Los Angeles Unified School District Office of Curriculum, Instruction, and School Support

1. Los Angeles Unified School DistrictOffice of Curriculum, Instruction, and School Support Gifted/Talented Programs Opening Meeting Overview and Planning for GATE/SAS Coordinators 2012-2013

2. Contact Information District Coordinator LaRoyce Bell District Specialists Catherine Estrada Dr. Lucy Hunt Erin Yoshida-Ehrmann District Specialist Wynne Wong-Cheng Psychological Services Phone: (213) 241-6500 Fax: (213) 241-8975 333 S. Beaudry Ave., 25th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90017 www.lausd.net/gate www.facebook.com/LAUSDGATE twitter.com/LAUSDGATE

3. Gifted/Talented Programs Goal To identifygifted and talented students, including those from diverse racial, socioeconomic, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds, and provide high-quality differentiated opportunitiesfor learning that meet students’ particular abilities and talents. California Department of Education (CDE)

4. It’s All About Differentiation! Differentiated instruction occurs when the standards-based core curriculum is modified and includes these non-negotiables: Acceleration (pacing) Depth Complexity Novelty Expectations appropriate to individual assessed interests, needs, abilities, and learning styles

5. How are differentiated instructional needs met? Implementing articulated programs that provide more rigorous standards Organizing classrooms to provide differentiated curriculum as an integrated part of the regular school day Providing differentiated instruction for gifted/talented students that builds on and supplements the core curriculum

6. Clustering Models To adhere to State/District policy, a local school must cluster students in a well-defined way and provide a differentiated program.A cluster is a minimum of 5-8 gifted students per class in elementary and 15-25 gifted students per class in secondary. SAS schools not clustering students will lose their funding. The clustering models are as follows: Model 1: Team-Taught Cluster Consists of two or more teachers working as a team with flexible grouping strategies in core subjects Model 2: Full Day Consists of clusters, can be designated as Honors or AP (on the secondary level), and are composed of 1) identified gifted students, 2) students who are being screened for recommendation, and 3) students who are recommended for continued screening and advanced instruction Model 3: Self-Contained Consists of all identified gifted students with an emphasis on acceleration and continuous progress that is appropriate to individual needs (i.e. highly gifted or individualized honors programs) Model 4: Alternative Program Model Schools with unique circumstances or requirements and cannot meet the clustering options defined in the first three models (subject to approval by the Gifted/Talented Programs office)

7. Model 2 (Full Day) is the MOST COMMON form of clustering found in schools where clusters of identified GATE, potentially gifted, and students currently being screened are grouped together all day.

8. Elementary Clustering Recommendations Clusters should be 5-8 identified gifted students per classroom (students should not be scattered by design or chance); Students being screened for identification may also be included in these classes Students who are identified mid-year must be provided a differentiated curriculum, even if they are not in a “GATE” class

9. SecondaryClustering Recommendations Clusters should be 15-25 identified gifted students per classroom (students should not be scattered by design or chance); Students being screened for identification may also be included in these classes Students who are identified mid-year must be provided a differentiated curriculum, even if they are not in a “GATE” class (or efforts should be made to provide appropriate mid-year placement) Students should be placed in classes that meet their academic needs (i.e. Honors, AP, etc.) as appropriate; A student identified in Specific Academic Ability Math does not necessarily need to be placed in Honors English Classes designated as “Highly Gifted” should be filled as follows: Identified Highly Gifted students* Highly Gifted Applicable students Other identified gifted students as appropriate * The term “Highly Gifted” refers to those students scoring 99.9% on a District psychologist-administered Intellectual assessment

10. FAQ Regarding Cluster Grouping Q.Isn’t “cluster grouping” the same as “tracking”? A. No. In a tracking system, all students are grouped by ability much of the school day, and students tend to remain in the same track throughout their school experience. Gifted students benefit from learning together, and need to be placed with similar students in their areas of strength (Hoover, Sayler, & Fedlhusen, 1993: Kulik and Kulik, 1990; Rogers, 1993). Cluster grouping of gifted students allows them to learn together, while avoiding permanent grouping arrangementsfor students of other ability levels. Winebrenner and Devlin (2001), Cluster Grouping of Gifted Students: How to Provide Full-time Services on a Part-time Budget.

11. Research Synthesized by Dr. Karen Rogers: Dr. Rogers used a “meta-analysis” approach and compiled all published and unpublished studies on specific strategies or practices and calculates the “effect size” (ES) of each study outcome and averaged the effect sizes together. (+.33 would be 3 grade equivalent school months of additional achievement) Dr. Karen Rogers (1991). The Relationship of Grouping Practices to the Education of the Gifted and Talented Learners.

12. Recommended Guidelines for Grouping Gifted/Talented Students from Dr. Karen Rogers • Gifted and talented students should spend the majority of their school day with others of similar abilities and interests • Cluster grouping of a small number of students within an otherwise heterogeneously grouped classroom can be considered • Gifted and talented students might be offered specific group instruction across grade levels • Gifted and talented students should be given experiences involving a variety of appropriate acceleration-based options • Gifted and talented students should be given experiences which involve various forms of enrichment • Mixed-ability cooperative learning should be used sparingly for gifted and talented students, perhaps only for social skills development programs