1. Academically / Intellectually Gifted Program
Winston-Salem / Forsyth County Schools
Bud Harrelson, AIG Program Manager

2. What are some characteristics of giftedness?
Many gifted children learn to read early, with better comprehension of the nuances of language. As much as half the gifted and talented population has learned to read before entering school. 
Gifted children often read widely, quickly, and intensely and have large vocabularies. 

3. What are some characteristics of giftedness?
Gifted children commonly learn basic skills better, more quickly, and with less practice. 
They are better able to construct and handle abstractions. 
They often pick up and interpret nonverbal cues and can draw inferences that other children need to have spelled out for them. 

4. What are some characteristics of giftedness?
They take less for granted, seeking the "hows" and "whys." 
They can work independently at an earlier age and can concentrate for longer periods. 
Their interests are both wildly eclectic and intensely focused. 

5. What are some characteristics of giftedness?
They often have seemingly boundless energy, which sometimes leads to a misdiagnosis of hyperactivity. 
They usually respond and relate well to parents, teachers, and other adults. They may prefer the company of older children and adults to that of their peers. 

6. What are some characteristics of giftedness?
They like to learn new things, are willing to examine the unusual, and are highly inquisitive. 
They tackle tasks and problems in a well-organized, goal-directed, and efficient manner. 

7. What are some characteristics of giftedness?
They exhibit an intrinsic motivation to learn, find out, or explore and are often very persistent. "I'd rather do it myself" is a common attitude. 

8. Who are the gifted?
Children and youth with outstanding talent perform or show the potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment.

9. Who are the gifted?
These children and youth exhibit high performance capability in intellectual, creative, and/or artistic areas, possess and unusual leadership capacity, or excel in specific academic fields. They require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the schools.

10. Who are the gifted?
Outstanding talents are present in children and youth from all cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor.
Office of Educational Research and Improvement in the US Department of Education (1993)

11. What is a gifted child’s development like?
Asynchronous development
More advanced mentally than others their chronological age
Disparities between their intellectual abilities (mental age) and their physical abilities (chronological age)

12. Giftedness as described through asynchronous development
“…a greater awareness, a greater sensitivity, and a greater ability to understand and to transform perceptions into intellectual and emotional experiences.” (Roper, 1982, p. 21)

13. Giftedness as described through asynchronous development
“…advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm.” (Columbus Group, 1991)

14. Giftedness as described through asynchronous development
…highlights the complexity of the individual’s thought process, the intensity of sensation, emotion, and imagination, and the extraordinary awareness that results from this fusion. (Neihart, 2002)

15. What is a gifted child’s development like?
Feeling out of step with societal norms
Results in cognitive (academic) needs
Results in social / emotional (affective) needs

16. What are the theories regarding intelligence?
Entity theory (Dweck, 1975, 2000) maintains that intelligence is a fixed trait of which we each have an allotted share and that there is little we can do to change it.

17. What characterizes an entity paradigm of intelligence?
Important to appear smart
Need to excel over others
Seek safe, low-effort successes in order to achieve performance goals such as good grades or praise
Will only try something new if they are assured of appearing to be an expert instantly
Highly vulnerable to minor setback
Defensive

18. What are the theories regarding intelligence?
Incremental theory (Stipek & Mac Iver, 1989) states that, even though we differ in ability, intelligence is malleable and can be cultivated and increased through effort.

19. What characterizes an incremental paradigm of intelligence?
Focus on the challenge
Engagement in learning at a risk of appearing less smart
Sticking with tasks until reaching mastery
Persisent / resilience
Focus on using rather than demonstrating their new knowledge

20. Who perpetuates the entity paradigm?
Schools
Rarely encounter a task in school that they can not master the first time
Parents
Well meaning praise from adults on how smart the kid is instead of praising the child for hard work, trying new challenges, persistent efforts, and hardiness in the face of difficulties.

