Chapter 7 Objectives

1. Giftedness Chapter 7 Objectives At the end of this presentation you should be able to: • Understand the role of giftedness within special education. • Apply knowledge of Universal Design for Learning to the curriculum and instruction for gifted education. • Recall the behavioral and social characteristics of students identified as gifted or talented. • Reflect on the benefits of collaboration in supporting the education of students identified as gifted or talented. Chapter Objectives

2. Who is Briana Hoskins? • Briana is a 16-year-old girl. • She began showing signs of unique talent at the age of 3. • She is enrolled in a school an hour away so she can receive appropriate services for her gifts. • She tends to be shy and doesn’t like people to know that she is gifted. • Finding an education that challenges her appropriately has been difficult. • She may skip the eighth grade and transition directly into high school; her mother and teachers are currently considering the possible social consequences.

3. How Do You Recognize Students Who Are Gifted? Defining giftedness How Do You Recognize Students Who Are Gifted? • Most states define giftedness based on the definition in the Javits Gifted and Talented Act. • While the definition states that students who are gifted require additional services, IDEA does not require states to provide services. • Theorists have developed conceptual models of giftedness. • Renzulli: three-ring theory • Sternberg and Zhang: pentagonal implicit theory • Gardener: multiple intelligences • Goleman: emotional intelligence Understand the role of giftedness in special education.

4. Jacob Javits Gifted & Talented Act of 1988 • Representation • cultural groups • economic strata • areas of human endeavor • Supports the development of gifted and talented students in the United States • Reauthorized as Title V, Part D, Subpart 6 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 • Reauthorizes the U.S. Department of Education • fund grants • provide leadership • sponsor a national research center

5. Purpose of Javits Act • Initiate a coordinated program for Gifted and Talented students • scientifically based research • demonstration projects • innovative strategies • Designed to build and enhance public education • elementary schools • secondary schools

6. Purpose of Javits Act • Priorities • Grants • Leadership • Research • Diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds • “Good for all” • Leads to improved policy and practice

7. How Do You Recognize Students Who Are Gifted? Defining Giftedness Renzulli: three-ring theory - Figure 7-1 Recall the behavioral and social characteristics of students identified as gifted or talented.

8. Above Average Intelligence • Advanced vocabulary • Good memory • Learns very quickly and easily • Large fund of information • Generalizes skillfully • Comprehends new ideas easily • Makes abstractions easily • Perceives similarities, differences, relationships • Makes judgments and decisions

9. Creativity • Questioning; very curious about many topics • Has many ideas (fluent) • Sees things in varied ways (flexible) • Offers unique or unusual ideas (original) • Adds details; makes ideas more interesting (elaborates) • Transforms or combines ideas • Sees implications or consequences easily • Risk-taker; speculates • Feels free to disagree • Finds subtle humour, paradox or discrepancies

10. Task Commitment • Sets own goals, standards • Intense involvement in preferred problems and tasks • Enthusiastic about interests and activities • Needs little external motivation when pursuing tasks • Prefers to concentrate on own interest and projects • High level of energy • Perseveres; does not give up easily when working • Completes, shares products • Eager for new projects and challenges • Assumes responsibility

11. Pentagonal Implicit Theory • Excellance • Rarity • Productivity • Demonstrability • Value

12. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences • Visual / Spatial Intelligence • Musical Intelligence • Verbal Intelligence • Logical/Mathematical Intelligence • Interpersonal Intelligence • Intrapersonal Intelligence • Bodily / Kinesthetic Intelligence

13. Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence • Identify and name one's emotional states and understand the link between emotions, thought and action • Manage one's emotional states - control emotions or shift undesirable emotional states to more adequate ones • Enter into emotional states associated with a drive to achieve and be successful • Read, be sensitive to and influence other people's emotions • Enter and sustain satisfactory interpersonal relationships

14. Common Myths About Gifted Students • Homogeneous group • No “special needs” • No problems managing day to day challenges • Guaranteed success • Self-directed • Socially and emotionally stable

15. Common Myths About Gifted Students • Social outcasts • Deserve higher responsibility • Can achieve if only apply themselves • Naturally creative and do not need encouragement • Easy to raise and include in classroom

16. Truths About Gifted Students • Perfectionistic and idealistic. • Heightened sensitivity to their own expectations and those of others • Asynchronous • ”Mappers" (sequential learners) and "leapers" (spatial learners). • Boredom - resulting in low achievement and grades. • Problem solvers and abstract thinkers

17. How Do You Recognize Students Who Are Gifted? Characteristics, Origins, and Prevalence • Describing the characteristics • General intellect • Specific academic aptitude • Creative productive thinking • Leadership ability • Visual and performing arts • Behavioral, social, and emotional characteristics • Identifying the origins • Combination of nature (genetic factors) and nurture (environmental factors) • Identifying the prevalence • Generally thought to be the top 2 or 3% of a population • However, there is controversy over what giftedness is and how many students are gifted. Recall the behavioral and social characteristics of students identified as gifted or talented.

