shown me that many of the teachers only recognize those who are smart and confidently or consistently demonstrates their superior abilities in the class. Staff professional development in giftedness would be an extremely benefit for these teachers as they lack the knowledge of the immense characteristics that giftedness can exude in.