21. What all does this mean for my child?
Unique academic needs
Unique social needs

22. What does this mean academically?
A gifted child has an advanced mental age when compared to her age-mates
The curriculum and expectations of their regular grade level are not aligned with their academic potential

23. What model does WSFCS use to meet the academic needs of gifted students?
Acceleration
Gifted students receive daily instruction in reading and mathematics that is beyond their current grade level

24. WSFCS Program Description
We offer different levels of advanced instruction to meet the academic needs of students.
Academically Gifted – AG
Highly Academically Gifted - HAG

25. Elementary Program – AG Third through Fifth Grade
Minimally, AG students receive…
1.5 hours of AG instruction daily
in a separate classroom
Reading and mathematics
AIG licensed teacher
Content is one or more years above grade level

26. Elementary Program – AG Third through Fifth Grade
Math Acceleration
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade
3rd Grade Math
4th Grade Math
5th Grade Math
6th Grade Math

27. Elementary Program – AG Third through Fifth Grade
English / Language Arts
Strengthen their knowledge of concepts covered in the grade level curriculum with the regular education teacher
Rapid, sophisticated, abstract
More challenging reading
Sophisticated writing

28. Elementary Program – AG Third through Fifth Grade
Schools have flexibility in program delivery
Homogeneous grouping of AG students
Resource model as described
Regular educational classroom

29. Elementary Program – HAG Third through Fifth Grade
HAG students receive…
All-day program
Self-contained classroom
Accelerated instruction in
Reading, Math, Science, Social Studies
Generally two years above grade level
Student product expectations are much higher than their age-mates
Offered at Brunson

30. Middle Program – AG Sixth through Eighth Grade
Continue to receive gifted instruction in language arts and math
Team approach
Match continues to be one grade level ahead, but students can choose not to be accelerated

31. Middle Program – AG Sixth through Eighth Grade
Math Acceleration
6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade
7th Grade Math
Pre-Algebra
Algebra I

32. Middle Program – HAG Sixth through Eighth Grade
HAG students receive…
Gifted instruction in Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science
Complete two high school math courses
Complete on high school science course – Environmental Science
Self-contained classes
Electives – Spanish, Latin, French
Project Lead the Way – Engineering Magnet
Offered only at Hanes

33. Middle Program – HAG Sixth through Eighth Grade
Math Acceleration
6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade
Pre-Algebra
Algebra I
Geometry

34. WSFCS Program Description
Start in elementary school and continue through high school
We emphasize academic achievement and higher-level thinking and reasoning skills

35. WSFCS Program Description
Curriculum guidelines are pulled from the NC Standard Course of Study
Locally developed units enrich and accelerate the state curriculum
Schools have the flexibility to design services to meet students’ needs

36. WSFCS Program Description
To emphasize quality of work, to encourage creativity, problem solving, extensive reading, and peer interaction
To nurture students by combining academic rigor with encouragement and flexibility

37. Elementary Services – AG Kindergarten – Second Grade
Services for students in kindergarten through second grade are provided on a consultative basis
AG resource teacher consults with regular education classroom to differentiate curriculum, process, and products

38. High School Ninth through Twelfth Grade
Honors Courses
Advanced Placement (AP)
International Baccalaureate
Early College at Forsyth Tech
Early Graduate

39. What does all of this mean socially?
Remember that one of the greatest needs of youth as they mature is to be accepted by their peers
We ALL want friends

40. What does all of this mean socially?
Perfectionism
Underachievement
Positive friendship attributes

41. What does all of this mean socially?
Perfectionism
Normal
Derive a very real sense of pleasure form the labors of a painstaking effort and who feel free to be less precise as the situation permits
Neurotic
Are unable to feel satisfaction because in their own eyes they never see to do things good enough to warrant that feeling

42. What does all of this mean socially?
Underachievement
Discrepancies between ability and achievement over a substantial period of time
Caused by
Unchallenging classroom
Peer pressure to conform – be like everyone else
Isolation from classmates
Family dynamics

43. What does this look like socially?
To date, most interventions to reverse underachievement have met with limited success

44. What does all of this mean socially?
Aggravated by being part of another minority group…ethnic minority, child of poverty, female, learning disabled, limited English proficient, gay

45. What does this look like socially?
Positive friendship attributes
Competition

46. Procedures for Identification
Academically Gifted (AG) Program
Group or Individual IQ/Aptitude Score is 95th percentile
The sum of Achievement and Aptitude percentile scores is 180 or more
93rd* Percentile in Aptitude or Achievement with K-2 Assessment one year or more above grade level or End of Grade at the 92nd percentile in Reading & Math
Highly Academically Gifted (HAG) Program
IQ/Aptitude score is 99th percentile with minimum 95th percentile in Achievement
The sum of Achievement and Aptitude percentile scores is 195*or more
99th percentile in Aptitude or Achievement with K-2 Assessment two years or more above grade level or End of Grade at the 99th percentile in Reading & Math

