Cluster Program Considerations

1. Cluster Program Considerations A Teacher Perspective May 2014

2. My Perspectives • Self-Contained Highly Capable Teacher • Highly Capable Program Specialist

3. Background for Clustering • Overcrowding in general education classes and space in Highly Capable class • Community desire for equity and access to enrichment and acceleration for students in general education • Acknowledgement of the limitations of the assessment process to identify some students

4. Cluster Models High Cluster General Education Cluster • High achieving general education students are clustered with identified Highly Capable students in a self-contained classroom • 4-8 identified Highly Capable students are clustered in a general education classroom with a teacher specially trained to differentiate in order to meet the individual needs of the students

5. The Classroom Experience • Instructional practices remained the same • Typical adjustments to level of expectation, rigor, and pace • Performance generally met or exceeded those students identified as Highly Capable with scaffolding in some cases • Students fit in socially with the identified students • Clustered students continued in the Honors path

6. Implications • Need to engage families of clustered students, possibly families of identified students • Need to address possible concerns about the self-contained program becoming less rigorous • Consider impact on general education classrooms • Opportunity to provide additional services to students with similar needs at little cost • Increase equity of access for underrepresented populations; add diversity to program • Transformative experience for some students/families