Huntersville Elementary

Talent Development:

Differentiated Education Plan (DEP) Informational Meeting

Welcome families of TD-certified students! April 14, 2015

Some content taken and adapted from: Trinette Atri, Olde Providence Elementary / Emily Foley, Irwin Academic Center

Huntersville TD Contact Info:

Sabrina Walters, Talent Development Teacher

sabrinal.walters@cms.k12.nc.us

www.huntersvilletd.weebly.com

We will discuss…• Mission/Goal

•Desired Outcomes•Gifted Student Characteristics

•The Catalyst Model•Direct vs. Indirect Services

•How We Teach Gifted Learners•Who Participates?

•Services and Schedule•DEP and Performance Review

•TD in Middle School

CMS TD Mission: To provide gifted students the opportunity to maximize their potential, demonstrate their motivation, and realize their contributions to

self and the global community.

CMS TD Goal:

To support the development of a content-rich educational experience for

students from all cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds throughout CMS.

The TD program provides opportunities and resources for

learners to…

• attain levels of academic achievement consistent with their abilities

• engage in abstract, creative, and affective reasoning• apply insightful questioning• develop a capacity to see interconnections among

disciplines• practice self-directed learning and independent

problem solving• strive for self actualization• maximize their leadership potential• become active participants in the global community

Desired Outcomes:• Curriculum studied in greater depth

through more challenging lessons and differentiated activities

• Curriculum accelerated to include above-grade level material when appropriate

• Advanced pace of learning

Gifted Student CharacteristicsStudents may exhibit one or more of the following,

but are not limited to…

• Has much factual information

• May not show neatness or order in work

• Anticipates outcomes

• May disagree with teacher or textbook answers

• May frequently respond in an elaborate manner

• May not want to stop working on a task

• Asks the questions

Gifted Student CharacteristicsStudents may exhibit one or more of the following,

but are not limited to…

• Enjoys learning

• Infers

• Creates new designs

• Has unexpected ideas

• Manipulates information

• Achieves mastery in 1-2 repetitions

The Catalyst Model

“Gifted learners are gifted all the time” – Mary S. Landrum

Therefore, gifted education is not an add on for ninety minutes a week.

The focus of the Catalyst Model is to differentiate instruction for the gifted

and high performing students.

So how does the Catalyst Model work?

• The classroom teacher and Talent Development teacher share responsibility for the education of gifted students

• The TD teacher provides lessons and activities for teachers to use in the heterogeneous classroom AND/OR teaches students directly

• The TD teacher provides enrichment and acceleration for students who have shown mastery of objectives being taught in the regular classroom through direct or indirect instruction

What are Direct Services?

Direct services, or “face time,” are lessons that are created and taught by the TD Teacher

Direct services can be “pull out” (students pulled into TD/Catalyst classroom) or “push in” (students remain with classroom teacher when TD Teacher comes in to co-teach with classroom teacher)

What are Indirect Services?

• Indirect services are lessons and activities developed by the TD/Catalyst teacher and provided to the classroom teacher for him/her to use in his/her classroom

• Examples are: curriculum compacting, centers, independent contracts, projects, alternative homework/classwork, lessons

Why the need for direct and indirect services?

• Often there are too many students for one person to reach alone. Differentiation is required in the regular classroom to provide all students with the education they need and deserve.

• Since the TD Teacher cannot see all children, all day, every day, the classroom teacher requires activities and lessons from the TD Teacher for those students while they are in the regular classroom.

• Without differentiation, everyone would move at the same pace, be evaluated in the same way, and complete the same activities – regardless of their prior knowledge or individual needs

How do we teach gifted learners?

• Focus on creative thinking, problem solving and logic

• Ask higher level questions during novel studies, rather than lower, “knowledge” level questions (Bloom’s Taxonomy)

• Engage students through project-based learning

• Utilize research-based resources for gifted students (William & Mary, etc.)

How do we teach gifted learners?

• Work in abstract thinking and concepts – symbolism, themes, etc.

• Increase awareness of the global community through interdisciplinary novel studies and discussion

• Teach problem solving strategies in math

• Differentiation strategies such as curriculum compacting, contracts, choice menus, independent studies, small group instruction

How is TD curriculum different?

Language Arts: Multiple resources such as Socratic Seminars (Paideia), William & Mary, novels, Junior Great Books, integrated writing, etc.

Math: Combination of resources such as Math Olympiad competition, Project M3, Hands on Equations, The Problem Solver, etc.

How are TD student expectations different?

• Critical & Creative Thinking

•Handle accelerated & advanced pace

(Refer to Performance Review document)

TD is NOT…• an add-on

• separate

•more of the same

•extra work

• a status

symbol

•boring

• punishment for being smart!

