Jim Delisle, Ph.D., & Barbara A. Lewis

Edited by Marjorie Lisovskis

SurvivalGuide for

Teachers of Gifted Kids

The

How to Plan, Manage, and Evaluate

Programs for Gifted Youth K–12

Copyright © 2003 by Jim Delisle, Ph.D., and Barbara A. Lewis

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataDelisle, James R., 1953-

Survival guide for teachers of gifted kids : how to plan, manage, and evaluate programs for gifted youth / by Jim Delisle and Barbara A. Lewis.

p. cm.Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 1-57542-116-X

1. Gifted children—Education—United States—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Lewis, Barbara A., 1943- II. Title.

LC3993.9 .D45 2003371.95—dc21 2002013573

eBook ISBN: 978-1-57542-858-1

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List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

List of Reproducible Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Teacher of the Gifted: Fainthearted Need Not Apply.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Why We Wrote This Book .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. . . and Who We Wrote It For .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2The Challenges You Face.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Your Greatest Challenge (and Opportunity): Turning Skeptics and Critics into Stakeholders .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5How to Use This Book .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Before You Begin .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Survival Strategy 1: Set a Solid Foundation for Your Program . . . . . . . . . 8

Keys to Developing a Successful Gifted Education Program... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

The Gifted Education Committee .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Program Development and Planning .. . . . . . 9Identification, Selection, and Placement of Students .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Staff Development and Involvement.. . . . . . . . 9Publicity .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Parent Involvement.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Program Evaluation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Networking and Trend Monitoring .. . . . . . . . 10

Getting Started: Stating Your Mission and Philosophy .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Look First at Your District’s Philosophy and Mission.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Develop a Statement That Fits Your District’s Focus.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Conducting a Needs Assessment .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Tips for Gathering and Using Information .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Setting a Focus for the Gifted Education Program .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Resources .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Survival Strategy 2: Cast a Wide Net to Identify Students . . . . . . . . . 34

Defining Your Terms.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Pitfall 1: Creating a Definition That Isn’t Inclusive .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Pitfall 2: Creating a Definition ThatSuggests All Kids Are Gifted .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Identification: The Beginning Steps . . . and Missteps .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Pitfall 3: Treating Identification as an Event and Not a Process.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Pitfall 4: Once in a Program, Always in a Program (and Vice Versa) .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Pitfall 5: Using Limited Methods of Identification .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Pitfall 6: Failing to Match Identification Criteria to Programming .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Get Off on the Right Foot .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Using a Range of Identification Methods.. . 43Standardized Group and Individual Intelligence and Achievement Tests . . . . . . . . 43Teacher Recommendations.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Parent Checklists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Student Nominations .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Other Methods for Identifying Gifted Students.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

The Next Steps .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Make Selections.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Review Close Cases with the Committee .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Share the Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Plan an Exit Policy .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Keep Your Perspective .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Notes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Resources .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Survival Strategy 3: Lay the Groundwork for a Well-Structured Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Getting Started with Program Planning .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

viii

Contents

Step 1: Take the Inventory of Excellence.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Step 2: Note the “Gifted Gaps” .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Step 3: Set Your Program Goals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Step 4: Establish Your Program Structure .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Notes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Resources .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Survival Strategy 4: Plan Programming You Can Build On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Gifted Services in the Regular Classroom .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Early Entrance and Acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . 71The Inclusive Classroom .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72In-Class Grouping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Differentiated Curriculum and Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Gifted in the Regular Classroom: Benefits and Drawbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Special Classes for Gifted Students . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Pull-Out Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76The Self-Contained Gifted Classroom .. . . 78Ability-Grouped Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79High School Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Weighted Grades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Seminar Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Special Schools for Gifted Students . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Other Options for Serving Gifted Kids . . . . . . . 84Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Survival Strategy 5: Plan andConduct Ongoing Evaluation. . . . . . . . . . 91

Ongoing Program Evaluation: What Does It Look Like? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Why Are You Conducting Your Evaluation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Who Will Take Part? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95When and How Will You Gather Information .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96How Will You Report the Results? . . . . . . . . . . . 97What Will You Do to Follow Through? .. . . 97

Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Survival Strategy 6: Strengthen Your Program by Communicating and BuildingRelationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Keeping the Program Visible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116Make Connections .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Provide Usable Information and Data.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Develop a Newsletter for Parents . . . . . . . . . . 118Seek and Create Publicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Becoming a Resource for Parents and Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Involve, Inform, and Support Parents . . 120Build a Bridge to Teachers.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Start a Resource Library .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Provide Opportunities for Staff Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Sustain Veteran G/T Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Supporting Gifted Students’ Social and Emotional Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125Addressing Parents’ and Students’ Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128A Few Final Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Who’s Who in Gifted Education? A Short List of Key Players, Past and Present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

What’s What in Gifted Education? A Glossary of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Additional Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Parents and Gifted Kids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Publishers of Gifted Education Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

ix

1.1 Shattuck Public Schools Mission/Philosophy Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.2 Redfern School District Mission/Philosophy Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.3 Los Manos District #22 Mission/Philosophy Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.4 Shattuck Public Schools Gifted Mission/Philosophy Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

1.5 Los Manos District #22 Gifted Mission/Philosophy Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

1.6 Gifted Education Mission and Philosophy Statement Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

1.7 What About Involving Students in Needs Assesment? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.1 Positive and Negative Aspects of Gifted Children’s Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

2.2 Sample Overview Ranking Form .. . . . . . . . . . . . 462.3 Sample Form Letter to Parents

Announcing Student’s Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483.1 IPESI Mission Statement .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643.2 IPESI Program Philosophy .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653.3 IPESI Definition of Gifted Children.. . . . . . . . . . 653.4 IPESI Program Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653.5 Goals for Gifted Students.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653.6 Goals for Gifted Education

Programming .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

3.7 Pyramid Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674.1 Is Ability Grouping Controversial

in Your District? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804.2 Examples of Project Plus Middle School

Seminars in Twinsburg, Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 824.3 Examples of Magnet School Programs . . . . 834.4 Sample Gifted Programming Planner . . . . . 855.1 How to Evaluate Your Gifted Program:

A Step-by-Step Plan .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935.2 Program Evaluation Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 945.3 Goals for the District 11 Gifted

Program .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 945.4 Evaluation Purpose for the District 11

Gifted Program .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 946.1 Suggestions for a Staff Development

Plan .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1226.2 Securing a Guest Speaker: 20 Steps

to Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1236.3 What I’ve Learned in My Role as a

Gifted Educator .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1286.4 District 11 Homework Policy.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1316.5 Where Eagles Soar .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1326.6 Keeping Your Own Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

x

List of Figures

Teacher Survey: Gifted Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Parent Survey: Gifted Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Administrator Survey: Gifted Services . . . . . . . . . . . 22Teacher Survey: Improving Gifted Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Parent Survey: Improving Gifted Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Administrator Survey: Improving Gifted Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Teacher’s Gifted Student Recommendation Form .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Teacher’s Gifted Student Nomination Form .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Teacher’s Gifted Student Observation Form .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Parent Checklist of Child’s Traits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Gifted Student Nomination Form .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Gifted Education Program Action Plan . . . . . . . . . . 59Gifted Programming Planner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Teacher Survey: Evaluating Gifted Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Parent Survey: Evaluating Gifted Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102Parent Survey: Gifted Program Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105Student Survey: Evaluating Gifted Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Administrator Survey: Evaluating Gifted Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112Public Service Announcement: Evaluating Gifted Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Student Growth Contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

xi

List of Reproducible Pages

8

Eight-year-old Ada is obsessed with bugs. She collects themin jars, dissects them, and draws them with skillful, metic-ulous detail on the corners of her assignments. For Ada,the best part of her school week comes on Wednesdayafternoon when she meets with her mentor, a biologyteacher from the middle school, to pursue her study andexperiments in entomology.

