Ridgefield School District Gifted and Talented Committee Presentation

Ridgefield School District Gifted and Talented Committee Presentation to the Board of Education June 23, 2016

Committee Members Rose Elenio Andrei Amaritei Darla Ferninand Anna Gaeta Steve Kahn Felicia Leon Alyssa Marasciulo Tammy Martinelli Wendy Martinez Mary. Ann Martucci Kathleen Payerle Frank Romano Alice Sargent Janet Seabold Catherine Suarez

Purpose The purpose of this study was to develop a community of learners, who worked collaboratively to investigate the Gifted and Talented program, in an effort to build a comprehensive, thoughtful and progressive program that serves the Ridgefield School District well. We examined: Demographic Data: Ridgefield G&T student data such as participation, grade levels, ethnicity, and gender Process Data: School programs that service G&T students and means for identification. Perception Data: Information from teacher, parent and student surveys Student Learning Data: Focused on the top 10% of RMHS and Slocum Skewes graduating class post-school plans and academic results.

Who is Gifted and Talented? Students who possess or demonstrate high levels of ability, in one or more content areas, when compared to their chronological peers in the local district and who require modification of their educational program if they are to achieve in accordance with their capabilities.

Issues facing G&T COMPETING DEMANDS • No Child Left Behind examines the English Language Learners and Special Education subgroups but not the Gifted and Talented students. • Resources are allocated to help the struggling students.

Issues facing G&T PERCEPTION • Gifted and talented education is elitist. • All children are gifted. • Tracking is evil. • Smart kids will do OK regardless.

Vision Statement The Ridgefield Public Schools K-12 Gifted and Talented Program strives to identify, nurture and challenge students by providing highly engaging programs and learning opportunities that empower critical thinkers, foster growth and ensure the inherent rights of students to realize their full potential.

Mission Statement The Ridgefield Public Schools Gifted & Talented Program recognizes, challenges, and supports gifted students. • Recognize – we identify, acknowledge and embrace giftedness and realize the diverse ways giftedness is exhibited. • Challenge – We provide gifted and talented students with the services to construct their own knowledge that is intellectually, creatively, and personally challenging. • Support – We offer the frameworks and resources that ensure effective conflict resolution, problem solving, decision making, innovation and family engagement.

Committee Findings Celebrate • Diversity of high achievers • Many honors & AP courses offered for a small school. • Ethnic and learning center diversity in Ridgefield Public Schools promotes global citizenship. • RMHS graduates attend competitive colleges. • AP scores met or exceeded state average. Needs • Market the high school more positively to change negative perceptions. • Reduce or prevent the underrepresentation of minority and male pupils. • Decrease the significant departure rate of top Slocum Skewes students to out of district placements.

Grade 4 and 5 G&T Parent Survey • My child excels in math and luckily the program used in the math classroom allows him to go beyond the 5 th grade level. • My child’s favorite day of the week is Wednesday when she has G&T. She never comes home excited or interested any other day. Every day seems to be filled with boring worksheets during her regular classes. • My child often tells me that work in her class is too easy. • My child expresses that the work is sometimes boring because it's too easy. • My child is challenged on a daily basis and is eager to report back on her experiences on a daily basis.

Grade 4 and 5 G&T Parent Survey • Parents praised Ms. Sargent, the G&T teacher. • Students should not miss instruction of core subjects or have to teach themselves the new concept. • Projects were challenging. • Explore areas academically that are not normally exposed to in their classroom. • Provides tools for students to become life-long learners. • Better if it was more than a once a week. • G&T classes in all the key subjects like the honors program 6 -8. • Only class that makes my child comfortable in a learning environment because she is surrounded with similar students. • More options should be provided, whether it is during class or after school. • Learned academic skills as well as the importance of life skills in conjunction with taking charge of her own education. • Great enrichment program.

