Gifted & TalentedDefinition/CO law
Nature & Needs
GT in PSD
GT Identification
What you can do in the classroom
““Gifted and talented children" means those persons Gifted and talented children" means those persons between the age of five and 21 whose abilities, talents, and between the age of five and 21 whose abilities, talents, and
potential for accomplishment are so exceptional or potential for accomplishment are so exceptional or developmentally advanced that they require special developmentally advanced that they require special
provisions to meet their educational needs. Gifted students provisions to meet their educational needs. Gifted students include gifted students with disabilities and gifted students include gifted students with disabilities and gifted students
with exceptional abilities or potential from all socio-with exceptional abilities or potential from all socio-economic and ethnic, cultural populations.economic and ethnic, cultural populations.
Exceptional Children’s
Educational Act:
•Identification
•ALP (Advanced Learning Plans)
•Funding
•Adopt and Implement a Program Plan
•General or specific General or specific intellectual ability. intellectual ability. •Specific academic aptitude. Specific academic aptitude. •Creative or productive Creative or productive thinking. thinking. •Leadership and human Leadership and human relations abilities. relations abilities. •Visual arts, performing arts, Visual arts, performing arts, spatial or musical abilities.spatial or musical abilities.
Areas of Identification…
•General or specific General or specific intellectual ability. intellectual ability. •Specific academic aptitude.Specific academic aptitude. •Creative or productive Creative or productive thinking. thinking. •Leadership and human Leadership and human relations abilities. relations abilities. •Visual arts, performing arts, Visual arts, performing arts, spatial or musical abilities.spatial or musical abilities.
Areas of Identification…
Areas of identification in PSD
Gifted students are just as different from the average as special
education students
This means they have different needs…
Knows the Knows the answers answers
BrightBright GiftedGifted
Asks the Asks the QuestionsQuestions
Is InterestedIs Interested
BrightBright GiftedGifted
Is Highly Is Highly CuriousCurious
Answers Answers QuestionsQuestions
BrightBright GiftedGifted
Questions Questions AnswersAnswers
Grasps the Grasps the MeaningMeaning
BrightBright GiftedGifted
Draws Draws InferencesInferences
Enjoys Enjoys SchoolSchool
BrightBright GiftedGifted
Enjoys Enjoys LearningLearning
Is Pleased Is Pleased With Own With Own LearningLearning
BrightBright GiftedGifted
Is Highly Is Highly Self-CriticalSelf-Critical
Enjoys Same-Enjoys Same-Age PeersAge Peers
BrightBright GiftedGifted
Prefers Older Prefers Older Children or Children or
AdultsAdults
Works HardWorks Hard
BrightBright GiftedGifted
Can Play Can Play Around and Around and
Still Get Still Get Good ResultsGood Results
Pays Pays AttentionAttention
BrightBright GiftedGifted
Gets Involved Gets Involved Mentally, Mentally,
Physically, Physically, and and
EmotionallyEmotionally
Is in the Top Is in the Top GroupGroup
BrightBright GiftedGifted
Can Think Can Think Beyond the Beyond the Top GroupTop Group
•Gifted students are gifted in all Gifted students are gifted in all areas/subjectsareas/subjects•Gifted students are arrogant, Gifted students are arrogant, difficult, and obsessivedifficult, and obsessive•Gifted kids don’t need teachers Gifted kids don’t need teachers and the typical amount of and the typical amount of teacher attentionteacher attention•Gifted students need more Gifted students need more work than other studentswork than other students•School is a good experience for School is a good experience for gifted students because they gifted students because they score well on tests and make score well on tests and make good gradesgood grades
Myths about GT
According to George Betts, Ed.D.:
There are 6 types of Gifted
people
•The Successfu•The Challenging•The Underground•The At-Risk•The Twice Exceptional•Autonomous Learner
8 GREAT GRIPES:
No one explains what being gifted is all about – it’s kept a big secret.
8 GREAT GRIPES:
School is too easy and too boring.
8 GREAT GRIPES:
Parents, teachers, and friends expect us to be perfect all
the time.
8 GREAT GRIPES:
Friends who really understand us are
few and far between.
8 GREAT GRIPES:
Kids often tease us about being
smart.
8 GREAT GRIPES:
We feel overwhelmed by
the number of things we can do
in life.
8 GREAT GRIPES:
We feel different and alienated.
8 GREAT GRIPES:
We worry about world problems and feel helpless
to do anything about them.
GT in Poudre School District
Math
Language Arts
GT in Poudre School District
Math
Language Arts
Creativity
Elementary & Secondary
GT Site Coordinators
Identification
ALP’s (Advanced Learning Plans)
Programming (refer to book)Acceleration, Enrichment, AP/Honors, IB, grouping, Affective
Needs, etc.