HHH

Contrary to Ada, Mario detests bugs and bug parts, but heis passionate about Einstein’s theory of time dilation. Hemaroons himself at the back of the classroom and workson writing his own science fiction book about time travel.In a meeting with Mario, the gifted resource teacher, andMario’s sixth-grade math and English teachers, the groupdevised a project Mario could do to replace the science uniton plant species, which he already knew, with research intotime travel. He could then work on his novel as part of thecreative writing unit in English class. The resource teacherfound sources and Web sites Mario could use to learn moreabout the genre of science fiction.

HHH

Carson, a gregarious fourth grader with a huge vocabu-lary, worries constantly about the homeless families in hiscommunity. Recognizing Carson’s intellectual and leader-ship abilities and his strong social conscience, his teacherrecommended that he participate in the district’s FutureProblem Solving Program (FPSP). Carson quickly becameintensely involved, and has now recruited a group of kidsfrom the program to work on the issue of homelessness in

their city through the Community Problem Solving Compo-nent of FPSP.

HHH

At sixteen, Xiang struggles with her world history class andworks with an English as a Second Language teacher everyday. At the same time, she has already completed or testedout of all of her high school math choices and is currentlyworking on her second college-level calculus course throughan online independent study with a local university.

ll of the preceding examples point out howimportant it is for a gifted program to provide a

broad base of services focused on the specific needs ofthe students. A successful gifted program requiresfunding and commitment from the district. In a per-fect world, a full-fledged gifted education programwould include a consistent continuum of services,with a scope and sequence all the way from kinder-garten (or prekindergarten) through twelfth grade,and into all curricular areas. It would allow for flexi-ble groupings of students and would be incorporatedinto the regular school educational plan, as opposedto being an after-school enrichment club. Instructionwould be differentiated and fast paced to meet theacademic needs of individual students.

Sound a little too good to be true? While many dis-tricts do offer such a thoughtfully structured array ofaccommodations for gifted kids, many more providea narrower range of programming or are continuallyworking to add services one step at a time. And, as youprobably know, some districts offer a bare minimum

1

Set a Solid Foundation for Your Program

Survival Strategy

A

Survival Strategy 1: Set a Solid Foundation for Your Program 9

of opportunities to stimulate and challenge theirgifted learners.

No matter how much or how little formal giftededucation your district currently offers, you can startfrom that point to develop broader and improvedprogramming. Maybe you’re part of a committeecharged with imagining and designing a comprehen-sive set of services. If so, lucky you! Maybe your dis-trict has a mix of services, but they have gaps or don’tseem well thought out. Or, maybe you’re starting outwith little more than $1,285.32 from the PTA bakesale. Don’t despair! Begin with what you have. Dosomething well on a small scale, maybe a pilot pro-gram in one building or training on differentiationfor a couple of enthusiastic classroom teachers. Then,as you gain appreciation and approval for the serv-ices, you can work with others to expand the program-ming. Use the skills and talents that you have in place.Complete gifted programs are not “built in a day.”

Keys to Developing a Successful Gifted Education Program

Services for gifted students might be organized inmany ways. Whether you’re starting with a lot or alittle, a successful gifted program is built on a similarset of elements. Here is a brief summary of these fun-damental components, which are covered in detail inthe remainder of this book.

The Gifted Education CommitteeIf you are the district’s gifted coordinator, the job ofspearheading the formation of this committee mayfall to you. It might also be the responsibility ofanother administrator, who may assign leadershipfor different tasks to one or more individuals. Regard-less of who’s in charge or what your specific role maybe, the committee will set or help set the direction foryour program. Its members will work in various capac-ities, often with people outside the group, to accom-plish the different tasks and processes of building andsustaining a districtwide program. Ideally, the com-mittee will include representation from all the peoplewith vested interests: administrators, teachers, par-ents, interested PTO or PTA members, communityleaders, and even a few students.

