Cobb County Elementary Gifted Progress Report

Our Mission Continues to Be… To prepare gifted students for an ever-changing global marketplace where they must be self-reflective, goal-oriented problem-seekers and solvers While our standards and progress report have been updated, our mission remains the same.

The ALP Program is process-driven The ALP Program is process-driven. Our ultimate goal is for students to meet the standards. The content and activities help us reach these goals. The program may not look as it did in the past. Focus will be on the standards and performance tasks instead of units. We are not teaching content; we are teaching critical thinking and problem solving skills.

The Core of Quality Instruction In standards-based instruction and assessment: Standards provide the what. Instruction provides the how. Assessments are used to determine the student level of mastery. In the Target program we use a variety of assessments to determine student strengths and areas for growth. Among those are tools such as observation, journals, performance tasks, rubrics, and tests.

New Progress Report Aligns with the Gifted Standards The elements increase in complexity with each grade level Contains familiar and new elements Administered quarterly Refer parents to new progress report handout. Explain that each standard will be broken down to provide for better understanding in future slides. Additionally, explain that each grade level has different verbiage and that the example provided in the PPT is from a third grade progress report. We know this progress report looks different from our previous one. However, its important to note that the process standards from the previous progress report are still evident in our new standards. They’ve just been delineated on a continuum so that parents can understand what is expected for students in first through fifth grade.

THE STANDARDS Cognitive Growth Affective Growth Refer parents to grade level standards: Cognitive: mental processing Affective: behavioral and emotional habits

Cognitive Growth Strands Convergent Thinking Divergent Thinking Evaluative Thinking Relationships/Connections Within cognitive growth we have 4 distinct standards. Within each standard, elements define the expectations for the standard per grade level.

Convergent Thinking Students will reason logically using induction, deduction, and abduction. Examples: logic problems, syllogisms, algebraic reasoning, Hands-On Equations Inductive Reasoning: going from specific to general Ex. given an answer students are asked to produce the question/problem. Deductive Reasoning: a conclusion is drawn from a set of premises where there is only one correct answer. Ex. Matrix Logic problem Abductive Reasoning: typically begins with an incomplete set of observations and proceeds to the likeliest possible explanations for the set. Ex. A medical diagnosis based on symptoms *The list of examples is not comprehensive. It provides a few common tasks.

Convergent Thinking Previous Progress Report: New Progress Report: We have not eliminated process indicators from our previous progress report, rather we are now providing more grade-level specific standards-based feedback.

Divergent Thinking Students will think creatively to generate innovative ideas, products, or solutions to problems. Cognitive Components of Creativity: Fluency, Flexibility, Originality, and Elaboration Affective Components of Creativity: Risk-taking, Complexity, Curiosity, and Imagination Examples: brainstorming, transformations, creative problem solving, repurposing items The creative tasks will increase in complexity as students progress through grade levels. At the primary grades students may be doing simplistic tasks to develop the components of divergent thinking. However, the ultimate goal is to eventually take those skills and apply them to products in order to increase their creative value.

Divergent Thinking Previous Progress Report: New Progress Report: Again, we have not eliminated process indicators from our previous progress report, rather we are now providing more grade-level specific standards-based feedback. As noted, in the previous slide, the components of divergent thinking are: Fluency, Flexibility, Originality, Elaboration, Risk-taking, Complexity, Curiosity, and Imagination.

Evaluative Thinking Students will evaluate and solve a variety of authentic problems. Examples: Ranking and evaluating the quality of ideas for problem solving (evaluative thinking process) Using and creating rubrics to assess work

Evaluative Thinking Previous Progress Report: New Progress Report: Our students are taught the evaluative thinking processes in Target. There are specific convergent and divergent steps we follow to work through a problem or dilemma.

Relationships and Connections Students will make relationships and connections among various topics and disciplines. Examples: Researching real-world topics and making connections to other disciplines Reflecting on societal and/or environmental issues and developing potential solutions Note that relationships are the focus of the primary grades and both relationships and connections are taught in the intermediate grades. Relationships focus on the association within two related topics. Connections link unrelated topics, often across different disciplines. For example, a relationship question related to a current unit of study would be How is the human heart different from a goat’s heart? A connection question would be What does the human heart have in common with the human liver?

Relationships and Connections Previous Progress Report: New Progress Report: With this new progress report we are still expecting students to demonstrate an increase in general knowledge. This standard focuses on a student’s ability to develop relationships and connections beyond what is taught in the regular classroom by asking deep and rigorous questions, and through research and discovery.

Affective Growth Self-Reflection Respect for Others Self-Directed Learner Within affective growth we have 3 distinct standards. Within each standard, elements define the expectations for the standard. These elements are NOT grade level specific which means they are not delineated on a continuum. These elements manifest themselves differently for all children because they are developmental and based on social and emotional needs. Self-Directed Learner: goal-setting, perseverance, initiative Self-Reflection: strengths, weaknesses, multiple intelligences, advocate for self Respect for Others: value of differences, other points of view, constructive feedback, positively contribute to the community

Learning Skills and Behaviors Previous Progress Report: New Progress Report: The affective strands are listed under the Learning Skills and Behaviors section of the progress report. Affective standards are assessed through the lessons in class and the application of those lessons. Communication and Collaboration are included in every Cognitive Growth strand, but the overall assessment is reflected in the Learning Skills and Behaviors section of the progress report. Focus is on both verbal and non-verbal communication skills and collaboration with peers for the purposes of expressing and sharing one’s thinking. The Performance Indicators are separate and reflect the evaluation of behaviors that directly impact the success of a child’s experience in the Target Classroom. All of these are aligned to the performance assessment on our previous progress report.

Cognitive Growth Assessment Indicators (E) Exceeds: When the student has obtained a complete understanding of the element and has repeatedly demonstrated application and inference beyond grade-level expectation (M) Meets : When the student has obtained a complete understanding of the element and has consistently demonstrated independent mastery (P) Progressing: When the student has obtained a basic understanding of the element, but has not yet mastered it consistently and/or independently (D) Does not meet: When the student has not obtained a basic understanding of the element N/A- Element not assessed at this time Our Cognitive Growth elements are assessed using one of four assessment growth indicators. Cognitive growth is a continuum not a final destination. Review indicator definitions and explain that a child with P’s, M’s, and E’s is making satisfactory progress.

Learning Skills & Behaviors Assessment Indicators S = Successfully and consistently displays appropriate learning skills and behaviors P = Progressing toward consistent display of appropriate learning skills and behaviors N = Needs Improvement to display learning skills and behaviors that lead to success Our Learning Skills and Behaviors are assessed using one of three assessment indicators. Social and emotional growth is a developmental process. Review indicator definitions and explain that a child with P’s and S’s is making satisfactory progress.

Continuation Criteria Students must have: a majority of P’s, M’s, and E’s in the Cognitive Growth Elements AND a majority of P’s and S’s in the Learning Skills and Behaviors Section to meet Continuation Criteria in each quarter. A child who does not make satisfactory performance in both sections of the progress report will be placed on probation and interventions will be implemented to support student improvement.

Quarter Focus, Comments, and Attendance Quarter Focus: Reflects the current topic of study Attendance: Students must attend 65% of classes each quarter to be assessed Comments provide descriptive feedback of your child’s performance

Annual Review Is completed at the end of the year and determines if gifted services are to be continued the following year.