1. Common Core State Standards: What Gifted Leaders Need To Know Joyce VanTassel-Baska, EdD. Smith Professor Emerita College of William and Mary

2. Participant Outcomes: Participants in this workshop will be able to: --Demonstrate an understanding of the common core in relation to gifted education --Articulate strategies for upgrading curriculum for the gifted under the new common core --Apply differentiated models/examples to a district scope and sequence.

3. What are the new common core state standards (CCSS)? -Designed by teams across states in math and language arts -Aligned with 21 st Century skills: informed by TIMSS et al. -Strong emphasis on thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and communication

4. Myths about the common core standards They replace the need for gifted programs. They are all high level in how they are articulated. They use the same type of assessments used in the past.

5. Sample ELA curriculum Standards (compressed) To develop argument in written and oral forms Sample elements: Analyze different texts. Draw appropriate inferences, given a set of data. Forecast implications of a given decision or action Center for Gifted Education The College of William and Mary

6. Why does the gifted community need to be involved? CCSS will dictate to a great extent teacher education and accreditation. CCSS will come to be considered our national curriculum. CCSS will be the point of departure for all gifted curriculum. We need to be involved in the work of the CCSS as it evolves!

7. Common Core Standards inform... Teacher preparation at preservice levels, Teacher ongoing inservice learning, and Student learning at levels demanded by the 21 st Century through authentic assessments

8. Student Outcomes related to NAGC curriculum planning standards Gifted students will be able to: Demonstrate growth commensurate with aptitude during the school year. Develop abilities in domain of talent and/or area of interest Use critical and creative thinking in solving problems within/across talent domains

9. Student outcomes cont. Transfer advanced knowledge and skills across environments that lead to creative, productive careers in society Become more self aware from engagement in curriculum and evidence-based instructional practices Develop self efficacy skills

10. What is Differentiation? The process of differentiation is the deliberate adaptation and modification of the curriculum, instructional processes, and assessments to respond to the needs of gifted learners.

11. Differentiation Features in a Curriculum Acceleration Complexity Depth Creativity Center for Gifted Education The College of William and Mary

12. Remodel the following project to make it more differentiated Author Study Contract Select a book to read by a given date and provide me with the name of the book. Choose two among the following activities to do:  Create a mindmap of a character in respect to personality, appearance, preferences etc.  Choose a passage from your book and explain its meaning in your own words.  I will draw a comic strip or story map, outlining the plot.  I will design a poster on the computer to advertise my book.  I will write a dialogue that I will role play.

13. Remodel the following math project Select one of the following and collect data across a week: Plant growth Grocery items purchased Amount of time standing in line Analyze your data and report it in a graph to your classmates, explaining your findings.

14. Content adaptations needed for gifted learners in the common core Acceleration and streamlining Differentiating and remodeling Integrating across content disciplines

15. Strategy #1 Acceleration and streamlining Language standards @ Grade 3, 5, & 8 --Demonstrate command of the conventions of English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. (ie. parts of speech, tense, function of nouns @ Gr.3, 5; verbals and voice@Gr. 8) --Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

16. Adaptation for gifted learners Preassess grammar knowledge on form, function, and sentence patterns Preassess usage principles Streamline teaching of unlearned aspects of grammar and usage Engage gifted learners in editing text for grammar and usage errors; provide challenging reading selections and target words/sentences for analysis

17. Strategy #2 Differentiation and remodeling Math, Statistics and Probability (Gr. 6) Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context. Typical learner: On grade level graph provided to interpret. Gifted learner: Large dataset found from Census Bureau, NSC, etc. with questions to explore at the analytical and evaluative levels.

18. Phase I Preassess knowledge of statistics and group by results. Streamline instruction for top group (s) Phase II Assignment of task demand to the top group: Use statistics (ie.mean, median, mode, frequencies and percentages) to analyze one of the following data sets, prepare graphs to illustrate your understanding of the data, and present findings to an appropriate audience.

19. Options for Phase II Health care expenses for people in each decade of life from 10 to 90 years for the years 2006-2011, OR Auto sales in the US by car type across 10 years compared to world sales for those same car makes, OR Ten year trends in salary for different sectors of the US economy for 2000-2010.

20. Phase III Follow-up questions to consider:  What would you predict would be the trend for your data over the next 5 years?  How would you estimate it?  What factors would influence it?

21. Strategy #3 Integrate ELA and Math Standards Standard in English language Arts @ Gr. 3.5, and 8: W7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of a topic. Gr. 8 (to answer a question) Standard in math @ Gr. 3, 5, & 8 Represent and interpret data (creating &using graphs); delineate functions

22. A Sample Task Demand Incorporating Standards Across Math and ELA Ask students to design an experiment to test a question of interest to them: Examples: A. Do people prefer Product X over Product Y? B. Are ants attracted to sugar? C. Are girls more addicted to computers than boys? A research report must be prepared and presented, using technology applications. Be sure to address your hypothesis,your data collection techniques, appropriate data tables, your conclusions, and your implications of the findings based on your original question.

