Foundations of Gifted and Talented Education
Candidates understand the field as an evolving discipline based on philosophies; evidence-based principles and theories; relevant laws and policies; diverse and historical points of view; and social, emotion, and cultural issues. They recognize how foundational influences affect professional practice.
1.1: Historical foundations of gifted and talented education including points of view and contributions of individuals of diverse backgrounds.
1. My final project for the course, "New Directions in Gifted Education" is a PowerPoint that reviews the new trends in gifted education. The PowerPoint also addresses the under-served population of gifted students, how they've been treated in the past, and what we can do now to serve them in our schools.
1.2: Philosophies, theories, models, and research that support gifted and talented education.
1. The Trifocal Model Newsletter is a project that I completed in the course "Teaching the Gifted Underachiever." The newsletter (which was designed to be given to parents or teachers) describes the Trifocal Model, which aims to reverse the patterns of underachievement. The newsletter also discusses the responsibility of both the parent(s), the student, and the teachers. This project demonstrates my understanding of the Trifocal Model and an intervention that can be used in the classroom to handle underachievement.
2. Post #2 from the course, "Nature and Needs of Gifted Learners" compares and contrasts the current state of gifted education to the view that Sir Ken Robinson believes that we should be heading. He discusses the difference between the "factory" mindset that we currently have to a "garden" mindset that treats children as individuals with individual needs.
3. Post #6 from the course, "Nature and Needs of Gifted Learners" discusses how RTI,
and other similar approaches, are created with multiple tiers designed to
support students at differing levels of needed interventions. This evidence demonstrates my understanding of the effectiveness of the RTI model in relationship to gifted learners.
1.3: Local, state, and federal laws and policies related to gifted and talented education.
1. Post #2, from the course "Gifted and the Law," discusses the state RCW's and how they address highly capable children. The post discusses funding and programs that are addressed in the RCW's. This evidence demonstrates my understanding of the state laws and how they deal with highly capable and gifted children.
2. Post #3, from the course "Gifted and the Law," discusses the local policies that are used in the Issaquah School District to address highly capable children. The Issaquah School District was found to address highly capable children well at the elementary level, but lacked challenging options for gifted students at the secondary levels. This evidence demonstrates my understanding of how my school district deals with highly capable students.
3. My final project from the course "Gifted and the Law" summarizes local, state and federal laws and policies related to gifted and talented students. Additionally, this PowerPoint discusses how the new common core standards can be applied towards highly capable children. This project demonstrates my comprehensive understanding of how gifted students are served and not served by the law.
1.3.1: FERPA as it relates to gifted and talented learners.
1. Post #3 from the course "Gifted Children and the Law" reviews the local laws surrounding gifted services in schools. It touches upon the rights that parents have to their children's documents and the testing services that are provided in the Issaquah School District.
2. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act website provides detailed information about FERPA and the rights parents have regarding their child's private records. Knowledge and use of this site demonstrates my understanding of FERPA and the resources online that relate to this law.
1.4: Definitions of giftedness and identification of individuals with gifts and talents, including those with diverse backgrounds and/or exceptional learning needs.
1. Post #1 from the course "Teaching the Gifted Underachiever," discusses the definitions and information on gifted underachievers. Gifted learners are not generally apathetic learners, but there are often some very complex reasons why they are underachieving. Parents, teachers, and mentors must work together to figure out the reasons why a gifted student is not achieving.
2. The article, "Making All Kids Smarter" discusses one definition of giftedness and how we can appreciate uniqueness. It also addresses different causes of giftedness, which relates to different backgrounds and situations. This article demonstrates my increasing knowledge of how giftedness is defined.
1. The article "Gifted Underachievers" explores the lack of identification of gifted students who come from low-income families or are English Language Learners. This article also discusses the impact that under-identification has on these children; including underachievement, behavior problems, and dropping out due to boredom. This article demonstrates my understanding of the importance of identifying all gifted learners, no matter what their background is.
1.5: Societal,
cultural, and economic factors, including anti-intellectualism and equity vs.
excellence, that may enhance or inhibit the developments of gifts and
talents.
1. The report "A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students" comprehensively explores the importance of providing acceleration and challenge for our nation's gifted population. The report discusses multiple types of acceleration, advantages of acceleration, and what teachers/administrators can do to implement these practices. This report demonstrates my understanding of the research behind acceleration of gifted students and the implications that accelerating/not accelerating students might have on the society and the student themselves.
1.5.1: Ways
in which groups are stereotyped and experience historical and current
discrimination and implications for gifted and talented education.
1. The article "Gifted Underachievement" discusses culturally diverse underachievers and their barriers to achievement. Different value systems, language, gender differences, and identification processes all pose challenges for gifted students. This article demonstrates my understanding of the discrimination of specific groups of gifted students and implications on gifted education practices.
1.6: Issues
and trends interconnecting general, special, and gifted and talented education.
1. My final project for the course, "New Directions in Gifted Education" is a PowerPoint that reviews the new trends in gifted education. The PowerPoint discusses the gifted under-served, how the Common Core standards related to gifted education, and new trends in technology. This project demonstrates my understanding of the direction that gifted education is going and how it relates to new mandates in education, like the Common Core State Standards.
2. Post #2 from the course, "Nature and Needs of Gifted Learners" compares and contrasts the current state of gifted education to the view that Sir Ken Robinson believes that we should be heading. He discusses the difference between the "factory" mindset that we currently have to a "garden" mindset that treats children as individuals with individual needs. This demonstrates my understanding of one of the trends that should be expanded on.
1.7: Organizations
and publications relevant to the field of gifted and talented education.
1. I am a member of the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC), and I have access to the newsletter "Teaching for High Potential." I have used many of the articles and strategies from the newsletters in my classroom; and used the newsletters as a way to keep informed about the direction of gifted education.