Gifted and Talented Program Review Presented to the School Board on March 16, 2015 by Marcy Doud, Director of Special Programs and Rick Halley, Gifted and Talented Coordinator

Gifted and Talented (GT) Review Goal A: Achieve measurable growth and continuous progress for each student Core Strategy A2: Explore ways to expand gifted programming in the district

GT Committee Self Study ● Engaged in an in-depth study of the current GT program and it’s overall effectiveness ● Gathered input from community members and staff ● Reviewed NAGC Standards ● Refined GT criteria Outcomes ● Developed Outcomes that Matter to All ● Developed Mission, Vision, and Belief statements ● Completed SWOT Analysis ● Competed Data Analysis (achievement & parent, staff, and student survey)

GT Committee Recommendations for school year ● Identified areas for improvement and/or expansion-based on data ● Researched GT models and best practices ● Developed recommendation for future GT model/ programming

GT Program Criteria Tier 2Tier 3 ● Cognitive Ability Test - Composite Score of ● Cognitive Ability Test - Single Subtest Score of and NWEA MAP Scores at the 96th percentile or higher in both reading and math ● Teacher Recommendation ● Parent Recommendation ● Cognitive Ability Test - Composite Score of 130 and above ● Cognitive Ability Test - Composite Score of 125+ and NWEA MAP Scores at the 98th percentile or higher in both reading and math ● Teacher Recommendation ● Parent Recommendation Tier 1, or “talent watch/ development”, focuses on the training and support of all teachers in the practice of differentiated instruction. This impacts all students, especially those achieving at high levels, as it offers different learning opportunities that extend beyond the general classroom expectation.

Current Elementary GT Program ● Direct services in small group, team teaching with classroom teachers, and clustering for reading and math ● School-wide enrichment ● Tiers 2 and 3 receive direct services although some building provide direct support in Tier 1 SchoolFTE Garlough.3 Mendota.4 Moreland.3 Pilot Knob.3 Somerset.5

Current Secondary GT Program SchoolFTEServices Heritage.6 ● Supplemental Language Arts curriculum with an emphasis on critical literacy replacement curriculum for grades 5 and 6 Language Arts ● Math acceleration ● World language acceleration beyond level 1 ● Outside of school enrichment opportunities Friendly Hills1.0 ● Replacement curriculum for science with an emphasis on technology engineering ● Math acceleration ● World language acceleration beyond level 1 ● Outside of School enrichment opportunities Sibley0 ● Pathways & rigorous courses

GT Demographic Student Data

GT Students Grade District # of students GT # of students

MAP Math Fall to Spring Growth

MAP Reading Fall to Spring Growth

MCA Performance of GT students in grades in the Spring 2014

MCA Performance of GT students at High School

Research Says…. ● GT students must be provided with complex knowledge and skills in areas of demonstrated performance ● Curriculum must be rigorous and include critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration that will best prepare students for the 21st century skills ● It is critical to eliminate excess drill and review ● Compacting or acceleration is needed to allow GT students to learn at a significantly faster rate. This is especially true in the areas of math and science ● GT students enjoy opportunities to transfer learning from one area of study to their other core subjects, or electives ● GT students may benefit from “Instructional Management” ● GT students should have the opportunity to socialize and learn with like-ability peers

Highly Trained Teachers have an Impact! Rogers (2008) states critical reflection must be given to the following: ● Instructional management- how we organize the learning of gifted learners ● Instructional delivery- how we teach differently to this group is critical ● Curriculum compacting- a rigorous approach that allows us to change the learning outcomes we design for GT students

Where’s Rick?

Elementary and MS Models After researching 30+ models, observing multiple districts, engaging in dialogue with leaders in the field, and ensuring alignment from the committee work, four models rose to the top: ● Levels of Service Model (LOS) by Treffinger/Schroth ● The Differentiation Model by Carol Ann Tomlinson ● The School-wide Enrichment Model by Joseph Renzulli/ Sally Reis ● The Total School-wide Cluster and Differentiation Model by Gentry/Fugate

Recommended Elementary and Middle School GT Model

Recommendation Administration, GT committee, and GTAC recommend this model for the following reasons: ● It aligns with the mission, vision, core beliefs, Outcomes that Matter to All, and survey data ● It is highly recommended by the MN Dept. of Education & the National Association of Gifted Children ● It has 10 years of research with increased gains for GT students as well as other students ● It narrows the instructional range in classrooms ● It can be use at both the elementary and middle school

Recommended High School Model Autonomous Learner Model by George Betts

High School Recommendation Administration, GT committee, and GTAC recommend: ● Increasing rigorous coursework/ pathways where students can obtain college credit and ● Increasing school counseling support for career and college internships/ experiences as well as social/ emotional development

Cost DescriptionCost Budget request to increased Coordinator time to work with each building to implement the model, write extension curriculum, and coordinate school/district wide enrichment opportunities. Increase FTE from 0.4 to 1.0 $54,291 Budget request to increase GT teacher FTE at the Middle School from 1.6 to 2.0 (1.0 at each building) $36,194 Professional Development (train the trainer model) *Grant Opportunity

Grant Opportunity Grant provided by Purdue University through funding from the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program Grant. ● A 5 year grant that would provide professional development ● At least 10 modules/training sessions- including sessions on different levels of advanced enrichment ● One elementary school would be the control group ● Administrators attend two-day initial training ● Minnesota schools involved in the Grant include: St. Louis Park, Red Wing, Austin and Roseville

Implement, Monitor, Measure ● Implementation starting the school year ● Professional development starting summer 2015 ● Continuous monitoring and adjusting by the building principals and GT Coordinator ● Measurements of success as defined by growth in math and reading, proficiency in math and reading, and GT parent and, as appropriate, student survey