Overview of the Gifted and Talented Identification Process

Students at Scott that are advanced in math may qualify to use our EPGY program.  This program developed by Stanford University moves students through the different grade levels in math.  Contact Scott's GT facilitator at AASMUS@GREELEYSCHOOLS.ORG for more information.

EPGY LINK

Literature Circles is an exciting reading program that allows students to take control of their own learning.  In this program, the class is divided into reading groups, with each group consisting of four or five students.   Each group then has the opportunity to select its own book to read, as well as the pace at which it wishes to read it (all under teacher supervision, of course).  During the reading of their selected literature, students complete various "jobs" emphasizing skills such as high-level questioning, vocabulary development, and writing.  Similar to a book club, students then get together for an opportunity to share their jobs and discuss the books they are reading.  Here is some RESEARCH on the effectiveness of Literature Circles, and teachers.

District Six uses a variety of curricula to meet the needs of high performing students.

William and Mary Language Arts Curriculum for High Ability Learners

The goals of the William and Mary Language Arts units are to develop students' skills in literary analysis and interpretation, persuasive writing, linguistic competency, and oral communication, as well as to strengthen students' reasoning skills and understanding of the concept of change. The units engage students in exploring carefully selected, challenging works of literature from various times, cultures, and genres, and they encourage students to reflect on their readings through writing and discussion. The units also provide numerous opportunities for students to explore interdisciplinary connections to the language arts and to conduct research around issues relevant to their own lives. A guide to using the curriculum is also available.

 

Jacob's Ladder

Sometimes used as a supplement to the William & Mary language arts units for young students, and sometimes used stand-alone, Jacob's Ladder targets reading comprehension skills in high ability learners. In the form of three skill ladders connected to individual readings in poetry, myths/fables, and nonfiction, students move from lower order, concrete thinking skills to higher order, critical thinking skills. For example, Ladder A moves students from Sequencing to Cause and Effect to Consequences and Implications.

 

Building Language and Caesar's English I and II

Building Language and Caesar's English:

• reveal the age of the English language with its Roman beginnings
• teach students the most prevalent Latin stems, providing an intellectual key for young students to understand that big words aren't necessarily hard
• discard the specious confines of teaching age-graded vocabulary, on the observation that even little children can give the species names of dinosaurs-a clear proof that they can learn and understand bigger words than they are usually asked to learn
• aim to sow the seeds of intellectuality by introducing students to the drama and romance of ancient Rome, to the names of its thinkers, and to some of the fascinating facts of its history.
• show the Latin-English-Spanish connection, indicating clearly how the two great languages of the United States are members of the same family.
• develop a sense of anticipation about reading classic literature in the future. In all three volumes the authors have chosen examples of the use of words and their stems in the best sentences they could find--even if a sentence was from books to be more likely read in high school rather than in elementary school. Included are children's authors such as Sir Walter Scott, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Kenneth Grahame, and Robert Louis Stevenson, but also the Brontes, Jane Austen, Defoe, Milton, Morrison and Shelley.

 

Word Within a Word

This is a vocabulary-building curriculum that is complex, demanding, erudite and witty. It provides internalized, maximum, meaningful, impact at the time students take SSATs and SATs. It is a program that heavily uses etymology, not memorization. Words are presented as a system of thinking, a way of building, analyzing, spelling, pronouncing, using and choosing words. The beauty of this approach is that students will know far more than the list of words encountered in this course, the tens of thousands of words which are not listed, but which are expressions of the system.

 

Educational Program for Gifted Youth (E.P.G.Y.) Math

A rigorous and complete mathematics curriculum at the elementary school level with a strong emphasis in conceptual geometry and mathematical foundations, beginning at the kindergarten level and progressing through the end of pre-algebra. Topics: simple arithmetic, fractions, decimals, sets, measurement, graphs, functions, geometry and pre-algebra.

 

Renzulli Learning System

The Renzulli Learning Differentiation Engine puts students in touch with engaging, individualized resources specially chosen for their interest areas and learning styles. It is an exciting new on-line program that matches students’ interests and learning styles to many different opportunities designed to provide enriched, challenging learning. All of the activities and options in the Renzulli Learning System are based on The Enrichment Triad Model, which has been cited as the most widely used plan for enrichment and talent development in the world.

Greeley-Evans School District follows established procedures for the identification of gifted/talented students that align with state guidelines (CDE, 2003). Identification is an ongoing process that is facilitated by the GT teacher in each building. It uses both formal and informal data and requires the collection of a body of evidence over time to substantiate a student’s talent in specific areas. Ultimately, the process guides programming for each identified student. A complete identification kit is available at each school.

Purpose: 

To find gifted students whose abilities, talents, and potential for accomplishment are so outstanding that they require special provisions in the form of appropriately challenging programming to meet their educational needs. 

Identification Process

1. Student Search
   • GT Teachers collect information on students from a variety of sources which may include parents, self/peers, educational staff, community members, student work, standardized testing, classroom assessment. 
2. Collect Body of Evidence
   • Data will be collected on students that make them unique from others in these areas: intellectual ability, achievement, behaviors/characteristics, demonstrated performance. 
3. Review Body of Evidence
   • Body of evidence reflects that the student's needs are being met in the classroom. More data is needed to make appropriate decisions. Continue collecting evidence over time. 
4. Identification
   • Student's body of evidence reflects need for GT programming
5. Programming Match (Advanced Learning Plan ALP)
   • Programming decisions made based on Advanced Learning Plan (ALP) recommendations to match exceptional academic, social, and emotional needs. 
6. Periodic Review

Collecting a Body of Evidence for Identification

Multiple sources and tools allow children to reveal their exceptionalities or potential. A variety of assessment tools should be used to collect information on a student whose background or talent area makes him/her unique from others. A complete "body of evidence" will consist of data from at least three of the four areas of intellectual ability, achievement, behaviors/characteristics, and demonstrated performance. Identification is based on S (strong), M (moderate), B (borderline) evidence for each piece of data. 

1. Intellectual Ability
   • 95th percentile and above on norm-referenced standardized cognitive tests or subtests. Examples:
     • Weschier Intelligence Test for Children (WISC)
     • Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)
     • Nonverbal Analogies Test (NNAT)
     • Differential Abilities Scales (DAS)
2. Achievement
   • 95th percentile and above on norm-referenced or criterion referenced standardized tests or advanced on standards-based test. Examples:
     • NWEA
     • CSAP
3. Demonstrated Performance
   • Distinguished Level of Performance. Examples:
     • Advanced portfolio
4. Behaviors/Characteristics
   • Observation of behaviors or motivation with outstanding or exceptional factors. Examples:
     • Kingore Inventory
     • Gifted Evaluation Scale
     • Renzuli Characteristic Scale
     • Torrance Test of Creative Abilities