L earning E nrichment and A cceleration P rogram

Learning Enrichment andAcceleration Program Kate Lanier Gifted Education Coordinator/Teacher 2012

The Gifted Services Umbrella: • K-12 screening and identification (CogAT/ITBS) • Parent/teacher referral/evaluation process • Differentiated Learning Plans: • We currently have 75 identified students • K-8 Pull Out: Eight 60 to 90 minute blocks/week • Collaboration and Instructional Support • Ex. 7th-grade LA three 90 minute blocks/week • 9-12: Mentoring; independent study; college ap. process; field studies, etc… 9-12 is a work in progress!

The Gifted Services Umbrella: • Governor’s School • CBGS • Summer Residential • Summer Regional • Odyssey of the Mind/Great Computer Challenge/Lego Robotics: (Thank you Laurie, Daphne, Matt!) • National Geographic Bee (another work in progress!) • Coordination of Local Gifted Advisory Board • Gifted Services Budget and Purchases • Local Plan for the Education of the Gifted

Current Major Projects: • Creating program identity (LEAP) • Composing our definition, mission, and philosophy in regards to giftedness • Refining/communicating the purpose of LEAP and the referral process • Creating teacher and parent referral packets/defining the steps of the ref process • Packets, process steps, and informational brochures are now at all three schools • Establishing a continuous and sequential K-8 instructional curriculum • Revamping/defining our Talent Pool process; working towards data-driven selection • Creating a primary chars rating scale • Dedicated pull out for 6-8 • Defining high school services; establishing a for-credit internship program

Current Major Projects: • MCPS’ Local Plan for the Education of the Gifted • Ours expired in 2010, but we are operating under an extension. • New state regulations were published in 2010 • Local Plan must be completely reworked to include the Gifted Growth Model (a measurement of consistent in-class differentiation and data-based student “improvement”) • Our current (old) local plan can be found at MCPS homepage  Central Office  Instruction  Gifted Education • New regs can be found on the DOE website under gifted instruction. • I’d love your input!

Definition: • MCPS DEFINES gifted students as: Students who demonstrate higher levels of awareness, accomplishment, and understanding when compared to others of the same age, experience, and background, and who are able to work at increased levels of complexity in and outside of the traditional classroom.

Mission: • The MISSION of LEAP is to: Provide students, whether identified as having General Intellectual Aptitude, Specific Academic Aptitude, or Visual/Performing Arts Aptitude, the opportunity to participate in curriculum that includes advanced content and pacing, problem solving, higher level thinking, the creation of new ideas and products, and a focus on issues and themes across a wide scope of study areas.

Philosophy: • MCPS’ PHILOSOPHY regarding gifted instruction is that: All students have the right to an education that challenges them to reach their highest academic potential. Gifted learners require higher-level, complex, and accelerated instruction in order to experience continuous learning and academic growth. Furthermore, the quality of differentiated academic opportunities offered will determine the level and quality of gifted students’ responses to, and investment in, their learning. An environment of increased expectations for the gifted population will ultimately lead to meaningful, challenging, and autonomous learning for all students.

Traits of Giftedness: A HIGH ACHIEVER: • Remembers the answers. • Is interested. • Is attentive. • Works hard to achieve. • Performs at the top of the group. • Learns with ease. • Needs 6 to 8 repetitions to master. • Enjoys the company of same age peers. • Understands complex, abstract humor. • Completes assignments on time. • Is receptive. • Enjoys school often. • Absorbs information. • Memorizes well. • Is pleased with own learning. • Gets A's. Adapted from Differentiation: Simplified, Realistic, and Effective by Bertie Kingore, PhD A GIFTED LEARNER: • Poses unforeseen questions. • Is curious. • Is selectively mentally engaged. • Knows without working hard. • Is beyond the group. • Already knows. • Needs 1 to 3 repetitions to master. • Prefers the company of intellectual equals. • Creates complex, abstract humor. • Initiates projects/ extends assignments. • Is intense. • Enjoys self-directed learning. • Manipulates information. • Guesses and infers well. • Is self-critical. • May not be motivated by grades

Formal Identification: • Evaluation for gifted identification can begin in several ways: • Screening of ITBS and CogAT scores (1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th) • Teacher referral • Self/peer referral • Parent/guardian referral • Other faculty or professional staff Realistically, giftedness exists in 10 to 15 percent of the population. This means that in order to be statistically accurate, roughly 8-10 students per grade level should be in LEAP.

Identification CRITERIA: • A +90thpercentileis our most valuable GIA/SAA identification criteria. • On either the ITBS or CogAT, we’d like to see 90th percentile or above in order to identify. • To be considered GIA, we need to see +90th percentile across the board. To be SAA, we need to see +90th percentile in one area. • I also administer two clinical assessments, the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test and the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement. These can be quite helpful in strengthening a student’s “portfolio” of evidence. • As annoying as the ITBS and the CogAT can be, they are our best way to compare students on a national scale, and thus to eliminate claims of bias in the identification process.

Identification CRITERIA: • In addition to test scores, a student’s “portfolio” includes: • The parent/guardian behavioral checklist (I’d like to start using the Kingore checklist we saw earlier). • The Renzulli-Hartman Rating Scales for Rating Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students (one or more teachers) • Classroom observation(s) • Student interview • Product portfolio **It is important to know that the Virginia DOE decrees that no one score/criterion can be used to lead to, or deny, eligibility for services.

Process/Timeline: • Whether the evaluation process starts with a screening or a referral, the next steps are as follows: • Consent for evaluation (if student was screened or referred by a teacher/staff member. • Parent rating scale • Review of cumulative file and any ITBS/CogAT data • Renzulli-Hartman Scale • Clinical assessments (@ 2 hours of testing when completed) • Student observation(s) • Student interview • Product collection (if available) • Eligibility committee meeting • Consent or ineligibility letter All told, this process takes between 75 and 90 days.

Talent Pool: • For students in K-2(3) who are demonstrating the desire, ability, and need to work at expectation levels beyond their peers • Aimed at strengthening students’ advanced skills in the areas of idea analysis, topic evaluation, and creativity. • Must be guided by teacher recommendations and based upon each grade’s benchmarks and expectations; this is the best way to avoid overlooking or overburdening students. • In January of grade 3, CogAT and ITBS will determine which talent pool students will be evaluated for formal id.

Talent Pool Entrance: • Because academic and intellectual development is so widely varied in the primary grades, Talent Pool pull-out does not automatically follow students from one grade to the next, until the transition from second to third grade. • Next fall, I will start a curriculum called Primary Educational Thinking Skills (PETS). This is a sequential critical thinking program that will allow for a reassessment every 9 weeks. • After observing and assessing students for four to six weeks each fall, teachers in grades K-2 will be asked to identify Talent Pool students using a Primary Gifted Characteristics Rating Scale. • A program that is both teacher recommendation and assessment driven is the best way to satisfy concerned parents. • BUT, parents do, and will still, have the option to ask for a teacher rating scale to be completed.

Talent Pool Entrance: • If we place a cap on Talent Pool group size (12 should be the max in order for the program to be considered “small group”): • Do we allow a certain number of spots per teacher? OR • Do we compare rating scales and pull the highest 10-12 overall?

The LEAP Experience: • Once a student is formally identified, a DLP is put in place. • The DLP is aimed at 1)establishing parent-driven goals and 2) identifying our instructional modifications. • Student receives weekly small-group instruction. • The LEAP folder contains a WEEKLY LEAPS sheet that is meant to communicate to parents and to provide enrichment activities throughout the week. • Student DLPs are examined, evaluated, and updated every year. • We currently do not have exit procedures, but we are working on this. Students who are not reaching DLP goals, and who are demonstrating the need to be in the regular classroom should not be pulled out.

Discussion Items: 1) Is a LEAP “progress update” needed each semester? 2) How do we meet the state’s requirement that: “Evidencethat gifted education service options from kindergarten through twelfth grade are offered continuously and sequentially, with instructional time during the school day and week to (i) work with their age-level peers, (ii) work with their intellectual and academic peers, (iii) work independently; and (iv) foster intellectual and academic growth of gifted students.” Narratives? Checklists? Copies of assignments? Will a classroom guide help? (Hawthorne Gifted Intervention Manual) 3) Any suggestions for the gifted growth model? How do we show that gifted students are increasing in performance outside of the whole-class grades/tests? 4) What’s working with LEAP? What’s not working? 5) What questions do you have? How can I help?

L earning E nrichment and A cceleration P rogram