Program Development and PlanningTasks here include:

• writing the program mission or philosophy statement and goals

• writing, implementing, and reviewing policies and procedures

• setting a focus for gifted education programming

• seeking approval for the program plan from the district and State Department of Education,if necessary

Individuals charged with actually designing theprogram will want to poll teachers, administrators,and parents to determine what student needs are ofparticular interest or concern and to see what types ofservices people feel will be most useful. It will also beimportant to research different exemplary programs.NAGC (the National Association for Gifted Children—see page 7) and state gifted organizations can beexcellent resources here, as can other districts in yourregion known for high-quality gifted services. Withthis information in hand, the next tasks are:

• determining who participates in programmingand how it is delivered

• selecting curriculum, programs, and other services and materials

Identification, Selection, and Placement of Students Means of identification will depend on the types ofprogramming that will be offered. Beyond program-ming, selection and placement will also depend onthe number of students your resources (human andmonetary) will allow you to serve.

Staff Development and InvolvementInservices for teachers in gifted education philosophy,instructional strategies, identification, and imple-mentation can make the difference between a pro-gram that plods or limps along and one that thrives.Equally important are regular meetings for teachersinvolved with the program. Often these meetings canbe used for training and education. They will alsogive teachers a forum for sharing strategies, discussingproblems or concerns, and supporting each other.

“Combine two or more people in the pursuit of a common purpose and you can achieve more with less. Together we are able to accomplish what none

of us could achieve alone.”—Dan Zadra

10 The Survival Guide for Teachers of Gifted Kids

PublicityLocal media outlets present the opportunity to spot-light your program’s successes, inform the communityabout what’s happening with gifted students in theschool or district, and invite people into the process.Newspapers, TV and radio stations, and the Web sitesof your district and the local gifted organization areall forums for educating people about the need andvalue inherent in gifted education and for cultivatingbuy-in. Best of all, this publicity can be free.

Parent InvolvementParents want and need to be involved with the school’sgifted education services. Your planning should con-sider all of the following:

• Parent meetings several times each year. Duringthe meetings, you can encourage advocacy andparticipation in your program. You can also pres-ent information and host discussions of topics ofinterest to parents of gifted kids, such as socialand emotional needs, ability testing, giftednesscoupled with another learning difference, or planning for college.

• A parent newsletter. Send this out several times ayear to keep parents informed about what’s goingon and about trends in gifted education.

• Parent advocacy. Encourage parents to develop a parent advocacy committee, making sure thatschool personnel attend the meetings to keepabreast of parents’ concerns and to support theirinvolvement in their children’s education.

• Volunteer opportunities. Invite parents to volun-teer, in and out of the classroom, and provideappropriate training if they will work directly with students or staff.

Program EvaluationFrom the beginning, you will need to collect data thatgives a snapshot of how the program is succeedingand what changes or improvements are called for.Plan to submit to the school board an annual reportof the strengths and weaknesses of the program.Include ways for all “players”—teachers, parents,students, and administration—to evaluate gifted serv-ices. Set in place a procedure for reviewing the infor-mation gleaned from evaluations and using it toimprove your program and services so they truly meetthe needs of gifted kids in the district.

Networking and Trend MonitoringTime and money need to be allotted so that giftededucation personnel can attend local and nationalworkshops to keep informed about current trends andstrategies in gifted education. This should includemembership in local, state, and national gifted organ-izations as well as plans for someone to serve on dis-trict, state, and professional committees that have thepower to make decisions impacting gifted students. Inaddition, no matter what programs and services youdecide to implement, you will want to plan for aresource center. Even if this starts out as a single shelfin the office or library, it’s important to initiate thisearly on. Include books, pamphlets, videos, and otherresources for parents, teachers, and students. Theresource center is also the place to house publicationsfrom national and state gifted organizations.

Yes, the list of elements for developing a successfulgifted program is a long one. Your planning will taketime and patience. As with many endeavors, to buildor strengthen your program, start at the foundation.The remainder of this chapter will look at three essen-tial pieces of groundwork: determining your missionand philosophy, conducting a needs assessment, andsetting the focus for your gifted program.

Getting Started: Stating Your Mission

and Philosophy

“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else.”

