GIFTED AND TALENTED EDUCATION An overview with classroom

GIFTED AND TALENTED EDUCATION: An overview with classroom implications and application Terri Verhaegen AP/AVID/GATE Program Specialist SAUSD

Overview: Who are your GATE students? • Characteristics • Referral • Assessment Process

Characteristics Differences commonly found between most gifted learners and their age peers: ü Advanced comprehension and a faster pace of learning (2 -8 years ahead of the regular agegraded class) ü Need for complexity and intensity ü Desire for depth (ability to make connections, find unusual relationships and move from facts to principles theories and generalizations) ü Crave Novelty or alternative and varied input and processes

Intellectual vs. High Achiever • Intellectually gifted children can usually generalize, work with abstract ideas and synthesize diverse relationships Whereas: • High achievers generally function better with knowledge and comprehension level learning than with abstract and openended material as H T O B y f i ent d i e w — D re a s c i t s i r In SAUS e ract a h c e h t t GATE, bu me not the sa

High Achiever 83% of SAUSD identified as High Achievement 4% of SAUSD identified In SPECIFIC ACADEMIC AREA Knows the answers. Is interested. Is attentive. Has good ideas. Works hard. Answers the questions. Top group. Listens with interest. Learns with ease. 6 -8 repetitions for mastery. Understands ideas. Enjoys peers. Grasps the meaning. Completes assignments. Is receptive. Copies accurately. Enjoys school. Absorbs information. Technician. Good memorizer. Enjoys straightforward, sequential presentation. Is alert. Is pleased with own learning. Intellectual Asks the questions. Is highly curious. Is mentally and physically involved. Has wild, silly ideas. Plays around, yet tests well. Discusses in detail, elaborates. Beyond the group. Shows strong feelings and opinions. Already knows. 1 -2 repetitions for mastery. Constructs abstractions. Prefers adults. 13% of Draws inferences. SAUSD Initiates projects. identified as Is intense. Intellectual Creates a new design. Enjoys learning. Manipulates information. Inventor. Good guesser. Thrives on complexity. Is keenly observant. Is highly self-critical.

(Mis)Perceptions of Gifted Students Gifted students may be perceived as: Possible Reasons: Bored with routine tasks, or rote work, does not complete rote work May have mastered facts and rote skills Difficult to get him/her to move onto another topic Pursues interest in depth Self critical, impatient with failures Sustained goal-oriented behavior, Evaluates situations Critical about the teacher or others Logical and analytical, expresses criticism Argumentative, disagrees vocally with the teacher or others Expresses opinions freely, skeptical, expresses criticism Not serious, making jokes or puns at inappropriate times Gives clever, witty responses, shows humor Emotionally sensitive – may over react, angers or cries easily if things go wrong Sees relationships and connections, sensitivity, need for support Not interested in details; hands in messy work Needs minimal instruction/ practice on routine tasks, applies info. with ease Refusing to accept authority; nonconforming, stubborn Goal-directed behavior, expresses criticism, skeptical, focused on details Dominating others Goal directed behavior, organizes tasks and people, serves as a leader Withdrawn or a loner among peers May have difficulty communicating with peers, intense attention on tasks Involved in others problems Problem solver, interest in cause and effect relationships, inquisitive

Referral • Most gifted students are identified in elementary years. In SAUSD, – every 2 nd grader is tested – grades 3 -11 are tested upon referral. – a student can apply for GATE assessment in elementary or secondary Assessment Measures: Collection of screening data can include: • Academic Achievement Scores (e. g. Benchmarks, CST’s/CMA’s, Writing Proficiency) • Standardized ability tests (e. g. NNAT 2) • Standardized Intelligence tests (e. g. WISC, Cog. At, Olsat, Leiter—limited use in SAUSD • Observation/Anecdotal Parent/Teacher checklists • Grades • Rapid acquisition of English for EL students (CELDT)

SAUSD Program Design • In both elementary and secondary, SAUSD utilizes the “cluster” design. • “Clusters” of 5 or more students are placed in a regular classroom. • In secondary (grades 6 -12) these clusters are usually in “honors” or AP level classes.

GIFTED AND TALENTED EDUCATION: What does this mean for your classroom?

