Challenging TAG students in the Mixed-Ability Classroom Jennifer Gonnuscio December 2009

“Advanced students are often criticized because they won’t do their work. I have rarely met gifted kids who won’t do their work. What they usually resist doing is the teacher’s work. Gifted kids would actually be thrilled to be allowed to use school time to do their work, which is defined as learning something they don’t already know!” ~Susan Winebrenner

My Survey Results

What teachers wish they knew… How to give decent instruction while they wait for other students to finish the day’s activities Resources that could provide quick and easy challenges for TAG students. I feel a huge portion of my time is spent on lower level students. How to support all types of students and still eat dinner at night. How to keep them engaged in a multi-level classroom More ideas to reach these students and keep them challenged How to keep them motivated More information about them than a name on a list New Research

How do we give decent instruction when they outpace the assignments? …group and differentiate

Like-Ability Grouping Mixed-Ability Grouping vs Gifted students are there to learn, not to be exploited Like ability groups produce higher academic effects Smaller instruction groups produce higher academic effects than whole class direct instruction Concerns of equity Teacher shortage Concerns of diversity Requires differentiation

Grouping Purposes Research shows: Students (high and low levels) benefit from working with other like ability learners. Low level learners may also benefit from working with high level learners, but the reverse is not true. The overriding key to any grouping is to focus on what is being taught. Purposes of Grouping: Ease delivery of differentiated curriculum Facilitate differentiated instructional strategies Meet affective needs Allow learners of like abilities to learn from each other Grouping is a vehicle educators use to allow gifted children to access learning at the level and complexity they need. What these children do once they are grouped is more important than how they are grouped.

Before Differentiating… 1. Have a clear rationale for differentiation 2. Prepare students and parents for a differentiated classroom 3. Attend to issues of classroom structure and management as they move toward more student-centered learning 4. Move toward differentiation at a pace comfortable to both teacher and learners 5. Plan with team members interested in differentiation

Compacting Curriculum You must Pre-Test, then teach Offer the challenge of passing the Pre-Test to all students and reward their mastery with the opportunity to go on to extensions The passing Pre-Test is worth 80%. Extension material is not heavily graded, but is the bonus points to provide an A.

When planning Pre-Assessment activities, also plan differentiated tasks. Daily class work is a menu of extension of extension activities. Students work on extensions when direct instruction of mastered material is being given. Create rules for behavior while working on extension materials.

Other methods of supporting fast-paced students Self-paced curriculum Check-points to let students show what they know and go on to something more useful Multiple entry points after Pre-Assessment Telescoping curriculum – eliminating repetition and moving quickly through material Tiered curriculum - addressing a key concept with several pathways to arrive at an understanding based on their interests, readiness, or learning profiles using flexible, not static, groupings

Challenging content options, including: Primary sources, interviews, projects, media presentations Original research Independent studies Mentorships Interest groups and clubs Learning Contracts It is the teacher’s challenge to identify the student’s needs, to develop and gain access to appropriate programs and curricula, and to monitor progress. It is the student’s challenge to make use of resources and to be fully responsible for one’s own learning.

Credit for prior learning Student-Teacher negotiated projects Enrichment Clusters Students work with a facilitator over a few weeks to produce a product, performance, or service. Students and facilitator collaboratively creates the plans for exploring the topic as the cluster unfolds. Internships Credit for prior learning Student-Teacher negotiated projects Computer programs Multiple texts and supplementary materials Tasks and projects geared to multiple intelligences

What teachers are doing: Keep instruction at a faster pace for them Ask higher level thinking questions and assignments, opportunities for critical thinking skills Differentiate the curriculum, compact out mastered material Independent projects, mini-field trip opportunities through the school Provide literature about classes available in the community Open ended projects, higher order thinking, creative assignments. Honors/Challenge options for assignments. Projects that allow them to utilize their creativity (open ended)

Strategies targeting multiple intelligences, allowing them to show knowledge in a different way. Choice reading Individualized questioning/discussion at higher level; ability level grouping Socratic Seminars Tutoring other students Group w/TAG students Integrating curriculums ie. math and science Addressing level through differentiation. pre-test, post-test, formative assessments

A few additional suggestions… Resist policies of more work for early finishers Assign more complex, deeper assignments or use compacting Provide supplementary materials which extend Interdisciplinary units and higher level thinking learning centers. Use activities that require analysis, synthesis, and critical thinking Deemphasize grades Encourage intellectual and academic risk taking Develop all students’ social skills Tolerate neither elitist attitudes nor anti-gifted discrimination Listen to the divergent ideas and validate them

Resources worth noting: Teaching for High Potential, an NAGC publication several back issues are available at www.nagc.org Guidelines for Learning Contracts, Independent Study Agreements, & Evaluation of Alternative Work ERIC Digest E524 at www.eric.ed.gov Learner .org Content Connections at www.nagc.org

References Coleman, Mary Ruth (2003). Exploring Secondary Options: Four Variables for Success. Gifted Child Today, Vol 26 Issue 1. Retrieved 11 Nov 2009 from: http://web.ebscohost.com. Kennedy, Dorothy M. (1995). Plain Talk about Creating a Gifted-Friendly Classroom. Roeper Review, Vol 17 Issue 4. Retrieved 11 Nov 2009 from: http://web.ebscohost.com. NAGC (2009). National Association for Gifted Children Position Paper: Grouping, approved March 2009. Retrieved 11 Nov 2009 from: www.northwestea.com. Parke, Beverly N. (1992). Challenging Gifted Students in the Regular Classroom. ERIC Digest #E513. Retrieved 11 Nov 2009: from: www.eric.ed.gov. Rogers, Karen B. (2001). Grouping the Gifted: Myths and Realities. Reprinted in Expert Approaches to Support Gifted Learners (2008), Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Pub. Rogers, Karen B. (2007). Matching Needs of Gifted Learners to School Possiblities. Understanding Our Gifted, Winter 2007, p15-20. Received 12 Nov 2009 from Pacific University’s ILLiad. Reis, Sally M. (2007). No Child Left Bored. School Administrator, Vol 64 Issue 2 p22. Retrieved 11 Nov 2009 from: http://web.ebscohost.com. Tomlinson, Carol Ann (1995). Differentiating Instruction for Advanced Learners in the Mixed-Ability Middle School. ERIC Digests, ED389141. Retrieved 11 Nov 2009 from: www.eric.ed.gov. Winebrenner, Susan (2002). The Gifted in Mixed Ability Classrooms. Understanding our Gifted, Fall 2002. Received 12 Nov 2009 from: Pacific University’s ILLiad.