• Every child has an incredible capacity to learn and the job of educators is to create an environment that maximizes each student's growth.
• Students thrive when they are actively engaged in solving problems that matter and when we support them academically, socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually.

An intellectually gifted child generally possesses the following learning characteristics:

• An early aptitude for abstract thinking
• Significantly high cognitive aptitudes (e.g., Very Superior range)
• High levels of thought processes (i.e., the ability to see complex patterns, identify and consider multiple solutions, make valid generalizations, share insightful observations, and draw logical conclusions based on information)
• Strong intuitive reasoning skills

Beliefs about educating academically gifted children:

1. Learning occurs at a different pace, depth, and style for all children.
2. A curriculum modified in level of content, depth, and pace is necessary for gifted students in their area(s) of strength.
3. Abstract ideas and complex issues are consistently grasped and can be extended by highly advanced students in a deeper, broader manner than by their age-mates.
4. Gifted students need opportunities to learn in a variety of ways, including learning with other gifted students as well as with other age-mates.
5. Students need to have their gifts recognized, supported, and properly challenged as early as demonstrated.
6. Students who are intellectually gifted are often asynchronous in the development or demonstration of their abilities and require appropriate modification to challenge and grow academically.
7. All staff need ongoing staff development in the area of gifted education.

Beliefs about testing and determining services:

1. Enrollment in advanced courses is not driven by numbers or percentages of our population but by students who fit the course definition and demonstrate the need for a highly differentiated curriculum.
2. Re-evaluation of placement is an ongoing process dependent upon the child’s response to the thinking and skills required by the advanced curricula.
3. The goal of advanced placement is that the student remains high performing and achieving well beyond grade level. If either of these criteria are missing, the parents will be notified about a recommended change in placement.
4. Classroom modifications for all children (i.e., enrichment, thinking skills instruction, compacting, acceleration, etc.) are determined by individual student performance, not by the identification process itself.
5. No child is placed in advanced learning arrangements without objective data, professional judgment, and multiple pieces of information that support the placement.

Differentiation is available in every course. Teachers are expected to adjust their lesson plans and instruction to meet the needs of all learners. Differentiation is the term used for the process of matching the academic task to the level of the student. Examples of differentiation involve altering the lesson pacing, depth, and complexity.   

Enrichment is available in every course. Once a child has demonstrated high levels of mastery of concepts and skills, he/she is deemed ready for enrichment, if time allows. Enrichment is assisting the child in taking his/her learning to a richer, deeper level. This often includes engaging the child in extending the practice and/or application phases.

Subject acceleration is available in mathematics, language arts, and within other courses, when a teacher creates above-grade level learning activities when a student demonstrates that he/she requires more advanced materials. Typically, subject acceleration occurs when a student goes to the next grade level(s) for reading and/or math. In most cases, we have a sufficient number of same-grade peers to create advanced classes; therefore, a student may not necessarily need to be with older peers. 

Whole grade acceleration (i.e., grade skipping) is primarily available in grades K-1, and it is considered in rare cases. Grade skipping should be used cautiously due to asynchronistic development of gifted children. When looking at the whole child, it is rare that he/she would demonstrate significant accelerated growth and maturity in all domains of functioning (i.e., social, emotional, behavioral, fine motor, gross motor, physical development, and academic subjects). 

Early Entrance is when a child enters a grade that is reserved for students who are chronologically older. Early entrance is an example of whole grade acceleration. Early entrance into a grade requires District approval, which is based on the child’s proficiency and readiness levels in multiple domain areas.

Benefits of acceleration are closely related to avoiding the under-achievement syndrome and the obvious desire to keep a student interested and motivated. Webster tells us that to achieve is “to gain through effort.” Without curricular modifications, high expectations, and the challenge of working with like-ability peers, the academically talented child may succeed in school without learning proper organization skills, study skills, persistence, risk taking, and coping skills. Subject or grade level acceleration may help an advanced child keep him/her at an aggressive learning pace.

Acceleration considerations – Acceleration can be problematic if not done properly, and it is based on the assumption that a child will not plateau during his/her learning career. Some detrimental examples include: providing accelerated material without sufficient instruction time with the teacher, isolating students in a tutorial situation without a peer group with similar learning needs, placing students with older students without allowing the child to have input into the decision, racing the student through content without time for exploration and application, grade skipping without proper consideration of developmental issues including psychomotor and/or social/emotional aspects of the child.

Cluster Grouping means strategically placing students with similar abilities, in small groups, within the same classroom so that all students have learning partners who function at or near the same performance level.

In order to understand how the District meets the needs of learners who are intellectually and/or academically advanced, it is important to provide a context for how the needs of all students are met. Teachers utilize differentiation strategies via the following primary avenues:

• Inclusive Lesson Design
• Collaborative Teaching Models
• Tiered Assignments
• Flexible Grouping Arrangements and Criteria
• Pacing Adjustments
• Project-based Learning/Inquiry-based Learning
• Student Choice
• Student-directed Learning Tasks
• Curriculum Compacting (via Pretesting)
• Research and Independent Projects of Interest
• Online Learning
• Focus on Real World Problems
• Increased Complexity of Subject Matter
• Subject, Unit, or Grade Acceleration

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in Mathematics CCSS Math Standards

Review teams use a variety of information to ascertain when a student requires an educational experience that is markedly different than what can be accommodated within grade level curricula.

