Key Essentials of Curriculum Development for the Gifted

Key Essentials of Curriculum Development for the Gifted Joyce Van Tassel-Baska, Ed.D. College of William and Mary Indiana High Ability Project July 11-15, 2011

CURRICULUM DESIGN ELEMENTS 1LearnerCharacteristics & Needs 2Curriculum Goals 8Evaluation of Curriculum/Revision 7 Assessment of Outcomes 3Outcomes/Obje ctives 6Materials & Resources 4Activities/Task Demands/Questions 5Teaching-Learning Strategies

Sample curriculum goal: • To develop critical thinking • Sample outcomes and objectives • Analyze different points of view on a given issue • Draw appropriate inferences, given a set of data • Forecast consequences and implications of a given decision or action Center for Gifted Education The College of William and Mary

Sample Activities • Read Moliere’s The Misanthrope and discuss the following • questions: • What characterizes a misanthrope? • How does Moliere satirize the character? • How is this play similar to others by Moliere? *************************************************** Create a montage of visual images that represent a selected book you have read and describe the rationale for your choices. ******************************************************* Write an essay, arguing for or against open immigration policy. Use the model for developing persuasive argument as a guide. ********************************************************* Debate the issue: Should books only be available technologically?

Sample Outcome and Assessment Outcome: Students will be able to analyze different points of view on a given topic or issue. Assessment: (Controlled setting response: 50 minutes) Given the issue of human cloning, identify three different stakeholder groups in society who would have different perspectives on this issue; analyze each of their perspectives and the reasons behind it in a well-developed essay.

Student Outcomes related to NAGC Curriculum Standards • Demonstrate growth commensurate with aptitude during the school year. • Develop their abilities in their domain of talent and/or area of interest • Use critical and creative thinking in solving problems within their talent domain

Student outcomes cont. • Transfer advanced knowledge and skills across environments that lead to creative, productive careers in society • Become more self aware from their engagement in curriculum and evidence-based instructional practices • Believe in their ability (i.e. self efficacy)

NAGC Curriculum Standards Elements • Alignment with relevant content standards • Comprehensive scope and sequence of opportunities in all curriculum areas • Use of acceleration techniques, including preassessment, formative assessment, and pacing • Use of differentiation strategies

NAGC Standards Elements cont. • Adaptation or replacement of the core curriculum • Use of culturally sensitive curriculum approaches leading to cultural competence • Use of inquiry-based strategies • Use of research-based materials • Use of strategies that teach critical and creative thinking, research, and problem-solving skills

NAGC Standards Elements cont. • Use of information technologies • Use of metacognitive strategies • Use of community resources • Career development • Talent development in areas of aptitude and interest in various domains (cognitive, affective, aesthetic)

What is Differentiation for the gifted? The process of differentiation is the deliberate adaptation and modification of the curriculum, instructional processes, and assessments to respond to the needs of gifted learners.

What is Appropriate Curriculum for the Gifted? • Advanced and accelerated • Complex • In depth • Challenging • Creative • Conceptual

What are appropriate instructional models? • Inquiry (shared, PBL, project-based) • Critical thinking (Bloom, Paul) • Creative thinking (CPS, SCAMPER) • Problem-solving (scientific method, PBL) • Research (experimental design, social science models)

Differentiation Feature: Acceleration • Fewer tasks assigned to master standard • Assessed earlier or prior to teaching • Clustered by higher order thinking skills Center for Gifted Education – School of Education – The College of William and Mary

Example of differentiated task • Phase I • Pretest student knowledge and skills of grammar and usage. • Group students by results of the pretest in groups of 4. Provide streamlined instruction and/or self-study. • Provide task demands for the top group, using a problem solving approach.

Phase II Assignment of task demand to the top group: Use your understanding of grammar and usage to write a two page informational paper on a topic of interest. Analyze the structure of your paper by diagramming sentences and explaining three principles of usage.

Phase III • Follow-up questions to consider: • How does the structure of language influence meaning? • What would happen if you were required to use only certain grammatical principles: imperative sentences, prepositional phrases, adjectives and adverbs? How would it affect communication? • What factors would influence it?

Differentiation Feature: Complexity • Used multiple higher level skills • Added more variables to study • Required multiple resources Center for Gifted Education – School of Education – The College of William and Mary

Example of differentiated task • Analyze the social, political, and economic issues that influenced three ancient civilizations: Egyptian, Greek, and Roman. Synthesize their influence on each culture and evaluate how each issue contributed to the decline of each culture. Use at least 3 sources (one primary) to substantiate your claims in a 6-page research paper.

Differentiation Feature:Depth • Studied a concept in multiple applications • Conducted original research • Developed a product Center for Gifted Education – School of Education – The College of William and Mary

Example of differentiated task • How does the concept of systems help us understand language structures? • How does the concept of change help us understand the process of writing? • How does the concept of patterns help us understand literary structures and genres? Choose one question and conduct a research study on it, culminating in an informational tool for use with high school students.

Differentiation Feature: Challenge • Advanced resources employed • Sophisticated content stimuli used • Cross-disciplinary applications made • Reasoning made explicit Center for Gifted Education – School of Education – The College of William and Mary

Example of differentiated task • Read selected works by 3 Nobel prize winners in literature and research how the theme of (wo)man’s inhumanity to (wo)man is used How can this theme be applied to art of the period, to world political upheavals, and to social injustice in the writer’s country of origin? What evidence exists to show how the author was influenced by these cultural connections?

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 Center for Gifted Education – School of Education – The College of William and Mary

Example of differentiation • Design an art product (your choice of a vase, a painting, or a collage of found objects) to demonstrate your understanding of the elements of color, balance, perspective, and theme. Write an artist’s statement about your art object that synthesizes its features and situates it in an artistic tradition. • Locate literary examples from the same tradition and compare the elements to those of the art piece. • How are art forms similar to each other? How different?

Differentiation feature: Abstraction • Organize curriculum by abstract concepts, linked to specific topics • Focus student work on creating generalizations, based on data • Focus on themes, archetypal problems, axioms, theorems, laws, etc. rather than specific applications

Examples of differentiation Analyze the theme of “power” in three pieces of literature and in three visual art pieces. Compare and contrast how the theme is explicated in each piece.

Design Matters

Key Essentials of Curriculum Development for the Gifted