Implications for Curriculum and Instruction • Connection to CCSS • Types of Differentiation – – Acceleration Novelty Depth Complexity

What CCSS documents say regarding “Advanced Learners”? 3. The Standards do not define the nature of advanced work for students who meet the Standards prior to the end of high school. For those students, advanced work in such areas as literature, composition, language, and journalism should be available. This work should provide the next logical step up from the college and career readiness baseline established here. 4. The Standards set grade-specific standards but do not define the intervention methods or materials necessary to support students who are well below or well above grade-level expectations. No set of grade -specific standards can fully reflect the great variety in abilities, needs, learning rates, and achievement levels of students in any given classroom. However, the Standards do provide clear signposts along the way to the goal of college and career readiness for all students. ---CCSS page vii (underline added for emphasis)

What CCSS documents say regarding “ELA Habits of Mind”? The descriptions that follow are not standards themselves but instead offer a portrait of students who meet the standards set out in this document. They demonstrate independence. They build strong content knowledge. They respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline. They comprehend as well as critique. They value evidence. They use technology and digital media strategically and capably. They come to understand other perspectives and cultures.

What CCSS documents say regarding “Math Practices”? The Standards for Mathematical Practice describe varieties of expertise that mathematics educators at all levels should seek to develop in their students. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. Model with mathematics. Use appropriate tools strategically. Attend to precision. Look for and make use of structure. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Curriculum and Instruction Advancing the concept of differentiation to a new level to both reinforce and extend teaching and learning… • taking the “core” curriculum adding depth, complexity, novelty and acceleration. • Modifying what students will know (content), how students will think (critical creative and problem -solving skills), how students will access and use resources (research skills), and how student will summarize and share their learning (product).

Depth Creative Thinkin Critical Thinkin Problem Solving Resilient Universal Concepts What is DIFFERENTIATIO N? Thinking Like a Disciplinarian Art of Argumentation Novelty Acceleration Introduction to the Disciplines Logic Self-Accountability Task Commitment Group Skills Intellectualism Define one’s self and pote Understanding of giftedne Art of Appreciation Expertise Questioning Participation S Complexity

Connections between GATE and CCSS GATE Standards • Acceleration • Depth • Complexity • Novelty CCSS Anchor Standards q R 2. Determine central ideas or themes… q L 6. Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain specific words… q R 1. Cite specific textual evidence… q R 7. Delineate and evaluate the argument… q R 6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content… q R 7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats… q W 3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences… q R 1. Read closely to…make logical inferences…

Acceleration of Content • Use universal concepts like “conflict”, “change” or “relativity”. • Build and bridge concepts (possibly by compacting the curriculum to streamline the curriculum or challenge the level) • Develop the art of appreciation and the art of argumentation • Dig deeper into content through questioning skills or “Thinking like a Disciplinarian”.

Questioning Strategies = Collaborative Academic Conversations and Socratic Seminars Methods used by teachers and students to ask questions that require the respondent to use high-level, critical, and/or creative thinking skills when processing information or responding to the question.

Why use Questioning Strategies? Questioning strategies are essential to the growth of critical, creative, and higher level thinking skills. (Shaunessy, 2005) When teachers regularly model questioning strategies and expect student questions, students learn to formulate questions that will improve their learning. (Fisher, 2007)

Good questions help to accelerate learning: • Elaborate and Clarify • Support with Examples • Build on or Challenge another’s ideas • Paraphrase • Synthesize • What is meant by ______? • How do you know? • How could we prove or confirm that? • If ____happened, what would be the result? Support your conclusion • What might be other points of view? • How could you say that another way? • Why do you believe that? • How can we bring this all together?

Novelty Students expressing knowledge in their own words and ways. Includes elements of… ü Creative thinking ü Critical thinking ü Problem solving ü Logic ü Self-accountability ü Task commitment ü Group skills ü Intellectualism ü Self-defining ü Develop expertise ü Understanding giftedness ü Resilient ü Participation skills

Apply what you’ve learned • How do acceleration and novelty already have a place within classrooms implementing Common Core State Standards? • Turn and share ideas with your elbow partner

Power of Depth and Complexity Icons… Provide structure and support for taking a deeper and more complex look at any topic • Quick Easy Application to any Material • For Visual learners--A picture is worth a thousand words • Provide scaffolding to do higher level thinking for second language students and students with learning disabilities • Develop “Habits of Mind” that become ingrained • Advanced learners are asked to reach into the upper ranges of their ZPD • Increase student enthusiasm and motivation

But remember, we are not teaching the icons, we are teaching concepts to new levels of depth and complexity using pictures to stand for the thinking strategies. Think PROMPTS.

