Best Practices in Gifted Education Site Visit Preparation Mary Schmidt mschmidt@heartlandaea.org 800.255.0405 or 270.0405 ext. 14375 http://aea11gt.pbworks.com

What We’re Here For.. …to examine best practices in educating the gifted …to learn requirements of Iowa Code for gifted and talented …to interpret Iowa Code in relationship to best practices …to consider ways to organize and document gifted and talented programming and services in preparation for your site visit

What We’re NOT Here For… …to guarantee compliance on a site visit …to focus on meeting a minimum expectation This is bigger than a site visit. Code is pretty vague regarding how to implement the requirements. Just meeting Code would be minimal. Compliance is a minimum! We’re all striving for best practices.

Agenda What are YOU here for? Gifted Children Defined Funding for Gifted and Talented Iowa Code for Gifted and Talented Site Visit Documents Today we’ll be talking about these three big pieces of information.

Consider your district programming… What concerns you? What do you see as areas for improvement? What is being done “right”? What questions do you have? Jot down a few ideas individually. Share in a mixed-district triad. Come up with no more than three questions per pair. Share

Why have a written plan? Chapter 12 requires gifted and talented to be incorporated into the district’s Comprehensive School Improvement Plan. Chapter 59 says 281—59.4(257) Program plan. The program plan submitted by school districts shall be part of the school improvement plan submitted pursuant to Iowa Code section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph “a.” The plan shall include all of the following: 1. Program goals, objectives, and activities to meet the needs of gifted and talented children. 2. Student identification criteria and procedures. 3. Staff professional development. 4. Staff utilization plans. 5. Evaluation criteria and procedures and performance measures. 6. Program budget as defined in rule 281—59.2(257). 7. Qualifications required of personnel administering the program. 8. Other factors required by the department. Chapter 12 has not yet “caught up with” Chapter 59. What is embedded in the CSIP is not sufficiently detailed to guide programming on a day-to-day basis. 2) A written plan will help get closer to programming that is embedded in the larger education program and will transcend staff changes. 3) A written plan spells out the procedures and processes to implement comprehensive g/t programming.

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. --Unknown Ultimately, a written plan helps us get to this. It will start with a statement of mission or philosophy. Take a look at the vision/mission/beliefs sample on the wiki.

Vision Mission Beliefs Vision: what we aspire to Mission: why we exist Beliefs: basic tenets that undergird our programming

Program Mission/Philosophy What do you hope to accomplish through g/t programming? What attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions about gifted children and serving them underlie your programming? Guides everything you do. Supports and is supported by district mission, vision, beliefs. When concerns arise about programming or people are reluctant to provide a given service, we can ask, “Is this consistent with our philosophy and written plan?”

Program Evaluation How are we doing? How good is good enough? How will we know when we’re there? What do we need to improve? What data will answer our questions? Even though review and evaluation are at the end of the list of requirements found in IA Code, we’re going to start with this element. It’s important to know where we are. These are key questions to consider. Program evaluation is the focus of g/t Academy III. Solid program evaluation requires a solid written plan. You can’t evaluate without a clear target. SART

Goals and Performance Measures Guide programming efforts Related to program evaluation Long-term (think CSIP-type goal) Short-term (think APR-ish) Student Outcomes You can see on p. 2 of Ch. 59 that student outcomes is a subset of the program goals and objectives required. Tell us how students should benefit from their programming. What they will know, understand, & be able to do as a result.

Identification Choose areas to serve Match identification criteria to area Use multiple criteria Identifying under-served populations Identification considerations Don’t forget to identify K-2! Rethink the term “formal identification”!

--Del Seigle, NAGC Past President Service the strength that brought the child to your attention in the first place. --Del Seigle, NAGC Past President The service is the programming; the strength is what we identify.

Differentiated Program Align program with goals Align programming with student need Looks different at different levels Problem areas: K-2 and secondary Consider an array of options to meet student need (comprehensive) It’s not a club! In Ch. 59, this falls under the umbrella of Responsibilities of School Districts 59.5(2) Development of curriculum and instructional strategies

Inservice Design For g/t teacher(s), gen ed teachers, counselors, administrators Nature and needs of gifted children District programming details Relationship to district initiatives and PD Refer to Chapter 98 Categorical funds are for the PD needs of teachers of gifted In Ch. 59 this is staff professional development 59.5(8)

Staff Qualifications/Staffing Provisions G/T Endorsement No more grandparent clause All endorsed by 2012 - teachers and coordinators What are the qualifications of the staff? Who will staff the program? How will staff be allocated? Be sure to develop a staff utilization plan There’s a difference between a gt coordinator and an oversight administrator. Can’t pay the oversight administrator out of gifted funds if the position would be full time without that responsibility.

Program Evaluation Program Improvement Measure progress toward program goals Weigh district programming against best practices Ascertain student performance trends Are gifted students making growth? What does that mean for kids above grade level? Arkansas Evaluation Initiative templates

Gifted and Talented Academy Year 1: Not offered during 2013-14 Year 2: Not offered during 2013-14 Year 4: TBD Year 3: October 15 December 10 February 4 April 8 Year 5: March 6 April 3 May 2

Organizing for the Visit Consult the Document Review Checklist Submit GT documents electronically Wiki Google site Use IA Code terms to name files or to create headers within documents Order as listed on checklist

In Closing… …what questions do you still have? …what support do you need?