—Alfred Adler

Writing a mission and philosophy statement can be achallenge, especially when doing it as a committee,but is essential to know your parameters and followthem to design the path your program will take. Theprocess is necessary in order to allow all parties witha vested interest to identify with the program. This iscreative, buy-in time for the participants. Muchenthusiasm and built-in advocacy can be generatedat this step.

We recommend that you think in terms of threetypes of information here:

• philosophy (what)—the focusing, identifying, descrip-tive information

• mission, or purpose (why)—your stated reasons forthe program

Survival Strategy 1: Set a Solid Foundation for Your Program 11

• goals (how)—outlining specific steps and somedetails about the way you will address the philos-ophy and accomplish the purpose (goals are addressed in Survival Strategy 3; see pages 64–66)

Look First at Your District’s Philosophy and MissionYour statement will need to align with the district’sstated mission, so start by looking at the official lan-guage your district has put in place. Virtually everyschool district and many individual schools have writ-ten philosophy and mission statements—sometimesseparate, sometimes combined. These statements areusually quite short, seldom longer than a few sen-tences, and have generally been sanctioned by theboard of education in some type of formal approvalprocess. Though some schools start with their philos-ophy and move to their mission, often they begin bythinking about their mission—the purpose behindwhat the school district wants to project for its overallimage and goals.

Mission statements tend to take on a particulartone and character. Some emphasize the child’sdeveloping role as a “global citizen,” while othersfocus on the child as a “lifelong learner.” Still othersaddress the student as a member of a “democraticsociety.” Very rapidly, you can sense in a missionstatement whether the school district sees its primaryeducational job in terms of benefiting the individualchild or in serving as the conduit for acculturating thechild into a larger world.

Close to a school’s mission statement is its philoso-phy of education. A natural link to the mission, thephilosophy is usually a bit longer and more detailed.Also, it is here that you will almost always find lan-guage and values that can support the idea of serv-ices for gifted students. Nearly all philosophystatements include elements on which a gifted edu-cation mission can be founded, as there is often men-tion of something akin to “allowing each child toreach his or her potential.” Here are some examplesof mission and philosophy statements:

The mission of the Shattuck Public Schools is toproduce responsible, educated citizens who areequipped with the skills required for success in anever-changing, highly diverse, technological world.

Figure 1.1 This combined mission/philosophy statement puts theemphasis on children’s future employment and the role they will playin society. Though individual children’s needs are not noted as a par-ticular focus, diversity is acknowledged.

The Redfern School District will foster an academi-cally excellent educational system to develop criticallythinking, civic-minded learners who will contributeto our global society. To accomplish this mission,the district will encourage and support a committedpartnership with staff, parents, and the community.

Figure 1.2 This mission includes a bit of philosophy as well as somedirection for goals. The statement would appear to have a direct link toservices for gifted students, as it emphasizes academic excellence andcritical thinking as fundamentals. It’s apparent, too, that the district val-ues collaboration.

The mission of public education for Los Manos District#22 is for every student to develop the attributesnecessary to become a lifelong learner, to reach per-sonal fulfillment, and to contribute productively to ademocratic society. This calls for an educational sys-tem that responds to the differing abilities, needs,interests, and aspirations of the entire student body.

The philosophy of public education for the LosManos District #22 is to provide every student withthe maximum educational experience the studentcan absorb, subject only to each individual’s limita-tions. This includes providing the maximum educa-tional experience for fast, average, and slow learnersand for those children with disabilities and learningdifferences.

Figure 1.3 Here’s a wonderful statement that emphasizes personalgrowth within a larger society and clearly expresses a commitment toindividual student needs. It just follows that gifted students can beserved well within this mission and philosophy.