Concrete Entry Points • Brainstorm Common Everyday Icons • Use the Detail Icon as way for students to talk about themselves (Seen and Unseen Details) • Read a story like the Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss to introduce several icons • Use Multiple Perspectives resolution • Use the Rules • Use the Big Idea for conflict icon for class rules on first day for writing a paragraph

Use the Icons Within Your Classroom and Lessons ü Post the icons in your classroom ü “Look for (appropriate icon) in our lesson today on (content area). ” ü Use the Big Idea to summarize or end lessons. ü Label your daily agenda and lesson plans with the icons. ü Have students label all work with the appropriate icons. ü Label all classroom work and charts with the icons.

Depth • Refers to approaching or studying something from the concrete to the abstract, from the known to the unknown. • Requires students to examine topics by determining the facts, concepts, generalization, principles and theories related to them. • Necessitates uncovering more details and new knowledge related to a topic of study. • Encourages students to adopt perspectives and to see patterns in connections.

Depth has the following major dimensions: • Language of the Disciplines: Specialized vocabulary, names of skills or tasks, tools used • Details: Attributes, parts, factors, variables • Patterns: Repetition, predictability • Trends: Forces, direction, ongoing • Rules: Structure, order, hierarchy, explanation • Ethics: Points of View, different opinions • Big Idea: Generalization, principle, theory • Unanswered Questions: Discrepancies, missing parts, unclear ideas, incomplete ideas • Impact: Cause and effect, influence • Process: sequence, procedures • Motive: reasons, causes, purpose • Proof: evidence, validation

Complexity • Includes making relationships, connecting other concepts, and layering. • Why/how approach that connects and bridges to other disciplines to enhance the meaning of a unit of study. Relate concepts and ideas at a more sophisticated level • Encourages students to see associations among diverse subjects, topics or levels and find multiple solutions from multiple points of view

Complexity has these major elements: • Over Time: Between the past, present and future, and within a time period • Points of View: Multiple Perspectives, opposing viewpoints, differing roles and knowledge • Interdisciplinary: With, between and across the disciplines • Context: environment shapes or affects outcome • Translate: multiple and varied meanings of language, various interpretations • Original: new, unique, what makes it new • Judgment: factors that influence decisions

Practice Time #1 Nursery Rhyme • Read the text provided to your group. • Develop a question and possible response based on your given prompt. • Share and discuss with your small group.

Practice Time #2 Exemplar Text from CCSS Appendix B • Read the text provided to your group. • Develop a question and possible response based on your given prompt. • Share and discuss with your small group.

How can we use this with what we already do? • Use Thinking Maps with Depth and Complexity icons – Frame of reference – Tree map headers • Develop Text-Dependent questions • Socratic Seminar and Collaborative Academic Conversations

Tree Map Holiday Gatherings

Double Bubble Pizza Ice Cream

Intellectual Pathway • For each student or group, create an individual Intellectual Pathway to a product. • Student A: • Student B: • Student C:

Use Depth and Complexity concepts to elaborate any topic or unit. • Give of . • Look for • Use . to shed light on • Pull apart the • Discover if unknown . you encounter. are due to insufficient , or issues. ,

Now on your own • Utilizing a text your brought, rework a current assignment to include elements of depth and complexity (you may also include novelty and acceleration). • Be ready to share in 10 minutes. 38

Depth Creative Thinkin Critical Thinkin Problem Solving Resilient Universal Concepts DIFFERENTIATIO N in your classroom Thinking Like a Disciplinarian Art of Argumentation Novelty Acceleration Introduction to the Disciplines Logic Self-Accountability Task Commitment Group Skills Intellectualism Define one’s self and pote Understanding of giftedne Art of Appreciation Expertise Questioning Participation S Complexity