Gifted Education Program Design and Administration

1. Gifted Education Program Design and Administration Dr. Barbara L. Branch Branch Consulting

2. Objectives • Day 1 • Rationale for providing gifted education: Eight Gripes & Advantages • Statistical Rationale • Rights of the Gifted Child • Myths and Realities • State Law, Federal Law • NCLB Assignment • Day 2 • NCLB Reports • Budgets • Intelligence • Identification • Program Options • Cluster grouping activity

3. Rationale for Providing Gifted Services

4. Gripes and Advantages • Divide a paper in half with a line down the middle. • Write Gripes over the left column and Advantages over the right column. • List what you think gifted students would say are their gripes and what are the advantages to being identified gifted. • Share your list with the class. • Compare your list to the following list from When Gifted Kids don't have all the answers, by Jim Delisle & Judy Galbraith

5. 8 Gripes of Gifted Students • No one explains what being gifted is all about - it's keep a big secret. • School is too easy and too boring • Parents, teachers, and friends expect us to be perfect all the time. • Friends who really understand us are few and far between.

6. 8 Gripes of Gifted Students • Kids often tease us about being smart. • We feel overwhelmed by the number of things we can do in life. • We feel different and alienated. • We worry about world problems and feel helpless to do anything about them.

7. Advantages of being gifted • "I'm happy I'm smart because I love to get good grades and know what the answers are." Sushi Man, 5th grade • "I always am happy with my condition. I can help other people and help the world. I can get smarter at the things I love most and usually do them well." Soaring Paperclip, 5th grade • "I enjoy being smart because I am able to accomplish many things and I feel that being smart gives me more self-esteem." Crystal, 5th grade • "I like being smart because then you have a bigger array of stuff to try and do." Stewart, 5th grade

8. Advantages of being gifted • "I love that I have unique interests and a place (class) in school where I can pursue them. I enjoy challenging myself to always reach the next level." Amelia, 7th grade • "Having a great ability at something gives me the joy of immersing myself in working on that area." Michelle, 7th grade • "I like to have more challenges and I like to have my work done on time." Bubba, 5th grade • "Being gifted is great when the school meets me where I'm at academically. I love being challenged in my advanced classes." Wendy, 7th grade

9. Advantages of being gifted • "I'm happy being smart because I can always help my friends. You can solve problems easier. There are more chances to challenge yourself."Ailie, 7th grade • "I just learn differently, and I'm okay with that."Cural, 5th grade • "I am happy that I can achieve what is set in front of me. I strive to beat the challenge."Sawzall, 11th grade • "I think I have found a lot of less-known things interesting, causing me to have a very diverse set of life experiences. Because of that, I have a very different thought process than most people."Scribblenaut, 12th grade

10. Advantages of being gifted • "Usually I'm glad to be somewhat intelligent in a world filled with stupidity and enjoyment of lame humor. It makes decisions in life much easier because I have enough knowledge and understanding to stay away from drugs and alcohol and focus my time into my studies." Jane, 12th grade • "I'm glad that I am smart because I enjoy being able to write, read, and speak with a greater intellectual level. It also allows me to have a better grasp on whatever I am going over, whether in or out of school (i.e. our current History unit on the Civil War or Malcolm Gladwell's latest book)."Stewie, 11th grade

11. Advantages of being gifted • "I sometimes enjoy feeling smarter than the others and I feel like all that I have worked for in the past has paid off. And I'm thankful that there is a class where I can (humbly) exercise my abilities and be surrounded by others who have the same talents, a class where I won't feel different from other kids." Olive, 9th grade • "I like that I can 'see through' the motives of the so-called cool crowd." Puff the Magic Dragon, 5th grade

12. Why Should Gifted Students Be Supported? • “Gifted and talented” is not always viewed very positively • Isn’t it elitist? Offends our egalitarian sensibilities • Democracy butts heads with intellectualism • Does superior intellect make us uncomfortable?

