Instructional Decision Making for Students in Advanced Proficiency

1. Instructional Decision Makingfor Students inAdvanced Proficiency Day 1

2. Activating Thinking • Mindstreaming • What is one question you have about IDM for Advanced Proficiency and what experiences have led you to that question? • What do you hope to learn today or why are you here?

3. Participants will… Identify the characteristics of a gifted reader Understand how the gifted brain learns differently Understand the difference between grade level and district core Teams will… Learn and discuss best practices and strategies for serving advanced proficiency readers Connect new learning to existing knowledge about IDM Determine levels of consensus about advanced proficiency readers Outcomes

4. Terminology • Advanced Proficiency • Advanced • Gifted • High Ability

6. Summarizing The high achiever , while the gifted learner. In contrast, the creative thinker . These distinctions are helpful because .

7. It’s Not About the Label

8. IMPLEMENTATION CONSENSUS INFRASTRUCTURE Three Phases Three Phases • Consensus Building (Commitment) • Infrastructure Development • Implementation

9. CONSENSUS INFRASTRUCTURE CONSENSUS IMPLEMENTATION CONSENSUS INFRASTRUCTURE Consensus Building is Integral

10. A Sense of Urgency • Fordham Study • While the nation’s lowest-achieving youngsters made rapid gains from 2000 to 2007, the performance of top students was languid.

11. The accountability association • The pattern—big gains for low achievers and lesser ones for high achievers—is associated with the introduction of accountability systems in general, not just NCLB.

12. Struggling students command attention… • Teachers are much more likely to indicate that struggling students, not advanced students, are their top priority.

13. Low-achieving students receive dramatically more attention from teachers.

14. …but that doesn’t reflect teachers’ own views • Teachers believe that all students deserve their fair share of attention.

15. A Sense of Urgency • Average 1st grade classroom • As many as 12 grade equivalencies • IQ range of up to 80 points • 5th grade teacher reports • 30 students • Reading levels from 1.6 - 12.8 • 12 gifted students Cleaver, 2008

16. Questions to Consider… • Does Core alone provide the right level of challenge for the student? • Is the Core sufficiently challenging to elicit advanced performance? • What opportunities for pre-assessment do we offer? • What’s the difference between a student who scores at the lower end of advanced proficiency and the student who “ceilings out” on the test? • Why give above level assessments?

17. Definition of Instructional Decision Making (IDM) A set of systems and strategies designed to increase the capacity of schools to educate all students and increase student achievement and behavioral success.

18. Build Self Esteem The surest path to positive self esteem is to succeed at something which one perceived would be difficult. Each time we steal a student’s struggle, we steal the opportunity for them to build self-confidence. They must learn to do hard things to feel good about themselves. --Sylvia Rimm

20. This is where learning occurs. Kids should be here 80% of the time. Zone Of Proximal Development TASK COMPLEXITY CONTINUUM Totally independent functioning Student succeeds with adult support Task complexity prevents success ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT

21. Too Easy I get it right away I already know This is a cinch I’m sure to make an A I’m coasting I feel relaxed I’m bored No big effort necessary On Target I know some things I have to think I have to work I have to persist I hit some walls I’m on my toes I have to re-group I feel challenged Effort leads to success WHAT ZONE AM I IN? • Too Hard • I don’t know where to start • I can’t figure it out • I’m spinning my wheels • I’m missing key skills • I feel frustrated • I feel angry • This makes no sense • Effort doesn’t pay off Tomlinson

22. Increase Motivation Two motivational states interfere with learning. One is anxiety; the other is boredom. Anxiety occurs when teachers expect too much, boredom when they expect too little. Mihaly Csikezentmihalyi Talented Teenagers

23. Novel To Routine From infancy on, high IQ individuals • are attracted to novelty • habituate rapidly • return to novelty seeking Results in large foundation of factual knowledge

24. Novel To Routine Gifted--transition from novel to routine accomplished in less time with fewer exposures Sousa, 2003

25. The Gifted Brain… • Fires faster, more frequently, and with greater intensity. • Is changed as a result of more dendritic connections compared to age peers. --B. Clark, 2003

26. disequilibrium new information accommodations in existing structures Piaget’s Model equilibrium equilibrium assimilation File information into existing categories Making room for information - change category or create new

27. Thinking Skills • Gifted kids have same range of strategies as others. • Choose more sophisticated strategy or more complex version of strategy only in the face of significant challenge. • Skill develops only when the challenge is present.

