1. Advocacy – What’s it all about? Grassroots Gifted

2. PRESENTED BY THE COLORADO ASSOCIATION FOR GIFTED AND TALENTED 2015

3. Two Types of Advocacy URGENT MATTERS –
When something is happening in your District or at the state level, right now!
ONGOING –
General Information to become a well informed advocate for gifted students.

4. How Do I Show My Support? Inform yourself on what is happening…
Decide how you want to be heard –
Written comments?
Formal Letter
In person?
Testifying
Showing up, numbers do matter!

5. What Should I Say? Be Respectful Be Brief Be Succinct
Emphasize why your points are sound and reasonable
Explain how the your points will improve things for the students

6. IMPORTANT -- Dates and Addresses
Make sure you know what the deadlines are for testimony or comments.
Make sure that you let your community know these dates.
If written comments are sought, include addresses or addresses.

7. Grassroots Gifted Advocacy Toolkit
Purpose?
Providing the necessary tools to understand, participate as partners and account for the implementation of program plans to identify and serve gifted children.
How do I begin?
Review the information the online toolkit handouts provide to develop a basic understanding of gifted education in Colorado.

8. Grassroots Gifted Advocacy Toolkit
GT Informational Links
CDE 2014 Gifted Student Pupil Count
CDE Gifted Student Demographics
AU State Distributions FY 2015
AU District Distributions - Various Years
AU with Early Access Provisions

9. Grassroots Gifted Advocacy Toolkit
Talking Points
Basic Message
Facts and Terms
Definitions

10. Grassroots Gifted Advocacy Toolkit
CDE Student Counts by AU and/or District
(This is one of the online handouts)
How many students are in your district?
How many gifted students?
What percentage of students are identified as gifted?
How does that compare with comparable districts?

11. Grassroots Gifted Advocacy Toolkit
GT Demographics by AU and/or District
(This is one of the online handouts)
What areas are students identified?
What grade does identification/services begin?
Are there gifted students throughout school?
How are the ethnic/cultural/socioeconomic percentages?

12. Grassroots Gifted Advocacy Toolkit
State Money Distributions
(This is one of the online handouts)
How much money does your district receive from the state?
How is the money used?
GT money tends to be centralized as to provide resources that can serve a wide array of circumstances
How does your district use the state money?

13. Grassroots Gifted Advocacy Toolkit
How much does my AU and/or District contribute to Gifted Education? (This is one of the online handouts)
These are numbers from various sources
These numbers might be out of date
Districts determine how much is available to contribute towards GT programs. Remember, different districts have different budget constraints.
Check our your District Annual Program Plan
How are allocations made?

14. Grassroots Gifted Advocacy Toolkit
AU with Early Access
(This is one of the online handouts)
Is your district on this list?
Early Access programs are available to any AU/districts. When a district submits a program that is approved, an early access opportunity is made available for Highly Advanced children to enter school early.
Note: Mount Evans BOCES has just been approved!

15. Grassroots Gifted Advocacy Toolkit
How do I become a good advocate?
Focus on supporting efforts at the local level
Respect the limitations of resources
Ask questions in a respectful, positive manner
Accountability can be measured in many ways
Exhibiting flexibility for meeting student needs
Evidence of individual growth and development
Evidence of gifted education program effectiveness
Celebrate excellence and progress!

16. Grassroots Gifted Advocacy Toolkit
The Advocacy Toolkit information is available on the CAGT website at under Resources/Advocacy.
Remember to stay informed at the state level and to offer support by responding to Action Alerts!
Your voice really does make a difference for the gifted students of Colorado!

17. FINAL THOUGHT
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead