Encinitas Union School District

1. Encinitas Union School District GATE Parent Informational Meeting 2007-08

2. What We Will Review • Who are the Gifted Students? • Encinitas Philosophy and Approach • The Work that has been done to date • Encinitas Plan for Gifted Education • What’s new in Gifted Education in EUSD • Questions Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

3. Characteristics • Precocious – wise beyond years in certain areas but immature in others • Asynchronous Development • Intense – about issues of interest • Sensitive • Thrive on complexity – enjoy ambiguity, question authority, note inconsistencies • Multipotentiality – varied interests and abilities making it difficult to select careers • Perfectionistic • Large Vocabulary (environment) Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

4. Gifted Elementary Students • Wide variety of interest (in depth/flitting) • Advanced sense of humor • Highly verbal on subjects of interest • Learn quickly with little practice • Resist details and long assignments • Prefer their work instead of teacher work • Thrive on complexity and problem-solving Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

5. Gifted Elementary Students • Prefer to work alone; play with one or two friends • Long attention span on favorite subjects • Strong sense of justice (tattle, fair, emotional) • Love to experiment with ideas/methods • Creative and nonconforming Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

6. Gifted Adolescents • May lack needed study skills and organization • May find little new to learn in school or be frustrated with the “rote or mundane” • May appear to slow down in learning • May need to deal with the realities of being younger than preferred peers • Feel pressure to perform or “do great things” • Girls struggle with femininity v. smart • Desire acceptance more than smarts Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

7. Fact v. Fiction: What Do You Think? • Gifted students will make it on their own, with or without differentiated instruction. • Gifted students are at a greater risk for underachievement. • Gifted students are most likely to be the straight “A” students or high achievers in the school. • Gifted students typically know 35-50% of the curriculum before they get to class. • The social and emotional development of the gifted student is at the same level as his or her intellectual development. • Gifted students are a homogeneous group. Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

8. Philosophy • In keeping with our belief that all children should be challenged to meet their full potential, Encinitas Union School District commits to serving those students who have the potential to be gifted and talented in the full range of academic pursuits regardless of their linguistic, racial, ethnic, cultural, or socioeconomic subgroup. • We recognize that gifted students possess unique abilities and talents as individual as each student. The District’s GATE services are designed to meet those individual needs and encourage intellectual, social and emotional development. Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

9. Philosophy (cont.) • The Encinitas Union School District supports the National Association of Gifted Children‘s definition of gifted and talented students as, “Children and youth with outstanding talent who perform or show the potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment.” We believe that gifted students will learn best when they have well-trained teachers who fully understand the affective and academic needs of gifted students and are provided high quality differentiated curriculum which extends student learning. All students, regardless of their school, must be provided equal access to trained teachers and the differentiated curriculum. Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

10. Encinitas Goal Statement • It is the district’s goal to provide equitable, high quality differentiated learning opportunities that are both rigorous and engaging so that our GATE identified students reach their full affective and academic potential. Once identified, we feel it is our responsibility to provide students with the necessary support and high quality differentiatedlearning opportunities, that exhibit acceleration, complexity, challenge, depth, and creativity, enabling each student to fully develop his/her unique individual potential. Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

11. Differentiation Features • Acceleration • Complexity • Depth • Challenge • Creativity Center for Gifted Education The College of William and Mary Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

12. Differentiation Feature: Acceleration • Fewer tasks assigned to master standard • Assessed earlier or prior to teaching • Clustered by higher order thinking skills Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

13. Implement a math curriculum objective for the gifted by… Multiplying by 1 digit Multiplying by 2 digits Multiplying by 3 digits Complete word problems using multiplication Implement a math curriculum objective for the gifted by… Computational procedures as a tool for problem solving Using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to solve multi-step problems Differentiation Examples: Acceleration Center for Gifted Education The College of William and Mary Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

14. Differentiation Feature: Complexity • Used multiple higher level skills • Added more variables to study • Required multiple resources Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

15. Read Animal Farm and discuss the novel’s symbolism. Write an essay analyzing how the symbolism communicates central themes of the novel. Read Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies and compare and contrast how the novels reflect the concept of power. Write a persuasive essay arguing which of the novels communicates the concept more effectively and why. Differentiation Examples: Complexity Center for Gifted Education The College of William and Mary Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

16. Differentiation Feature: Depth • Studied a concept in multiple applications • Conducted original research • Developed a product Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

17. Choose one of the following topics and prepare an oral presentation using at least four library sources: -Shakespeare’s World -The American Dream -The Role of Science Fiction in Literature Debate one of the following resolutions. -Mankind is on a path toward human progress -Studying our past will help us cope with the future. Use multiple sources including surveys, interview, and library sources in your preparation. Differentiation Example: Depth Center for Gifted Education The College of William and Mary Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

18. Differentiation Feature: Challenge • Advanced resources employed • Sophisticated content stimuli used • Cross-disciplinary applications made • Reasoning made explicit Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

19. Joe invested $1,000 in stock in January. When he sold it in December, the price was up 12% from his purchase price. What was his profit on this stock? Which would you rather choose? a) 80% profit in year 1 and 50% loss in year 2. b) 5% profit in year 1 and 5% profit in year 2. Explain your reasoning. Differentiation Examples: Challenge Center for Gifted Education The College of William and Mary Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

20. Differentiation Feature: Creativity • Designed/constructed a model based on principles or criteria • Provided alternatives for tasks, products, and assessments • Emphasized oral and written communication to a real-world audience Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