13. Why Should Gifted Students Be Supported? • Doesn’t it stigmatize kids or label kids? • Is it fair to other students? • Isn’t it just kids who get more field trips and special treatment like after-school programs?

14. Why Should Gifted Students Be Supported? Numerous studies confirm a sad finding: • Gifted students in the US have little good to say about their schooling. • Are usually bored and unengaged in school • Tend to be highly critical of their teachers • Are asked to learn independently too often. Ellen Winner

15. Rationale for Providing Gifted Services Every child has a right to a free and appropriate public education at his or her level All youngsters need appropriate peers and friends If improperly nurtured and educated, gifted youngsters can become a powerful negative force in society Dr. Victoria Gardner Placker, B.A.Ed., M.S., R.Sc.P., Rs.D. http://www.angelfire.com/ne/cre8vityunltd/futrgifted.html

16. Rationale for Providing Gifted Services 24% of drop outs are gifted 50% of the prisoners on death row in Oregon and Washington have IQ's over 130 Think of the havoc wrecked upon our society by Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and Ted Kaczynski. Dr. Victoria Gardner Placker, B.A.Ed., M.S., R.Sc.P., Rs.D. http://www.angelfire.com/ne/cre8vityunltd/futrgifted.html

17. Rationale for Providing Gifted Services Gifted children have specific behavioral characteristics in the cognitive and affective realms that present special learning needs that must be addressed by curriculum differentiation Van Tassel-Baska, 1998

18. Why our Nation Needs to Educate our Gifted and Talented Youth • About one-third of all jobs in the United States require science or technology competency, but currently only 17 percent of Americans graduate with science or technology majors … in China, fully 52 percent of college degrees awarded are in science and technology. (William R. Brody, president of Johns Hopkins University, Congressional testimony 7/05)

19. Why our Nation Needs to Educate our Gifted and Talented Youth • In the fourth grade, U.S. students score above the international average in math and near first in science. At eighth grade, they score below average in math, and only slightly above average in science. By 12th grade, U.S. students are near the bottom of a 49-country survey in both math and science, outscoring only Cyprus and South Africa. • Less than 15 percent of U.S. students have the prerequisites even to pursue scientific or technical degrees in college. (William R. Brody, president of Johns Hopkins University, Congressional testimony 7/05)

20. Why our Nation Needs to Educate our Gifted and Talented Youth • U.S. mathematics and science K-12 education ranks 48th worldwide • 49% of U.S. adults don't know how long it takes for the Earth to circle the sun • China has replaced the United States as the world's top high-technology exporter http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-09-23-science-education_N.htm?csp=34news

21. Why our Nation Needs to Educate our Gifted and Talented Youth • "The real point is that we have to have a well-educated workforce to create opportunities for young people," says Charles Vest, head of the National Academy of Engineering, a report sponsor. "Otherwise, we don't have a chance.“ • "The current economic crisis makes the link between education and employment very clear," says Steven Newton of the National Center for Science Education in Oakland. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-09-23-science-education_N.htm?csp=34news

22. Why our Nation Needs to Educate our Gifted and Talented Youth 88% of high school dropouts had passing grades, but dropped out due to boredom (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: “The Silent Epidemic” 3/06)

23. Rationale for Providing Gifted Services We need gifted people to deal with our world's problems, and they need to be appropriately educated and emotionally healthy to do so! Our future depends on them! Dr. Victoria Gardner Placker, B.A.Ed., M.S., R.Sc.P., Rs.D. http://www.angelfire.com/ne/cre8vityunltd/futrgifted.html

24. Statistical Rationale

25. Sac City Data

26. Sac City Data Sacramento City Unified School District

27. Questions to Ask of Your Data • Who are the students in proficient or below by name. • Why aren’t they in advanced? • Do they have challenging curriculum in each grade level? • How many gifted students are not in honors or AP? Why not? www.cde.ca.gov/ds

28. First Writing Prepare a 2-3 minute talk to give to the school board to encourage support for gifted education in your district. Use the information you have collected and shared, the first two articles, and your own thoughts.

29. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child

30. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child Read and discuss with your neighbor. Do you agree with all of the declarations?   Dr. Barbara Clark, Growing Up Gifted, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997eighbor.

31. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child It is the right of a gifted child to engage in appropriate educational experiences even when other children of that grade level or age are unable to profit from the experience. Dr. Barbara Clark, Growing Up Gifted, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997

32. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child It is the right of a gifted child to be grouped and to interact with other gifted children for some part of their learning experience so that they may be understood, engaged, and challenged. Dr. Barbara Clark, Growing Up Gifted, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997

33. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child It is the right of a gifted child to be taught rather than to be used as a tutor or teaching assistant for a significant part of the school day. Dr. Barbara Clark, Growing Up Gifted, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997

34. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child It is the right of a gifted child to be presented with new, advanced, and challenging ideas and concepts regardless of the material and resources that have been designated for the age group or grade level in which the child was placed. Dr. Barbara Clark, Growing Up Gifted, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997

35. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child It is the right of a gifted child to be taught concepts that the child does not yet know instead of relearning old concepts that the child has already shown evidence of mastering. Dr. Barbara Clark, Growing Up Gifted, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997

36. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child It is the right of a gifted child to learn faster than age peers and to have that pace of learning respected and provided for. It is the right of a gifted child to think in alternative ways, produce diverse products, and to bring intuition and innovation to the learning experience. Dr. Barbara Clark, Growing Up Gifted, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997

37. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child It is the right of a gifted child to be idealistic and sensitive to fairness, justice, accuracy and the global problems facing humankind and to have a forum for expressing these concerns. Dr. Barbara Clark, Growing Up Gifted, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997

38. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child It is the right of a gifted child to question generalizations, offer alternative solutions, and value complex and profound levels of thought. It is the right of a gifted child to be intense, persistent, and goal-directed in the pursuit of knowledge. Dr. Barbara Clark, Growing Up Gifted, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997

39. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child It is the right of a gifted child to express a sense of humor that is unusual, playful, and often complex. Dr. Barbara Clark, Growing Up Gifted, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997

40. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child It is the right of a gifted child to hold high expectations for self and others and to be sensitive to inconsistencies between ideals and behavior, with the need to have help in seeing the value in human differences. Dr. Barbara Clark, Growing Up Gifted, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997

41. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child It is the right of a gifted child to be a high achiever in some areas of the curriculum and not in others, making thoughtful knowledgeable academic placement a necessity. Dr. Barbara Clark, Growing Up Gifted, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997

42. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child It is the right of a gifted child to have a low tolerance for the lag between vision and actualization, between personal standards and developed skill, and between physical maturity and athletic ability. Dr. Barbara Clark, Growing Up Gifted, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997

43. A Declaration of the Educational Rights of the Gifted Child It is the right of a gifted child to pursue interests that are beyond the ability of age peers, are outside the grade level curriculum, or involve areas as yet unexplored or unknown. Dr. Barbara Clark, Growing Up Gifted, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997

44. Myths and Realities

45. Activity Complete Distinguishing Myths from Realities Quiz with at least one partner – discuss each before you decide what to answer

46. Cooperative learning can be substituted for specialized programs and services for academically talented students • Gifted students have lower self-esteem than non-gifted students • Gifted children can get a good education on their own Myths

47. Dependent Independent Zone of Proximal Development • The gap between what a learner can accomplish independently and what a learner cannot do, even with assistance. Too Hard Just Right Too Easy

48. Dependent Dependent Dependent Independent Dependent Independent Independent Independent Independent Independent Zone of Proximal Development Gifted Child High-achiever Average Children

49. Myths • Gifted students are a homogeneous group, all high achievers. • Gifted students do not need help. If they are really gifted, they can manage on their own. • Gifted students have fewer problems than others because their intelligence and abilities somehow exempt them from the hassles of daily life.

50. Myths • The future of a gifted student is assured: a world of opportunities lies before the student. • Gifted students are self-directed; they know where they are heading.