Develop a Statement That Fits Your District’s FocusIf you are working from a base of statements similarto any of these, it should be relatively easy for yourcommittee to construct a gifted program philosophyand mission that complements what the board ofeducation says it wants to provide for all students. It’sparticularly easy to do this when districts state theircommitment to being “responsive to the differingneeds, interests, abilities, and aspirations of the entirestudent body,” to “academic excellence,” or to havingstudents “achieve personal fulfillment.” It’s not astretch, either, to link the value of gifted education todistrict missions and philosophies that emphasize“commitment to quality,” “critical thinking,” or “life-long learning.” It can be a little more challenging toconnect the dots from language like “basic knowledgeand skills for making constructive use of the law” or

12 The Survival Guide for Teachers of Gifted Kids

“acquisition of skills, attitudes, and interests whichallow an individual to be aware of the options avail-able, not of the absence of restraints” (these latterstatements are both from actual district missions),but this can legitimately be done.

Indeed, it will be in your best interest to do as inthe following examples: refer back to the district’smission or philosophy as the reason behind yourdesire to offer specific services for gifted students.

The Shattuck Public School District has a responsi-bility to foster in all students critical-thinking, lead-ership, and academic skills that are necessary forsucceeding in a global society. Fulfilling this missionfor all students requires that the district’s schools cap-italize on students’ inherent and developed talentsand abilities. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the dis-trict to provide gifted students with individual learn-ing prescriptions, resources, and experiences thatcapitalize on their inherent and developed talentsand which provide the potential for self-fulfillment,creativity, and responsible production in our society.

Figure 1.4 By identifying attributes required in students’ future rolesas workers and contributing members of society, this statement makesa clear link between the school district’s mission and philosophy andthe needs of gifted students.

Meeting the individual learning needs of children isa well-established mission in Los Manos District #22.It is acknowledged that no single learning prescrip-tion fits all children. In recognition of this diversity,Los Manos District #22 will provide services to iden-tified gifted children. We will provide a wide rangeof opportunities that accommodate the learning dif-ferences of these children and that incorporate theacademic, psychological, and social needs of giftedchildren into program structure.

Figure 1.5 Some pretty big promises are made in this gifted programphilosophy, which is clearly tied to a stated district mission. Note thatthe statement on gifted education includes specific accommodation forgifted kids’ psychological needs—a critical area that is often overlookedat this early stage in the process.

Though not usually a difficult task, writing yourgifted program philosophy and mission may be oneof the most important steps you take in establishingyour program, as it defines both what the programwill offer and why it needs to exist in the first place.Think of your statement as a compass that will pro-vide direction for the program and services you willprovide. Focus is the operative word here.

GIFTED EDUCATION MISSION AND PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT CHECKLIST

4 The statement is consistent with district andstate goals.

4 The statement matches the identification andprogramming practices currently in place.

4 The statement aligns with the gifted educa-tion committee’s agreed-upon vision.

4 The language in the statement provides anumbrella for all the elements the committeeknows it wants to include in the gifted program.

4 The statement is clear and unambiguous.

Figure 1.6

Conducting a Needs Assessment

There are lots of reasons for starting or changing agifted program. Most commonly, there is pressurefrom some community group—usually, parents ofgifted kids—to do more for highly able students thanis currently being done. At other times, a schoolboard member or superintendent may see a need forsuch a program, either because of a lack that is notedor in response to parents’ or teachers’ calls for moreattention to the needs of the gifted. Or, the state mayhave a new mandate requiring services for the gifted.

Whatever the reason, one of the best things youcan do to get the ball rolling at program onset orexpansion is to do a formal needs assessment. A keypurpose in doing this is to learn about the specificeducational needs of the gifted children in yourschool or district—the kids who are actually beingserved or who will be served. The needs assessmentprocess leads to creating a focus for your curriculum.For example, if the assessment results in a demandfor a strong English program, then the focus can becentered on writing, reading, research, speaking, crit-ical thinking, and problem solving. A needs assess-ment also lets you take the temperature of key playersin gifted education when it comes to their views bothon the school’s approach to gifted programming andon gifted education in general. It can tell you whereyour pockets of support and struggle are likely to beas your program begins or changes. A third value ofthe needs assessment is in seeking buy-in: people liketo be asked for their views and feel more connectionand commitment to a program when their concernsand ideas are heard and they are allowed to contributein this way.