PEERS
Javits Training –
Gifted Education
Paulding Elementary School
May 21, 2008
Purpose of PEERS JAVITS
The purpose of this PEERS group was
to provide high quality professional
development in gifted education to
Paulding Elementary teachers. Teachers
learned about and discussed such topics
as screening and identification, rule, law,
district plan, social and emotional needs,
acceleration, and differentiation of the
gifted population.
Resources
Resources used for this training was
available through the Javits training
online module, Department of Education
website, materials obtained through
OAGC conferences I attended this year,
and the Internet.
Team members Randi and Kristi
accessing the JAVITS site on the
Internet
Top 10 Things Teachers Should
Know About Our Gifted and
Talented Students
1. Gifted students don’t look the same
2. Gifted students need support.
3. Know your students.
4. Know the program
5. Classroom behaviors of gifted
6. Asynchronous Development
7. Abstract and Complex
8. Perfectionism
9. Multi-potentiality
10. Problem Solvers
Who is Gifted in Ohio by Law
and Rule?
Children are gifted in Ohio in 4 major
categories: superior cognitive ability,
specific academic ability, creative
thinking ability, and visual or performing
arts ability. There are different eligibility
criteria for each area. All tests and
checklists used must be on an approved
list prepared by the Ohio Department of
Education.
Superior Cognitive Ability
Score two standard deviations above the
mean minus the standard error of
measurement on an intelligence test,
perform at or above the 95th percentile
on a basic or composite battery of a
nationally normed achievement test, or
attain an approved score on an above
grade-level, standardized, nationally
normed test.
Specific Academic Ability in a
Field
Perform at or above the 95th percentile at
the national level on a standardized
achievement test of specific academic
ability in that field. A child may be
identified as gifted in more than one
specific academic ability field.
Creative Thinking Ability
Score one standard deviation above the
mean minus the standard error of
measurement on an intelligence test and
attain a sufficient score, as established
by the Department, on a test of creative
ability or a checklist of creative behavior.
Visual or Performing Arts
Ability
Demonstrate to a trained individual
through a display of work, an audition, or
other performance or exhibition, superior
ability in a visual or performing arts area
and attain a sufficient score, as
established by the Department, on a
checklist of behaviors related to a
specific arts area.
Testing Policy at PEVS
Students are screened, tested, and
identified with the CogAT in second
grade.
Students will be screened, tested, and
identified with the Iowa Test of Basic
Skills in seventh grade.
Referrals
WEP (Written Education Plan)
Each gifted student that is being served
shall be guided by instruction
documented in a Written Education Plan.
Social and Emotional Needs of
Gifted Students
Team members Mary Ellen and
Ruby working on a presentation
for social and emotional needs of
gifted children
Academic and Career
Guidance
All students need academic and career
guidance. Gifted students are no
different, but it is easy to assume that
they will figure things out for themselves.
Asynchronous Development
Asynchronous means out of sync.
Cognitive, emotional and physical development
occur at different rates which creates unique
problems.
Although his emotions and body may be in sync
with age peers, a gifted student’s mind
functions more quickly and at higher cognition
levels.
He may be eight chronologically as he rides his
bike, twelve while playing chess and fifteen
while working through his algebra homework.
Gender Issues and the Gifted
Child
Both genders tend to underachieve, yet they do so in
different ways and for a variety of reasons.
Be alert for students who score high on standardized
tests but who exhibit much lower grades.
Look for social isolation in adolescence, particularly
among females.
Females may exhibit eating disorders, while males may
resort to acting out in class to mask their boredom.
Both sexes may display signs of low self-confidence or
self-esteem.
Adolescents may engage in risky behaviors by
experimenting with alcohol and/or drugs.
Peer Relationships
The gifted students often do not have an
opportunity to find a true peer.
Students often struggle to balance the
expectations of family, teachers and friends.
Students often view themselves as different
from their age peers, which can be either
positive or negative.
Awareness of social norms can lead to a desire
for conformity.
True peers for minority gifted students may be
limited.
Perfectionism
Students often set unrealistic standards for
themselves and others.
Students believe that others expect them to be
perfect.
Fear of failure or procrastination may keep
students from starting or completing work or
trying new things.
Workaholism and an inability to say “no” are
common.
Perfectionists are prone to depression and
stress that may be a function of asynchronous
development.
Twice-Exceptional: Gifted and
Learning Disability
GT/LD students may show above average or below on IQ
tests or be misdiagnosed as underachieving.
Outside of school, students generally have a higher level
of self-confidence, often speaking with enthusiasm about
their abilities and areas of interest.
Students maybe aware of their difficulties in learning, and
over-generalize feelings of academic failure.
Students may exhibit behaviors like being off-task, act
out, daydream, or complain of headaches and
stomachaches.
Frustration, anger, resentment, and relations with family
and peers often influence behavior.
Students often use their creative abilities to avoid tasks.