Grade 4 and 5 G&T Student Survey My class is challenging enough. SOCIAL ENGLISH MATH SCIENCE STUDIES Neutral – neither agree 50. 00% 25. 00% or disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree 46. 40% 32. 10% 25. 00% 17. 90% 14. 30% 0. 00% 32. 10% 10. 70% 17. 90%

Grade 4 and 5 G&T Student Survey Student Feedback: School should be a little bit more challenging Some of the lessons I have learned are easy but some tests can be challenging. I think that the challenges the school presents are easy enough for me. I really love math but wish I'd be challenged more with it. …I'd love to be pushed more in math than anything else. I think math is very easy. English is easy too. I think science and social studies will be challenging without open-book tests and quizzes. For different topics it is hard and not hard I don't have a lot a challenge in a social studies and math. The level of challenge that I am experiencing in school is not that complicated in most subjects. I hardly experience any difficulty/challenge in school. It's ok but it could be a little harder. I think school is a review and where you learn a bit more to everything School isn't that challenging for me. All of my classes are really easy. Math is easy for me because I already know what we are learning. I usually help people who don't understand. For science, I feel challenged. I don't have much challenge. It is slightly challenging for me. I am happy with the level of challenge I experience in school. The level of challenge isn't too challenging, yet not too simple.

Grade 4 and 5 Teacher Survey Teacher Feedback: I feel I need additional professional development on meeting the instructional needs of my gifted students. Neutral 14. 3% Agree 57. 1% • I would like to see it called something different, maybe Enrichment Program. • I have seen some of the work they do and it's very good. • I'm not familiar enough with their curriculum to give suggestions on how to improve it. • Increase class size and opportunity to allow for more students to enter into the program. • I'd like to see more challenging projects and more thinking "outside the box. "

Grade 6 -8 Honors Parent Survey Overall, how satisfied are you with the educational opportunities the District provides for your honors level student? Strongly satisfied 22. 2% Satisfied 44. 4% Neutral 33. 3% Parent Feedback: • Testing again for honors isn't a good idea. • This challenged our daughter, but also enabled her to excel in areas where she was initially having trouble. We saw her weaknesses and had a teacher tutor her in those areas. She became more confident and succeeded. • Math can be a little too complicated to understand sometimes because of the way the teacher's teaching method. She skips around too much, and doesn't spend enough time on topics which makes the next lesson even harder i. e. students might be missing some basic points necessary to understand the material. • We have been very pleased with the level of work that our child has been given and with her growth over the year.

Grade 6 -8 Honors Student Survey Student feedback can be found in the back of the presentation handout. t s Ju t h Rig g n i r o B Chal leng ing Pa Too much work cin g

Slocum Skewes School Grade 8 Top 10 2015 2016 40% 60% RMHS OTHER 70% RMHS 30% OTHER

Grade 6 -8 Honors Teacher Survey The identification process for the honors course selection is adequate. Neutral Disagree 27. 3% 54. 5% Strongly Disagree 18. 2% I feel I need additional professional development on meeting the instructional needs of my honors students. Strongly Agree 9. 1% Agree 45. 5% Neutral 18. 2%

Grade 6 -8 Honors Teacher Survey Teacher Feedback In order to improve the identification process, students can be assessed each year upon entering the next rigorous course. Furthermore, parent involvement and student commitment to their education are also important factors that should be considered before entering an honors program. Parent input should NOT be permitted. Grades, test scores, and work ethic should play a prominent role. No exceptions should be made. In the past, some students were placed in honors because of scheduling conflicts with their specials, so they were placed in the class and perhaps did not belong there. However this year I would say almost all of the students deserve to belong in honors. For 6 th grade, recommendations are basically what the 5 th grade teachers said and their parents pushing for their student. I know that there is a selection process but I do not think it clearly applies to 5 th grade. There needs to be a multi-piece holistic rubric for entering the program. There needs to be clear cut expectations for students, parents, and teachers. If we are to have an honors program, students should take an exam each year (5 th - 7 th grades) I believe that the students need reevaluation every year to remain in the honors program. Right now, they are admitted in grade 5 and stay until graduation.

RMHS Parent Survey Overall, how satisfied are you with the educational opportunities the District provides for your honors level student? 37. 5% Strongly satisfied Satisfied 50. 0% Neutral 12. 5% Parent Feedback: • Wish more than 10 AP courses.