How do you determine who is in your math and reading groups?

Depends on pre-assessments – math and reading; behavior and ability to work independently; class work; space in the classroom; formative testing; teacher-created assessments – MANY data points

Groups are flexible and can change from unit to unit, novel to novel, and/or quarter to quarter

See both TD certified and catalyst students Direct – 40%, Indirect – 60% services Students can be seen for both or just reading

or just math, depending on their individual needs and the factors listed above

3rd – 5th Grade Literacy Services

Literacy enrichment will be integrated into Reader’s Workshop time – Mrs. Walters will “PUSH-IN” to the regular classroom and work in collaboration with the homeroom teacher.

• 4 days a week-2 days each in 2 different classes, 45-60 minutes per session

• Students will continue differentiated direct instruction with the classroom teacher when Mrs. Walters is not present

3rd – 5th Grade Literacy Services

Mastery of pre-tested objectives, classroom performance, TD-identification, and student interest/motivation help determine who is placed into direct services group with Mrs. Walters when applicable

Students will work on novel studies, figurative language, poetry, informational text analysis, themes/concepts, higher order thinking, and academic writing

Mrs. Walters will plan with classroom teachers weekly to collaborate, analyze data, and provide needed extensions, projects, and other differentiation resources for classroom use

3rd – 5th Grade Mathematics

ServicesO Math Enrichment will be two-fold. Mrs. Walters will “PUSH-IN” 1 day/week for problem solving and PULL-OUT 2 days/week for those who compact out of the regular math unit.

O Students will continue differentiated direct instruction with the classroom teacher when Mrs. Walters is not present

3rd – 5th Grade Mathematics Services

Mastery of pre-tested objectives, classroom performance, TD-identification, and student interest/motivation help determine who is placed into direct services group with Mrs. Walters when applicable

Students will work on problem solving, algebraic concepts, Math Olympiad, real-world applications, higher order thinking, and 21st century skills

Mrs. Walters will plan with classroom teachers weekly to collaborate, analyze data, and provide needed curriculum compacting, extensions, projects, and other differentiation resources for classroom use

2nd GradeO All 2nd Grade services are PULL-OUTO One day/week for Literacy

O CMS Advanced Studies Concept Unit: Change

O One day/week for MathO Interact Unit: Into the Unknown

DEP: Differentiated Education Plan

• A document completed annually which lists learning environment, content modifications, and special programs available to the student during that year

• This information is kept on file in the cumulative folder

• Social/emotional goals are only included as needed

• ElementaryDEP2013-14

End-of-Year Performance

Reviews

At the end of each year, each TD-

certified student in grades 2-5 receives a

TD student performance rating, in

addition to their regular report card.

Students are evaluated in the following

domains…• Content (Understanding

and Use of Subject Matter)

• Product (Learning Outcomes)

• Process (Skill Development)

• Affective (Attitudes and Behaviors)

• See the Performance Review document here…

• THESE RATINGS ARE BASED ON TD-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS…NOT ON GRADE-LEVEL WORK!

• Ratings of “2” and “3” are the expectation.

• A “4” is extraordinary!

• These ratings do not affect the report card grades or class placement.

Each of the 4

sections are scored

from 1-4, as

follows:

•1 – Needs immediate

improvement

•2 – Needs some

improvement

•3 – Meets expectations

•4 – Exceeds expectations

Product Evaluation

• Products synthesize

from a variety of

challenging sources

•Products reflect insights

gained from exploring

“big ideas”

•Products demonstrate

significant effort in

multiple intelligences

and exceptional growth

Affective Evaluation

• Always completes home- and class work on time

•Initiates and goes beyond required assignments

•Is motivated and takes responsibility for learning

•Shows exceptional ability to work with others

Content Evaluation

• Thoughtfully

interrelates complex

knowledge from

all subject areas

•Exceptional insight to

themes and

generalizations

•Demonstrates

sophistication in

learning and applying

new information to tasks

Process Evaluation

• Asks provocative questions which probe and analyze problems

•Gives diverse, thought-provoking responses which lead to innovative solutions

•Insightfully evaluates new information and ideas

Looking Ahead: Middle School

• No formal “TD” program in middle schools – Honors Classes

• Bailey Middle – one of 5 CMS middle schools to pilot the “Springboard” official pre-AP program

• EOG scores alone are NOT to be used to place TD certified students in middle school, per department instructions – rubric is used for math

• Magnet schools (I.B., Performing Arts, Languages)

• TD Contact in middle school is ACADEMIC FACILITATOR

What questions do YOU have for me?