Identification
BODY OF EVIDENCE
Intellectual Abilities
Achievement
Demonstrated Performance
Behavior/Characteristics
Tier 1 (90th – 94th percentile):•Differentiated instruction in the regular education classroom should meet the student’s needs for continued growth.
Tier 2 (95th – 97th percentile): •Differentiated instruction in the regular education classroom, plus •Additional services may be needed to meet the student’s needs for continued growth.
Tier 3 (97th – 99th percentile):•Differentiated instruction in the regular education classroom, plus•The most intense additional services are required to meet the student’s needs for continued growth.
Tiers of Interventions
Pre-Screening:
3rd Grade CogAT(Cognitive Abilities
Test)
Identification Procedures
Students Previous Test Scores are assessed:
CSAPMAP
*Any score on a standardized
instrument over 95% can be used
Identification Procedures
Does a student have 2 scores 95%+?
If yes – Identification complete!
If no – More assessment is needed
Identification Procedures
Identification
BODY OF EVIDENCE
Intellectual Abilities
Achievement
Demonstrated Performance
Behavior/Characteristics
Other Assessments Used:
CogAT (for students entering PSD after 3rd grade)TONI (non-verbal)
WIAT (achievement)GATES (rating scales)Rubrics (performance)
Identification Procedures
Provides Information About:Tier 2 or 3
Interventions Provided
Goals for ALPs:SMART goals (content and affective) linked to specific
instructional strategies
More individualized
Evaluation Process
Collaboration (parents & teachers)
Gifted Education Plans or Advanced Learning Plans
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
OBSERVATION
RATING SCALES
RUBRICS
KNOWING THE PROCESS!
Identification Procedures
PaceAccelerated Instruction
Minimum Repetition
LevelAdvanced Content
A high degree of complexity and abstractionIn-depth study
Instructional Needs of Advanced and Gifted
Learners:
Nothing!
This perpetuates the myth that gifted children make it on their own and therefore denies them
the right to learn.
What is the worst thing to do to gifted students?
Synthesis(create)
Evaluation(Judge)
Analysis(Examine)
Application(Use)
Comprehension(Understand)
Knowledge(Know)
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Tiered Lessons
Differentiated Instruction for Gifted Learners
Challenge
Complexity
Resources
Outcome
Process
Product
Tiered Lessons
Differentiated Instruction for Gifted Learners
Challenge
Complexity
Resources
Outcome
Process
Product
Phrase each learning description as succinctly as possible.
Content + Process + Product =
Learning Activity
Writing Learning Activities
Content – reflects unit and essential questions
Phrase each learning description as succinctly as possible.
Content + Process + Product =
Learning Activity
Writing Learning Activities
Process – reflects thinking processes & the level of
challenge (Bloom’s!)
Phrase each learning description as succinctly as possible.
Content + Process + Product =
Learning Activity
Writing Learning Activities
Product – End result! How do students show what
they have learned?
Phrase each learning description as succinctly as possible.
Write a script and role play a scene from a
fable.
Writing Learning Activities
Phrase each learning description as succinctly as possible.
On a chart, categorize various composers
according to musical style.
Writing Learning Activities
Identify the content, skills, and products for a particular unit, as well as any required curriculum
standards
Curriculum Mapping
Exit Points:•Is there a point when a student may need more time to work on a skill or content? •Is there an activity that could result in more than one way to show what the student has learned?•Is there an activity in which students could benefit from working on the same outcome but different kinds of work?
Curriculum Mapping
Planning tool for curriculum units that
specifically address levels of challenge
Matrix Planning
Grouping
FlexibleGroups
AbilityGroups
CooperativeGroups
High levels of retention with an extraordinary amount of
information
Accelerated pace of learning
Advanced comprehension, deep understanding
Unusually varied interests and curiosity
Differentiated Instruction for Gifted Learners
Advanced Vocabulary
Flexibility in Thinking (Creativity)
Ability to Generate Original Ideas and Solutions
Ability to Think in Abstract Terms and Sense Consequences
Evaluative, Judgmental Thinking
Persistent Goal-directed Behavior
Differentiated Instruction for Gifted Learners
Is this an appropriate learning experience?
Can all students do this?
Should all students do this?
Do the learning experiences vary in complexity?
Is the pace of instruction appropriate?
Questions to Guide
Conclusions:By definitions, GT kids are different.
They won’t just “get it anyway.”
If instruction isn’t on their level, they might never learn how to respond when they are faced with an academic challenge (underachievement
and/or perfectionism)
Parents, teachers, and school counselors with an understanding of giftedness can make a huge
difference in these students’ lives.