23. Instructional adaptations needed for gifted learners Use of scaffolds that elevate thinking Use of inquiry models such as PBL and shared inquiry Use of higher order questions for discussion and reflection

24. What are appropriate research-based instructional models? Inquiry (shared, project-based) Critical thinking (Bloom, Paul) Creative thinking (CPS) Problem-solving (scientific method, PBL) Research (experimental design, social science models)

25. Assessment adaptations Use of a pre-post growth model Use of advanced performance-based assessments Use of portfolios Use of computer-assisted prompts

26. Phase IV: Assessment Product /assessment for math example: Assess the following dimensions of the project work on a 1-5 scale, 5 being high: Appropriate use of statistical analysis Articulation of trends Logical consistency of predictions

27. Portfolio assessment for math example: Select three new datasets that capture trends across ten year periods and use statistics to analyze them for patterns. Make predictions about the next three year periods. Graph your results. Write a journal entry that reflects on the value of using existing datasets to understand societal trends. Portfolio rubric dimensions : Quality of analysis, evidence for predictions, depth of written reflection

28. Grouping as a support structure for differentiation  Teachers need to have a narrower band of ability for optimal instruction  Instructional results are stronger for all learners if grouping is employed (see Slavin et al)  Functional level of skills impacts what the level of instruction can be for any learner.  Individual differences matter in planning instruction.

29. Research findings on grouping the gifted Different forms of grouping the gifted together for substantial contact time produce value- added learning gains. Use of heterogeneous grouping strategies produce NO learning gains for gifted learners (eg. Cooperative learning with random assignment)

30. Research findings cont. Benefits accrue to the gifted in intrapersonal and interpersonal skills as a result of grouping them with same ability peers. No negative impacts accrue to other students as a result. (eg. Social modeling on the gifted does not work.)

31. What Are Research-based Differentiated Materials for the gifted that aid in teaching to the common core? Mathematics – Mentoring Mathematical Minds (M3) – Techniques of Problem-solving (TOPS) – Connected Math Language Arts – W&M Language Arts Units – Junior Great Books – Jacob's Ladder

32. Math Resources Units of study that stress problem-solving, spatial reasoning, logic, etc. (M3 and William and Mary) Problem-based units that are interdisciplinary (W&M unit on Models—A Study of Animal Populations) Geoboards Krypto and SET (games for families) Techniques of Problem-solving (TOPS)

33. Math resources cont. Tangrams Legos Logic problems Mathematician biographies Problems from antiquity or Martin Gardner problems Math competitions (eg. Math Counts) Math Circles

34. Scope and Sequence Chart--Math K-3 4-5 6-8 9-12 CCSS Gifted Differentiatio n by Standard Acceleration strategies Integration strategies w/ ELA and Science Differentiate d Materials used Instructional models employed

35. Early childhood opportunities (Ages 4-8) Math Science Language arts Puzzles, games, computer program applications, non-algorhythmic problems, math camps and clubs, math circles, museum exploratoriums Collections, experimentation with water and plants, cooking, science museums, computer applications, observation skills Library activities, discussion of books, creation of written products, artistic representation of ideas, reading beyond level, broad-based reading, second language learning

36. Middle elementary (Ages 9-11) MathMath clubs, summer coursework, math circles, math competitions, biography study, accelerated/fast-paced classes Science Language arts Science clubs, team projects for competition, exposure to all domains of science, mentoring, computer applications, scientific research process skill development, biography study Writing competitions, individualized reading lists, Socratic seminars, Junior Great Books, interdisciplinary projects, biography study,

37. Middle School (Ages 11-14)  Greater emphasis in one domain  Career counseling, based on interests, values, aptitudes (examine career clusters that match profile)  Acceleration in domain choice via multiple options  Extra curricular and Saturday and summer involvement in domain-specific opportunities  Use of mentors and tutors as appropriate

38. High School (Ages 14-17) Advanced placement coursework from Grades 9-12 Independent study leading to project competition International Baccalaureate program at Grades 11-12 Dual enrollment Early entrance to college Mentorship and/or internship

39. What can gifted leaders do? Organize professional development on awareness and implementation issues. Design scope and sequence for gifted learners in math and ELA. Hold workshops for remodeling curriculum.

40. Resources available from NAGC  Online FAQ's  Online white paper  Math guide  Language Arts guide

41. “The future will require individuals who are able to formulate new problems, come up with new solutions, and adapt readily to the new ideas of others.” --Csikszentmihalyi & Wolfe, 2000, p. 91

42. Reflection What new usable knowledge did I gain from this workshop? What ideas about the common core for gifted students did I learn? How will I provide leadership in the implementation of a gifted scope and sequence of curriculum in the new common core areas?