28. Problem Solving Gifted kids are… • more aware of problem solving strategies • more likely to switch strategies • likely to invent a strategy when the going gets tough

29. Metacognition • Gifted kids aren’t consistently better at metacognition • Simple content doesn’t require planning, monitoring, or evaluating thought processes (fix-up strategies) • Challenging content necessitates practicing metacognitive skills • Metacognition predicts school success better than IQ

30. IDM Guiding Principles Carousel Brainstorming • Number off by 7s. • Report to appropriate chart • Brainstorm responses to each principle from perspective of advanced proficiency • Move to the next chart

31. CORE for Students in the Advanced Proficiency Range

32. Framework Questions Core Related Questions 1. Is our core cycle sufficient? 2. If the core is not sufficient, why not? 3. How will needs identified in core be addressed? 4. How will the sufficiency and effectiveness of the core cycle be monitored over time? Have improvements to the core been effective? 6. For which students is the core cycle sufficient and not sufficient, and why? 7. What specific supplemental and intensive instruction/curriculum is needed? 8. How will specific supplemental and intensive cycles be implemented? 9. How will the effectiveness of supplemental and intensive cycles be monitored? 10. Which students need to move to a different cycle?

33. What is “sufficient”? Being as much as is needed.

34. For Advanced Proficiency… meager scant inadequate

35. For Once… It’s NOT about you!! Until… You know the needs of the student.

36. Advanced Readers

37. Scaffolding • Hear about gifted readers • Read about and discuss characteristics of gifted readers • Identify characteristics of gifted readers which apply to your students • Relate to your teaching (How does it affect me?)

38. Gifted readers may be in jeopardy of losing sight of schools as places to find wonderful books because they are held back from finding and interacting with materials that are appropriate for them. --Brown and Rogan (1983)

39. Characteristics • Think-Ink-Pair-Share • What are the characteristics of advanced readers?

40. Understands the nuances of language Uses multiple strategies to create meaning May focus on a single strategy Reads beyond their chronological age Enjoys reading a wide variety of material Is voracious Looks at books to solve problems Wants to choose books Has a wonderful vocabulary Reads quickly Relates literature to their own lives May be an insightful reader An Advanced Reader… Richards, 2007

41. Who Are Talented Readers? Mason and Au (1990) defined gifted readers as children who have exceptional reading ability and the capacity to understand text information well above what would be expected of a person for that age.

42. Advanced readers have been described as avid, voracious readers who read differently for different reading purposes (Kaplan, 1999). • Advanced readers are…students with extensive vocabularies who read two or more years above grade level (Bonds & Bonds, 1983; Levande,1999; Vacca, Vacca, & Grove, 1991).

43. The ability to retain a large quantity of information. Advanced comprehension. Varied interest and curiosity. High levels of language development. High levels of verbal ability. Unusual capacity to process information. Process thoughts at an accelerated pace. The ability to synthesize ideas in a comprehensive way. Ability to see unusual relationships and integrate ideas (p. 57) Language Related Abilities Clark, 2002

44. Talented Readers… …are able to understand the complexities of language. …automatically integrate prior knowledge and experience into their reading; utilize higher order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation; and communicate these ideas. (Catron & Wingenbach, 1986) …have developed a large repertoire of skills that they automatically employ in order to create meaning.

45. Anchor Activity • Discuss ways to share this information with your building staff. • What do they need to know and understand? • How might they engage with and apply the information? • Revisit Principles charts • Add or revise language

46. Processing • What was helpful about this activity? • What surprised you about the information you encountered? • Would these articles and this activity benefit your staff? • What would be your next steps?

47. Make it Personal • Read through checklists for strong and gifted readers. • What is similar between the lists? How are the lists helpful in distinguishing between strong and gifted readers? • Pick a couple of outstanding readers in your class. Apply the lists. Does it make sense? • How could you use these lists to help you better serve kids?

48. Consider… • What other data sources could give you information about advanced/gifted readers in your classroom?

49. Think about it… Given this information… • Who are the students you need to consider? • What are the implications for your work?

50. Where do we go… …in the District Core to match the challenge to the child?