RMHS Student Survey Student feedback can be found in the back of the presentation handout. Being in honors courses makes me Like school 13. 0% Stressed 68. 8% A stronger leader 24. 7% A better reader 37. 7% A better writer 45. 5% A better presenter 48. 1% A stronger critical thinker 58. 4% A better problem solver 49. 4% Collaborate with my classmates 51. 9% Improve my oral communication 42. 9% More curious about the subject matter 36. 4% Prepared for future classes 71. 4%

Ridgefield Memorial High School Class of 2015 Class of 2016 1 John Hopkins University Yale University 2 Yale New York University 3 Rutgers - Pharmacy Westminster Choir College of Rider University 4 The College of New Jersey Villanova University 5 Montclair State University Undecided 6 Rutgers Ramapo College 7 Rutgers Villanova University 8 Pennsylvania State University Ramapo College 9 Ramapo College New York University 10 Rutgers 11 University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Bergen Community College Star Program

RMHS Honors Teacher Survey The identification process for the honors course selection is adequate. Neutral Disagree 20% 50% Strongly Disagree 10% I feel I need additional professional development on meeting the instructional needs of my honors students. Strongly Agree 20% Neutral 40%

RMHS Honors Teacher Survey I feel there should be a test that The students must take to test into honors for their freshman year. Students are merely chosen based on grade in their current class. They should meet more criteria. Many students who should not be in honors or AP ask their guidance counselors to put them in despite refusal from their teachers. A more effective way to identify Honors level students would be a process that includes multiple selection criteria. Students should be tested on skills, compose a written sample, etc. There is currently no criteria for identifying students for honors and AP classes. Any student can sign up if the parent pushes hard enough. Offer professional development for teachers working with gifted and talented and possibly fund and provide special speakers, travel and needed equipment to properly challenge, support and aid the program. Possible testing for entrance into the honors program Continue with PD A prerequisite test Should be more selective and easier to kick students out if necessary. Well behaved does not mean honors material. Also, honors/AP teachers need extra planning time!!!! It's unfair to expect us to do extra work for honors but not give us any extra daily planning time. Finally, more applicable PD workshops should be scheduled for us. Teaching Honors requires a depth of knowledge for the material that is not covered in Parcc, Google or Smartboard workshops we are forced to attend. There should be a process for which students can apply for honors classes. I do not feel that I need any PD for teaching honors/AP classes.

Recommendations n o i t a ific Cu rric ulu nt Ide s e ic o r P am r g & v r Se Ed uc ato m rs

Identification • Create entrance criteria that involves a formal, ongoing K -12 identification process that includes multiple measures, including but not limited to, achievement test scores, grades, student performance or products, intelligence testing, parent, student and/or teacher recommendation, and other appropriate measures. • Ensure that the identification methodology used is developmentally appropriate, non-discriminatory, and related to the programs and services offered (e. g. , use math achievement to identify students for a math program).

Program and Services • Provide children in grades K-5 more than once a week enrichment for half the year or pull out G&T once a week all year. Ability grouping or hiring more staff will help meet the goal. • Explore alternate ways to provide differentiated electives and content courses for students.

Curriculum • Develop and implement a comprehensive K-12 gifted and talented program for students. The rules require that we develop appropriate curricular and instructional modifications for gifted students. Programs must address appropriate content, process, products, and learning environment. • Ridgefield School District shall take into consideration the Pre. K-Grade 12 Gifted Program Standards of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) in developing programs for gifted and talented students. The NAGC standards establish requisite and exemplary gifted program standards.

Curriculum • Ensure vertical articulation from grade to provide continuum of learning experiences that build upon one another each year.

Program and Services • Create written description of the services to be provided at each grade level such as compacted curriculum and problem based learning to meet the gifted and talented student’s need. • Create school level committees that will work on the identification process and programs to ensure student growth. • Continue the districtwide Gifted and Talented committee to review the district services for gifted students.

Program and Services - Parents • Develop and implement a comprehensive K-12 parent collaboration and support program. • Market the opportunities at RMHS and share graduate successes to help retain top students.

Program and Services - Students • Provide differentiated career guidance for gifted students. (fieldtrips, independent study projects, mentors, speakers) • Provide mentorship program with the top 10% at RMHS and 10% at Slocum to help retain more students.

Program and Services - Students • Provide differentiated career guidance for gifted students. (fieldtrips, independent study projects, mentors, speakers) • Provide mentorship program with the top 10% at RMHS and 10% at Slocum to help retain more students.

Educators • Provide professional development to help the teachers learn evidence-based instructional strategies. • Provide professional development to help the teachers design appropriate learning experiences. • Provide professional development in the identification process and ways to support the gifted student.

Provide quality educational services to all students.