21. Conduct an experiment on plant growth by measuring weekly progress of two sets of seeds, one in artificial light indoors and one outside in shade. Design an experiment on one of the following questions and share your results in an oral and written presentation: Are bees attracted to diet cola? Are earthworms attracted to light? Are boys more interested in computers than girls? Your own question Differentiation Examples: Creativity Center for Gifted Education The College of William and Mary Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

22. Accelerate: Then Enrich • Enrichment • Moving beyond, enhancing, modifying, or adding to the curriculum – usually at a similar level of complexity but more knowledge or breadth • Extension of the regular curriculum • Acceleration • Reduce the known material, complete at a faster pace, buy time for early entrance to college or more advanced work or independent study/practicum • Increase the complexity, depth, abstractness of learning to include that which is typically expected of older students Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

23. A Nation Deceived: Meta-Analytic Findings on Acceleration • Bright students almost always benefit from accelerated programs based on achievement test scores. • When compared to same-age, intellectual peers, those students who were accelerated performed almost one grade level higher academically. • When compared to older, non-accelerated students, the accelerated student performance was indistinguishable from that of bright, older non-accelerated students. Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

24. How EUSD GATE Work Started • Target established as part of our Strategic Planning Process • Summer Institute at the Center for Gifted Education, College of William and Mary • Differentiation Task Force - August 2006 • Session at Management Retreat with Leadership and Board • Parent Information Nights at all nine schools • Formation of GATE Instructional Improvement Committee (IIC) Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

25. Work of the GATE IIC • New Composition • Intermediate Teacher from each school • Primary Teacher from each school • Parent Representatives • Principal Representatives Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

26. Work of the GATE IIC • Recommendations of the Differentiation Task Force • What can We Do Now! • Surveyed Teachers regarding what they are currently using • Developed list of appropriate resources • Presentation of W&M Pilot by Robyn Litt • Reports back to ILC after each meeting Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

27. Work of the GATE IIC • Identified appropriate support materials to be used district-wide • William and Mary Units • Junior Great Books • Everyday Math • ALEKS and Successmaker • Re-writing GATE Plan Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

28. GATE Plan • Approval by the State for 1, 2 or 3 years • Required to receive state funding • Last plan approved for 2 years • Renewal was due June 15, 2007. Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

29. GATE Plan • 8 Sections • Program Design • Identification • Curriculum and Instruction • Social and Emotional • Professional Development • Parent and Community Involvement • Program Assessment • Budgets Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

30. GATE Plan • What’s new to our plan • Program Design • Include Primary as well as Intermediate Students • Identification Process • No longer using the “Advancing Learner” Label • Pilot new tools, revise process to align with research • New process to be “phased in” Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

31. Identification Currently • End of 3rd grade beginning of 4th • Based upon STAR and RAVEN Tests • STAR results reviewed each spring New Program • Look at multiple, research-based criteria • Content areas • More than one assessment Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

32. GATE Plan • What’s new to our plan (cont.) • Curriculum and Instruction • Include the Features of Differentiated Curriculum for Gifted Learners • Acceleration • Specific Components across the district • Social and Emotional • Specific Training on needs of gifted students Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

33. Curriculum • Acceleration in Math • Going to a classroom of the next grade level • Learning advanced, accelerated math in their own classroom, individually, or in a small group • Differentiation in Language Arts • Flexible leveled groups for reading • Jr. Great Books • William and Mary Units Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

34. GATE Plan • What’s new to our plan (cont.) • Professional Development • Management Retreat • Summer Institute Offerings • GATE Certification Cohort • Parent and Community Involvement • Parent Representatives on GATE IIC • Improved Communication • Program Assessment • Data on student progress • Focus Groups at School Sites Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

35. Next Steps for our District • Professional Development • Principals • GATE Plan • Observation Tools • Identification Process • GATE Cohort • Curriculum Materials Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

36. GATE Certification Cohort • Requirements of participants • Completed application for the GATE Certification Program • Demonstrated commitment to differentiated instruction, acceleration, and the tenets of a high quality gifted program for students • Participation in 2007 Summer Institute (College of William and Mary Differentiating Curriculum for Gifted Learners Strand -Language Arts or Science Section) along with 4 follow-up sessions TBD. • Required participation in monthly meetings Training and use of videoconferencing technologies to expand learning beyond the classroom. • District-funded participation in Annual California Association of Gifted (CAG) Conference • Maintenance of a portfolio for presentation at an end-of-year colloquium. Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

37. GATE Certification Cohort • Components of Professional Development/Areas of Study • Research-based instructional model in collaboration with the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia • Junior Great Books – Inquiry Method • Everyday Math Program Components • Characteristics of gifted students • Features of differentiated instruction for gifted students • Identification of gifted students • Meeting the social/emotional needs of gifted students • Technology resources for gifted students • Parent Education for parents of gifted students Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

38. GATE Certification Cohort • Incentives and Compensation • All supplemental GATE materials and equipment supporting the program will be provided to each teacher accepted into the certification program. • Remuneration in accordance with certificated contract for attendance to all meetings/workshops (outside the work day). • Paid membership in the California Association for the Gifted (CAG) • Subscription to the Gifted Education Communicator • Beginning Fall 2008, a cluster of GATE identified students will be assigned to certified teachers classrooms. • Several instructional and reference books Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

39. Next Steps for our District • Develop and implement new Identification Process • Communication • Web Site • Envoy • Parent Information Nights • PTA/SSC • Brochure Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

40. This is all about change Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” ---JFK Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com

41. Questions Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com