18. How Do You Evaluate Students Who Are Gifted? Presence and Determining the Nature and Extent of Services How Do You Evaluate Students Who Are Gifted? • Determining the presence • There are problems identifying students who are gifted, especially students from diverse backgrounds. • Experts support using multiple means of measurement. • Multiple Intelligences • DISCOVER • Creativity assessments • Determining the nature and extent of general and special education • Students who are gifted may assume some responsibility for evaluation of progress. • Product evaluation • Process evaluation Recall the behavioral and social characteristics of students identified as gifted or talented.

19. DISCOVER • Multiple intelligence • Problem solving • Diversity

20. How Do You Evaluate Students Who Are Gifted? Determining the presence Figure 7-6 Recall the behavioral and social characteristics of students identified as gifted or talented.

21. How Do You Assure Progress in the General Curriculum? Including Students How Do You Assure Progress in the General Curriculum? • Including students • Being aware of students’ social needs, as well as individual education needs, is critical. • Tailor the pace of instruction to students’ pace of learning • Ensure the depth of content coverage correlates to students’ aptitude • Relate instruction to students’ interests Apply knowledge of Universal Design for Learning to the curriculum and instruction for gifted education.

22. How Do You Assure Progress in the General Curriculum? Planning Universally Designed Learning • Planning universally designed learning • Augmenting instruction • Enrichment • Enrichment triad model • Schoolwide enrichment model (SEM) Apply knowledge of Universal Design for Learning to the curriculum and instruction for gifted education.

23. How Do You Assure Progress in the General Curriculum? Planning Universally Designed Learning and Collaborating • Universally designed learning • Altering curriculum • Teaching content that will allow students to apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills not typically addressed in the general education classroom • Problem-based learning • Recognizes gifted students’ need to strengthen problem-solving skills, as well as acquire knowledge and additional skills Apply knowledge of Universal Design for Learning to the curriculum and instruction for gifted education. Reflect on the benefits of collaboration.

24. How Do You Assure Progress in the General Curriculum? Collaborating to Meet Students’ Needs • Collaborating to meet students’ needs • In collaboration, participants must use flexibility, acceleration, and variety. • Mentorships are a way of establishing collaboration with the community. • The students themselves may act as mentors to younger students. Apply knowledge of Universal Design for Learning to the curriculum and instruction for gifted education. Reflect on the benefits of collaboration.

25. What Can You Learn from Others Who Teach Gifted Students? Early Childhood What Can You Learn from Others Who Teach Gifted Students? • Montgomery Knolls Early Childhood Gifted Program • Gifted programs for young children are fairly rare. • Using Gardner’s model of multiple intelligences, MKEC program focuses on identifying and serving different types of giftedness. • Students use a theme approach to gain understanding of a unifying topic and learn about other topics.

26. What Can You Learn from Others Who Teach Gifted Students? Elementary The Elementary Years • Blue Valley School District, Kansas • Integrates features of enriching experiences and problem-based learning • The schoolwide-enrichment model is used, as well as the autonomous learner model. • Teachers view themselves as facilitators for learning.

27. What Can You Learn from Others Who Teach Gifted Students? Middle and Secondary The Middle and Secondary Years • Central Middle School, Missouri • Enrichment model developed around the Program for Exceptionally Gifted Students (PEGS) developed in Missouri • Includes knowledge and skills included in the general curriculum, as well as an enhanced curriculum • Students spend part of the day in the PEGS program, as well as part of the day with age-appropriate peers. • The state has a statewide PEGS support network for students.

28. What Can You Learn from Others Who Teach Gifted Students? Transitional And Post Secondary The Transitional and Post-Secondary Years • College Planning for Gifted Students (Berger, 1989) • Planning needs to start early and involve a proactive approach. • By having a structured plan, students may begin the college experience early with enriched courses that both complete high school requirements and begin earning college credits.

29. A Vision for Briana’s Future • Briana may skip one grade and begin high school a year early. • She will continue to strengthen her academic, artistic, and athletic skills. • She is receiving offers from universities, summer sports camps, private conservatories, and dance troupes that would like her to join their institutions. • She will need flexibility in her academic and extracurricular activities, acceleration in all her activities, and variety in the ways in which she learns and participates. • She will need to determine how to maintain social acceptance and remain balanced emotionally.