Mathematics:  Key Data Pieces

English Language Arts (ELA): Key Data Pieces

What features of the workshop model support teachers in meeting the needs of students with diverse abilities:

With the workshop model, all readers and writers will receive:

• Differentiated instruction
• Opportunities to build a rich reading life
• High volumes of active reading
• Protected independent reading time
• High interest texts
• Texts that match students’ independent reading levels
• Experiences with a wide variety of texts (including choice texts)
• Social and collaborative reading opportunities
• Time to think, talk, and write about reading
• Texts for a variety of purposes
• Clear, sequential, and explicit instruction in reading skills, strategies, and discourse
• Highly skilled reading teachers

How will my child’s reading needs be met in the homeroom class?

• The workshop model allows students to stay at the forefront of their learning capabilities, independent of other learners’ levels. Teachers utilize learning progressions to inform them of what each student needs next in his/her learning pathway. Learning progressions span multiple grade levels.  Learning goals are highly individualized and derived from student work.

How are teachers assessing when a student needs advanced learning opportunities?

• Teachers assess students in an ongoing manner. They collect a significant amount of data on students throughout the school year.  This information is used on a continual basis to help teachers make instructional decisions for each learner.  

What are some specific ways of differentiating instruction and activities?

Primary avenues for differentiation are:

• Activating learning progressions (i.e., a well-articulated scope and sequence of skills and strategies that shows learning targets across grade level bands)  
• Matching texts to a learner’s level of depth and complexity
• Adjusting pacing of instruction
• Adjusting volume of active reading
• Opportunities for choice text (i.e., relatively rigorous, self-selected texts)  
• Cluster grouping within classes (i.e., small groups of similar-ability peers)
• Individual conferring meetings with teachers, focused on each learner’s goals
• Customize teacher scaffolding (i.e., the removal of teacher support incrementally as the learner shifts responsibility for the learning to himself/herself)
• Employ curriculum compacting (i.e., streamlining learning objectives so that students spend little to no time working on learning standards for which he/she already demonstrates mastery)
• Allow opportunities for pre-teaching and/or repeated reading for students who need extra assistance

If all students are in their homerooms for reading, how can the teacher meet the needs of all students?

• Our teachers have many collaborative partners. Specialists assist teachers in meeting the needs of students who perform all along the performance continuum. Each school has Advanced Learning Specialists who are devoted to partnering with teachers to help our most advanced readers.  Teachers can also get assistance from Reading Specialists, Learning Behavior Specialists (i.e., Special Education Teachers), Teaching and Learning Facilitators and Teaching Assistants.  
• Teachers co-plan units of study. Classroom teachers and other specialists are members of grade level teams. They assist with differentiated learning opportunities for students. This assistance can mean developing and sharing resources, working directly with students, co-teaching, etc.  

Will my child receive special testing in the spring to determine his/her reading needs for next year?

• Teachers collect an abundance of data throughout the school year, including winter and spring MAP scores.  Therefore, special testing sessions are not required.  Ongoing classroom data will be used as a primary source to create flexible learning groups. Many different assessments will be used throughout the course of the school year to provide the right instruction, at the right time, for students.

Will I receive a letter in June indicating that my child is ready for advancement in reading?

• No, a course placement letter only applies to accelerated math (for eligible students in grades 3-8). For reading in grades K-5, as mentioned above, students are reviewed regularly during the school year. By embedding more frequent progress reviews and using data that is closely aligned with daily expectations, it increases access to high level learning opportunities for all students who demonstrate readiness.

Grades K-2 All Subjects

Students are placed in heterogeneous (i.e., mixed ability) homeroom classes with some cluster grouping. Cluster grouping means strategically placing students with similar abilities into the same classroom so that all students have learning partners who function at or near the same performance level.

Prior to placing a new student in a homeroom class, an administrator will review existing records and contact a child’s parent to discuss the child’s previous school experience, including participation in accelerated academic programs or classes and/or special supports. This information will aid in cluster grouping.  

We do not formally identify students for advanced courses. Each elementary school has an Advanced Learning Specialist who collaborates with homeroom teachers and other academic specialists to determine academic levels and learning capabilities of new students. Throughout the school year, students are given a wide variety of assessments in reading, writing, and mathematics. Teachers review results and co-plan activities for advanced learners. Teachers are expected to differentiate where needed.

Grades 3-4 Mathematics

All new students start Mathematics in their homeroom classes. Over the first 4-6 weeks of enrollment, the homeroom teacher and academic specialists administer baseline assessments as well as curriculum-based assessments and gather observational data to determine a child’s academic needs. 

For students who demonstrate highly advanced math skills, the teacher collaborates with the Advanced Learning Specialist to determine next steps. Sometimes, this entails formal screening for inclusion in an advanced math course. This may also entail less formal plans, such as advanced work within the homeroom class or having the child participate occasionally in advanced opportunities in the accelerated math class, when a pre-test indicates a need. For more information on the math course sequence and advanced math placement, see the relevant sections on this webpage.

Grades 5-8 Mathematics

In grades 5-8, students have access to more than one course offered per grade level. Each grade level has a standard math course that corresponds to the grade level number, (i.e., Math 5, Math 6, Math 7, and Math 8). For students who demonstrate a need for an accelerated math course sequence, advanced courses are available. 

Prior to identifying a math course for a new student, an administrator will review existing records and contact a child’s parent to discuss the child’s previous school experience, including participation in accelerated academic programs or classes and/or special supports. The student will be invited in over the summer to participate in some preliminary assessments to help determine a suitable course match.