47. Retest Options – Second GradeAG
At least one score of an 85
HAG
At least one score of a 99 and one score of 94
Retests are administered at the school level
Parent(s) choose which test students will retake

48. Retest Options Students are given one retest option
If additional retesting is desired, parents pursue testing at their own expense with a private psychologist
Submit – AIG-2 Form: Prior Notice of Independent Evaluation Form

49. Further testing – Fifth Grade
AG / HAG services for middle school
Students who have a 93rd %ile on Reading or Math 4th EOG
Tested regardless of AG status

50. Quarterly Testing Opportunities
New Students
Private School Students
Home Schooled Students
May test at any of our 4 quarterly testing sessions
Join the test roster by contacting their residential public school

51. What is the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)?
Aptitude Test
Measures a student’s potential for future learning
Three sections
Verbal (48 questions)
Nonverbal (48 questions)
Quantitative (48 questions)

52. Primary uses of CogAT
To guide efforts to adapt instruction to the needs and abilities of students
To provide an alternative measure of cognitive development
To identify students whose predicted levels of achievement differ markedly from their observed levels of achievement

53. Primary Battery (K-2) No reading Tests untimed (paced by teacher)
Mark directly in booklet

54. Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)
Raw score is converted to percentile score by comparison to other children the exact same age and grade
Age is given in year and month
We use the highest of the two scores in AIG Identification

55. Relationships among Stanines, Percentile Ranks, and Standard Age Scores

56. 6 A 5 B (V+) 8 C (Q+ V-) 2 E (N+ V-) Ability Profile Level
Median (middle) age stanine
6 A
5 B (V+)
8 C (Q+ V-)
2 E (N+ V-)
5, 6, 6 = 6
4, 5, 6 = 5
Most informative for A profiles
Least informative for E profiles

57. CogAT 6 ‘ABC’ Profile system
Measuring the pattern
“A” profiles: Confidence bands overlap for all three scores. Scores are at roughly the sAme level
“B” profiles: One score is aBove or Below the other two scores, which do not differ
“C” profiles: Two scores Contrast
“E” profiles: Extreme B or C profiles (>=24)
How do we map the continuous variation in level and patterns of scores to a smaller set of suggestions for teachers?
Carving nature at the joints rather than arbitrarily (Roger Bacon)

58. “A” Profile V Q N
SAS PR
All three confidence bands overlap.
Notice wider confidence band for N.
Composite score (not shown) is best summary….

59. “B” Profiles N- N+ 1 25 50 75 99 V 120 89 Q 116 84 N 100 50 SAS PR V Q N
SAS PR N- V Q N
SAS PR
Paradox…”Truth standing on her head to attract attention.” N+

60. “C” Profile V Q N
SAS PR
V+ N-

61. Extreme “C” Profile SAS Max – SAS Min = 28 1 25 50 75 99 V 120 89 V Q N
SAS PR
SAS Max – SAS Min = 28
E (V+ N-)

62. Interpretation of Ability Profile

63. Parenting Gifted Students
Creativity
Imagination
Opportunity
Questioning
Exploration
Encouragement

64. What role do parents play in developing the gifted student?
Importance of finding and developing one’s abilities
Achievement at the highest level possible
Independent thought
Independent expression
Active-recreational pursuits
Cultural and intellectual pursuits

65. What role do parents play in developing the gifted student?
Demonstrate the love for work and learning
Model independent learning outside of structured settings
Model risk-taking, coping with setbacks, and failure
Build social networks that can give emotional support

66. Parenting Gifted Students
Items to pay attention to in school
Rich vocabulary instruction
Choice
Comparisons among genre
Process, process, process
Depth and detail
Rigor

67. What is rigorous instruction?
Goal of helping students develop the capacity to understand content that is complex, ambiguous, provocative, and personally or emotionally challenging (Strong, Silver, and Perrini, 2001).

68. What legal rights does my gifted child have in NC?
Article 9B mandates and funds gifted education in NC
State allows the district to determine identification and service model
Three year plan for services

69. What is rigorous instruction?
Rigor is the quality of instruction that requires students to construct meaning and impose structure on situations rather than expect to find them already present (Resnick,1987).

70. Organizations and Resources
NC Association for the Gifted and Talented
National Association for Gifted Children

71. Central Office Contact Information
Bud Harrelson
AIG Program Manager
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