Gifted and Talented AcademyYear 2

Curriculum and InstructionSession 3

http://aea11gt.pbworks.com

Agenda

• Welcome/Check In• Content/Standards Focus

– Iowa Core– NAGC Standards

• Universal Constructs• Curriculum Documents• Team Planning• Closure

Desired State…

Individually…What do you want for the gifted students

who graduate from West Des Moines Schools?

Share with a partner.

Universal Constructs

• Critical thinking• Complex Communication• Creativity• Collaboration• Flexibility and Adaptability• Productivity and Accountability

Iowa Core

• Read the Iowa Core overview• Identify the key purposes of the Iowa Core

Standards. • Share

NAGC Programming Criterion 3

• Read intro & identify key words/ideas• Share with a partner

• Read through the outcomes and evidence-based practices. Discuss what these do or could look like in programming.

Rationale for a Standards Focus

Standards will……ensure students learn what they need to

know for success in the 21st century…ensure educational quality…provide guideposts…provide a curriculum template

VanTassel-Baska, p. 37-9

Standards as Core Curriculum• Basic content areas are the organizational

framework for schools• Content-based instruction provides natural

context for curriculum planning• Gifted spend majority of time in traditional

subject-matter disciplines• Giftedness is often conceptualized as domain-

specific• Applying higher-level skills to content enhances

transfer--VanTassel-Baska, p. 39-40

Problems with Standards

• Teachers don’t perceive standards as helpful in differentiation for most able students.

• Standards are perceived as low-level.• Perception that standards are content-based

and, therefore, inappropriate for gifted.• Assessments have been found to be narrow,

less demanding, and tied to factual material.• Effectively implementing strong standards-

based education benefits students but requires stronger teacher planning.

Adapting Standards for Gifted

• Many are already high-level, so tasks for gifted can be developed directly from the standard

• Unpack the standards to determine scope and intent

• Use essence of the standard as rubric for assessment

• Organize by HOTS across subject areas• Accelerate within standard after pretesting• Select materials that address the intent – not

just content – of the standard

This requires…

…the use of effective teaching and learning models

e.g., Richard Paul’s Reasoning Model

…flexible grouping practices

Using the Reasoning Model

• Triads• Apply Paul’s Reasoning Model to the

issue/problem of quality curriculum for the gifted.

What is the issue?Quality curriculum for gifted learnersWhy are we reasoning about it?(purpose/goal)What are the points of view?

What are the assumptions people make?

What are the important concepts?

What evidence supports the point of view?

What inferences can we make?

What would be the consequences of different actions?

--based on Paul (1992)Center for Gifted EducationThe College of William and Mary

Gifted educators will be able to defend their practice only when they thoughtfully

implement a standards-based curriculum that is adapted and modified for gifted

learners. When such action is taken, gifted education becomes a part of general

education reform rather than an endeavor separate from it.

--VanTassel-Baska, p. 51

Curriculum Framework

• A strategic plan for curriculum– Overall goals and outcomes across all areas

and grade levels– Links goals and outcomes to strategies for

accomplishing them– Assessment approaches that measure

outcomes

Curriculum Framework

• Purposes/Benefits– Creates consensus on what a gifted curriculum

is supposed to be– Provides a specific tangible product that

answers the question of what a district’s curriculum for the gifted is

– Brings teachers and administrators into curriculum planning in a meaningful way

– Represents a communication tool– Captures distinctive features and reveals

balance.

Curriculum Framework

• Review Fairfax County Curriculum Framework (Ch. 4, p. 56-60)– What do you notice about this document?– What are its essential features?– What purposes might it fulfill?

• Review p. 119-24• See “Student Goals and Outcomes” found on

the Wiki.– How would turning this into a curriculum

framework document make it more meaningful and useful?

Thoughts on a Curriculum Framework Document

• Outlines what students will gain from gifted programming and services

• Integrates gifted into general education• Applicable to all

content areas• Your thoughts?

Scope and Sequence

Scope – expansiveness and comprehensiveness of a curriculum

Sequence – organizing and ordering of curriculum experiences to maximize learner effects

In what ways – if at all – might scope and sequence for gifted learners be different from that for typical learners?

Scope at the Course Level7th Grade 8th Grade

Typical Learners Pre-Algebra Algebra I

Gifted Learners Pre-Algebra/Algebra I Algebra IICollege Algebra or other

advanced topic

Comprehensive Curriculum for Gifted Learners, p. 47

Sequence Considerations

Comprehensive Curriculum for Gifted Learners, p. 49

Issues QuestionsDifferentiation for gifted learners Could all learners do this task at the cited stage

of development, or is the task demand more advanced, complex, or conceptual?

Progressive development of learning

How are the objectives more sophisticated as they move through the grades? Can you track such progression?

Scope Are the objectives sufficiently broad-based and inclusive of underlying knowledge and skills necessary to address the goal?

Logical ordering Is there a logical sequencing of knowledge and skills necessary to attain the goal?

Developmental appropriateness Are the objectives developmentally appropriate for gifted learners? Do they account for the readiness of gifted learners for advanced content earlier?

Start Doing!

Team Planning• Develop student goals & outcomes as the

beginning of a curriculum framework document.

• Begin work on a scope and sequence for these goals.

Home Play• Finish curriculum framework document.• Read Chapters 7, 8, & 9 in Curriculum

Planning & Instructional Design for Gifted Learners and respond to Moodle forum.

• For next time bring a literacy or math unit, instructional materials, and district standards/benchmarks.

Curriculum for the Gifted

• Acceleration• Complexity• Depth• Challenge• Creativity

Five Key Features

Could, Should, Would

Could all kids do this?

Should all kids do this?

Would all kids want to?