Why Trustees & Administrators Should Care About Gifted Education

Barbara GellerMontana AGATE

4/13/12

School Board Objectives1. Provide a quality education for all2. Measure up3. Do what is right for the kids4. Keep costs down

Challenges with Gifted Ed1. Do they make Adequate Yearly Progress?2. Diagnosis, misdiagnosis & dual diagnosis3. Perceived as expensive to differentiate4. Drop outs, underachievers, and disruptive

behavior5. Perceived as elitist to differentiate

How are the gifted different? Academically• Pace of learning• Remember more• Synthesize new & old material

Capable of learning 1-1/2 years of material in a single school

year.

• Moderately gifted• Highly gifted• Profoundly gifted

How are the gifted different? Socially & Emotionally• Asynchronous development• Need to spend significant time with their intellectual

peers• Dabrowski’s Theory of Overexcitabilities:• Psychomotor• Sensual• Imaginational• Intellectual• Emotional

• Overexcitabilities can lead to misdiagnoses

How are the gifted different? From high achievers & creative thinkers

For more, see Bertie Kingore’s chart at www.bertiekingore.com/high-gt-create.htm

A High Achiever… A Gifted Learner…

A Creative Thinker…

Remembers the answers Poses unforeseen questions

Sees exceptions

Is interested Is curious Wonders

Is attentive Is selectively mentally engaged

Daydreams; may seem off task

Works hard to achieve Knows without working hard

Plays with ideas and concepts

Understands complex, abstract humor

Creates complex, abstract humor

Relishes wild, off-the-wall humor

Grasps the meaning Infers and connects concepts

Makes mental leaps: Aha!

Is receptive Is intense Is independent & unconventional

Is pleased with own learning

Is self-critical Is never finished with possibilities

IdentificationAnd under-identification

• We generally under-identify gifted students• Especially if we don’t test 100%• Certain sub-groups are under-identified• Parents identify more kids than teachers

• When:• K & 1st: catch the highly/profoundly gifted• 3rd: find the normal gifted• Transfers/bi-annual request: outliers, ESL

• Criterion: • ability +• achievement +• portfolio / teacher / parent nomination

Identification(Costly) Misdiagnosis & Dual Diagnosis

• Some gifted students are misdiagnosed as having disabilities and not as gifted• Reactive hypoglycemia• Introversion

• Some students are gifted and have disabilities• They may average out as “normal”• Fear success because of inconsistent performance

• Pediatricians get no training on gifted• Give them Dr. Webb’s book!• Have them listen to Dr. Webb’s Grand Rounds lecture

http://www.greatpotentialpress.com/dr-webb%E2%80%99s-lecture-on-misdiagnosis-and-dual-diagnoses-of-gifted-children

IdentificationDyslexia, Irlen’s & Giftedness

It is cheaper & faster to remediate Irlen’s Syndrome

14 question Irlen’s self-test http://irlen.com/short_self_test.php

Dyslexics need oral IQ test for giftedness

1/3 have dyslexia

1/3 have dyslexia &

Irlen’s syndrome

1/3 only have Irlen’s syndrome

Australian test results of those previously

identified as having dyslexia

Irlen Screening Quiz Do you skip words or lines when reading? Do you reread lines? Do you lose your place? Are you easily distracted when reading? Do you need to take breaks often? Do you find it harder to read the longer you read? Do you get headaches when you read? Do your eyes get red and watery? Does reading make you tired? Do you blink or squint? Do you prefer to read in dim light? Do you read close to the page? Do you use your finger or other markers? Do you get restless, active, or fidgety when reading?

If you answered yes to three or more of these questions…

Remediation for Irlen’s SyndromeColored transparencies or colored

glasses/contacts

Dim, natural or non-fluorescent lightAvoid glare from overhead transparenciesTinted paperAvoid certain colors of chalk on brown

chalkboardsAvoid glossy textbooks (use Kindle/iPad?)

Curricular Options:Grade-skipping• Research-supported: A

Nation Deceived• Definitive criteria: Iowa

Acceleration Scale• IRPA’s “Guidelines for

Developing an Academic Acceleration Policy”

• When? K / elementary / middle school

Problem:

No incremental cost once decision is made

Curricular Options: Pullout classes• Peer interaction• Challenging,

creative curriculum

• Kids are gifted 24x7• Little differentiation in

regular classes• Creates jealousy• Disrupts regular

classroom flow

Costs: GT teacher, curriculum, separate classroom

Curricular Options: Clustering

• 5 to 30 gifted kids in a classroom

• Peer interaction• With differentiation, can

meet academic growth needs

• Helps all groups

In about 80% of classrooms with gifted students, differentiation was not going on at all

Requires training, monitoring, accountability

Average20 kids

Gifted10 kids

High Achievers20 kids

Below Average10 kids

+ +

Costs: train classroom teacher to differentiate, possibly curriculum, possible GT coach

Curricular Options:Clustering in high school• Honors classes• Pre-Advanced Placement classes• Advanced Placement classes• International Baccalaureate classes• GT classes• GT/AP classes

Depth (vs. breadth) leverages their ability to synthesize information.

