National Education Institute of Republic of Slovenia Some important facts about the realisation of The Concept of Recognising and Educating the G/T students in Slovene Primary and in Secondary schools (ISCED 3) M.Ed. Tanja Bezić 7th Regional meeting on G/T education, Szeget, October, 2012

The aim of presentation some statistical facts about the population of identified gifted students of the 4 th and 9 th classes of the primary schools in Slovenia at the end of the school year 2009/2010; some important facts about the population of identified G/T students of the secondary schools (ISCED3) at the end of the school year 2010/2011; the specific educational measures that are the most frequently offered in Slovene primary schools for G/T students; some important facts about INDEP programmes for G/T students at the end of primary school and some facts about INDEPs in secondary schools; suggestions of necessary modifications in schools’ provision and in teachers’ training

Graf 1: Identified G/T student of the Prim. School at the end of the school year 2009/2010 – the 4 th and 9 th class (ID at least by one psych.test or marking scale)

Graf 2: Identified students with the INDEPs – 4 th and 9 th class Didn‘t need it: 4th class – 21,5% 9th class- 14,6%

Graf 3: Organizational, pedagogical and didactic strategies of INDEPs

Graf 4: Typical G/T organizational, pedagogical and didactics‘ strategies implemented in INDEPs

Find outs: We found out a statistically significant positive correlation between „to have an INDEP“ and the student‘s academic achievements at the national external examinations in Mathematics and in Slovene (mother tongue) language at the end of the primary school. Different correlations were found in regard to different characteristics of INDEPs as they are - structure, content, pedagogic and didactic strategies. We didn‘t find a significant correlation between the duration of INDEPs and the results at national examinations; This is maybe up to the reality that the greatest part of G/T students have had the INDEPs not more than 1,5 years; But the correlation is positive. (The important fact is, that more than a half of primary schools have started with the new 9- year compulsory school not before than the school year 2003/2004 and thus only than with the introduction of the Concept of Recognizing and Educating the G/T students in primary school). According to the opinions of the schools’ coordinators for G/T education, the INDEP is an important tool in the process of caring about a holistic development of G/T student.

Table 1: The number and the percentage of identified G/T students among all enrolled, at the end of the school year 2011/2012 through programmes and classes Programme 1. class2. class3. class4. (1.) class5. (2.) classSUM ID% % % % % % General – 4 year , , , , ,8 Technical-General - 4 year 16927,213122,38713,8468, ,4 Vocational - 4 year 2378,22188,41556,1964,1 7066,8 Vocational - 3 year 70,5110,8131,1 310,8 Vocational-Tehnical ,440,6161,1 SUM206125, , , ,740, ,7

Table 2: The number and the percentage of the identified G/T students with INDEPs at the end of the school year 2010/2011 (secondary school) Programme 1. class2. class3. class4. (1.) class5. (2.) classSUM n INDEP % of ID n INDEP % of ID n INDEP % of ID n INDEP % of ID n INDEP % of ID n INDEP % of ID General – 4 year 40724,735224,034325,321919, ,5 Technical-General - 4 year 6437,93728,21719,51328, ,3 Vocational - 4 year 9339,28840,46743,22425, ,5 Vocational - 3 year 342,9654,5215,4 1135,5 Vocational-Tehnical ,3375,0425,0

Table 3: The percentage of students with INDEPs of all enrolled Programme % General – 4 year 11,2 Technical-General - 4 year 5,6 Vocational - 4 year 2,6 Vocational - 3 year 0,3 Vocational-Tehnical 3+2 0,3 SUM 5,8

Find outs for the secondary schools -1/3 of them implement the Concept, 2/3 partly and 5% still not; -2/3 of them are still not prepared enough for using special marking scales for identification; So, for this school year remains the possibility of using them only in process of nomination; -For secondary schools a specific Quality indicators for G/T programmes were constructed; the G/T coordinators evaluated them as very helpful and useful; -There are many encouraging effects of introducing the Concept, but the most important thing now is to give a sufficient moral and financial support to the mentors and for their mentoring work.

One of the main conclusions about the present situation… The meaning of INDEPs is one of the most important questions of G/T education; Are they really needed for all identified G/T students? Without taking into account the personal characteristics, social circumstances, needs, aspirations and wishes of each G/T students, it is hardly possible to provide an optimal pedagogical support for their development; Further development of INDEPs is one of the priorities in G/T education in Slovenia.

Thank you for your attention! Thank you for your attention! Maribor, old city