Characteristics of Gifted
Underachievement
Disorganized; schoolwork is often either
missing or incomplete
Declining achievement or interest in school
Making excuses or blaming others for their
problems
Over-socializing or social isolation
Showing emotional frustration and low self-
esteem
Difficulty concentrating on the task at hand
Lacking skills in at least one subject area due to
another identified exceptionality or disability
Lower socioeconomic background
Acceleration Policy
“No individual or group should be excluded
from the opportunity to learn, and all
students are presumed capable of
learning. Every Ohio student, regardless
of race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic
status, limited English proficiency,
disability or giftedness shall have access
to a challenging, standards-based
curriculum.”
Jan and Leigh reading the
Acceleration Policy
Options
Whole grade acceleration
Individual Subject Acceleration
Early admission to Kindergarten
Early High School Graduation
Acceleration Defined
Any educational intervention that permits
students to progress through school at
faster rates or at an earlier age than
expected.
Research shows……
Accelerated students show achievement
scores similar to older grade peers.
Early entrants to kindergarten showed ½
year’s growth.
Single subject accelerants were 3/5 of a
year ahead of age peers.
Acceleration Policies
Each district must design and adopt a
plan for acceleration. Paulding
Exempted Village Schools has adopted
the state Model Accerlation Policy.
Acceleration Evaluation
Committee
Composition:
Principal or assistant principal
Current teacher
Teacher from accelerated grade level
Parent or legal guardian
Gifted coordinator or teacher
Convened by principal of referred
student or his designee.
Acceleration Policy
Any student may be referred.
Copies of policy must be available to
staff and parents.
Principal obtains written permission.
Evaluation in advance of start of school
year with a 60 day rule.
Parent notified of results.
Appeal process for parents.
Differentiation Strategies
Peers facilitator working on
program development
Centers
Are distinct (science, math, writing
centers).
Are self-contained learning locations;
Allow students to work on a task or
collection of tasks to develop and
reinforce knowledge and skills.
Compacting
Compacting is a method of identifying
the content or skill for a particular unit,
documenting what a student already
knows and how prior knowledge was
determined, and providing alternative
tasks that extend learning and eliminate
the repetition of mastered content or
skills by students.
Curriculum Compacting: Steps
Identify learning objectives
Find or develop pre-test format
Pre-test students
Identify students for compacting option based
on pretest results
Eliminate practice and instructional time
Streamline instruction or assignments
Offer enrichment or acceleration options
Keep records of process and instructional
options offered to compacted students
Learning Contracts
Contracts are negotiated agreements between
the teacher and students.
Contracts provide the student with some
freedom in acquiring skills and understandings
that the teacher deems important based on
content standards.
Student choices can include:
- What is to be learned (content)
- Working conditions (process)
- How information will be applied or expressed
(assessment)
Cubing/Bloom’s Taxonomy
Verbs
Cubing is a differentiation tool based on readiness.
Cubing maintains the same goals of thinking processes
and content interaction but asks students to enter the
task at a complexity level that is a best fit.
Cubes are traditionally used with content that is not brand
new to students so they will need some prior knowledge
to help them complete the tasks.
Students will be grouped based on what you know about
their strengths and weaknesses for a particular content or
skill focus.
Students do not have to be physically sitting next to one
another in this group as the cubes will serve as their
assignment guide and where they sit is irrelevant.
Interest Inventories
Interest inventories are tools to identify
student interests in a variety of areas.
Interest inventories are not necessarily
content related but may look at many
different interest areas.
Once these interested are identified
learning experiences can be developed
to provide opportunities for students to
explore a fact of their area of interest.
Stations
Students work in different spots in room on various tasks.
All stations fall within a content area or topic.
Stations invite flexible grouping. Students go to different
stations to work on different tasks and spend different
amounts of time completing each task.
Assignments in stations can vary from day to day
depending on who is in the station.
Stations offer a balance between student and teacher
choice. Sometimes the teacher indicates a set task and
other times there are choices that address the same idea
but in different ways.
Stations are similar to circuit training – each stop adds to
the learning goal but does not have to be completed in a
set manner.
Tic-Tac-Toe Menus
This is a strategy that can be used for different purposes,
including:
- for “I’m done” times when students complete regular
activities in the classroom
- as a way to assess student learning at the completion of
a unit or book study. This works well paired with a simple
rubric that outlines expectations for completed work.
The tic-tac-toe menu is a tool to teach and support
independent work skills.
The Tic-tac-toe menu allows students to select a series of
activities to complete.
Students may also have the option completing an activity
of their own creation.
Tiering
Tiering is an instructional strategy that
provides instruction to match students
with their individual needs.
The rationale for tiering:
Blends assessment and instruction
Allows students to begin learning where they
are
Allows for reinforcement or extension of
concepts and principles based on student
readiness
Allows modification of working conditions based
on learning style
Avoids work that is anxiety-producing (too hard)
or boredom-producing (too easy).
Promotes success and is therefore motivating.
How will this project impact
student achievement?
We want our advanced and our gifted
and talented students to advance at
least one or more years in achievement
tests each year. Hopefully, with training
and professional development of
classroom and differentiation strategies,
this will occur.