Curricular options:Creative options

• In-district:• Subject acceleration• Multi-grade gifted classes (Billings)• Move a gifted student to another school or district that can serve him better (or let

your school or district specialize in gifted to create critical mass)• Independent Study• Online learning (Stanford EPGY)• After school programs (MathCounts, Destination Imagination, Camp Invention)

• Help from outside the district:• Early college entrance programs (http://earlyentrance.org/Home)• Summer programs (Center for Bright Kids, Northwestern University, Stanford EPGY,

etc.)• For the profoundly gifted: Davidson Young Scholars• For minorities: The Next Generation Venture Fund

Assign 1 Counselor to GiftedBetter knowledge of options

Colleges, scholarships, summer camps, nomination-based programs, Davidson Young Scholars, Next Generation Venture Fund, Jack Kent Cooke Scholars, early college entrance

In-school opportunities (AP, IB, GT classes; online learning; extracurriculars)

Greater awareness of overexcitabilities, behavior issues

Better screening for acceleration options

Type Talk at SchoolMyers-Briggs Personality TypesTeachers ~ CEOS

ExtrovertSensingThinkingJudging

Gifted KidsIntrovertiNtuitiveThinking

(but closet Feeling)Perceiving

75% of teachers are ESTJs

Type Talk at SchoolFinding the Right Match

Hire some INT(F)Ps and other typesUse them as role models, mentorsInvite them to lead extracurriculars for gifted

kidsAvoid pairing extremesUse Myers-Briggs to help teachers

understand gifted kids

Engage the parents• Tell them their kids are gifted• Educate them about overexcitabilities,

underachievement• “It’s good to be a nerd”• Encourage enrollment in challenging

classes, summer enrichment• Solicit volunteers for extracurriculars

Other sessions to attend• Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses• Motivation and Underachievement

10 Things Every Administrator Should Know About Gifted Children Gifted students are not all alike. They vary in respect to general ability, domain-

specific aptitude, interests and predispositions, and motivation and personality. Thus one program or service is insufficient to respond to their diverse needs.

Gifted students benefit from interaction with peers. Intellectual peerage contributes to important growth patterns in all subject areas (Kulik & Kulik, 1992).  For example, cooperative learning, carried out in heterogeneous classroom settings, produces no growth (Rogers, 2001).

Gifted students need various forms of acceleration throughout their school years, ranging from content acceleration to Advanced Placement or dual enrollment to mentorships (Shiever & Maker, 2003; Renzulli & Reis, 2003; Clasen & Clasen, 2003).

Gifted students are capable of producing high level products in specific areas of learning at the level of a competent adult (NAGC, 1990).  For example, fourth graders can draft a policy for pollution that would rival an adult community committee.

Gifted students need to be challenged and stimulated by an advanced and enriched curriculum that is above their current level of functioning in each area of learning (VanTassel-Baska, 2003)..

Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Ed.D., The College of William and Mary

10 Things Every Administrator Should Know (cont’d.) Gifted students need to be instructed by personnel trained in the education of

gifted students to ensure that they are sufficiently challenged, exposed to appropriate level work, and motivated to excel (Croft, 2003).

Gifted students at elementary level require differentiated staffing and flexible scheduling to accommodate their needs; at secondary level, they require special classes (Feldhusen, 2003).

Gifted students have counseling needs that require psychosocial, academic, and career preparation on an annual basis (Colangelo, 2003; Greene, 2003; Jackson & Snow, 2004; Silverman, 1993).  At secondary level, assigning one counselor to the gifted may be the best staffing model to employ.

Gifted students have affective characteristics that render them vulnerable in school settings such as perfectionism, sensitivity, and intensity (Lovecky, 1992; Robinson, 2002).

Gifted students in general have healthy social relationships and adjust well to new situations (Robinson, 2002). Concerns for social development more than cognitive growth are rarely warranted.Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Ed.D.,

The College of William and Mary

Questions?

Barbara Gellergellerbj@gmail.com

Support for claims• 61% of public school teachers reported that they never had any training in meeting the needs of

gifted students. Differentiation does not happen in 80% of classrooms. Archambault, F. X., Jr., Westberg, K. L., Brown, S. W., Hallmark, B. W., Emmons, C. L., & Zhang, W. (1993). Regular classroom practices with gifted students: Results of a national survey of classroom teachers (Research Monograph 93102). Storrs, CT: The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, University of Connecticut

• Gifted students already know 80% of curriculum at commencement of school year. “Why Not Let High Ability Students Start School in January? The Curriculum Compacting Study”, Sally M. Reis, et. Al.

• 20% of all gifted students dropout. NAGC estimate• Gifted students can learn 1-1/2 years of material / school year. Karen Rogers• Pace of learning 1-3 repetitions vs 8-15 for regular kids. Hoagie’s Gifted, Bertie Kingore• Parents are better than teachers at identifying gifted students. Linda Silverman, Ph.D., Director, Gifted

Development Center; Dr. John Worthington, Univ. of Queensland• Clustering benefits all 4 groups, not just gifted. Marcia Gentry; Susan Winebrenner; Carol Tieso;

Karen Rogers• Under-identification. Brainerd, MN school district,

http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2011-04-06/district-tests-all-kindergartners-gifted-talented-program. Changed from nomination process to 100% testing Increased identification of gifted among minorities from 4.3% to 4.8%, special ed students from 0% to 14%; of the gifted, students who qualify for free/reduced meals increased from 13% to 36%.