Underwood School District Gifted and Talented Philosophy and Program Goals
2007 - 2008
by Laura Sherwin
September 26, 2007
Philosophy
The Underwood School District Gifted and Talented (GAT) program is designed to serve students with cognitive and affective needs that cannot be met with the standard curriculum.
Program Goals
1.Identification
—To use the current process of identifying students and to annually evaluate its effectiveness.
—To make PK–12 teachers aware that the GAT program is a PK–12 program.
2. Program Goals and Performance Measures (updated February 2007)
—Long–Term Goal 1: Provide a variety of appropriate types and levels of acceleration and enrichment in grades PK–12 that are based on students’ learning needs.
—Short–Term Goal 1.1: Conduct a needs assessment to determine:(1) the acceleration and enrichment options currently offered, and (2) the discrepancy between the current offerings and what needs to be offered, PK–12, to address the learning needs of the targeted gifted and talented students.
—Short–Term Goal 1.2: Develop Personal Education Plans (PEPs) for all identified students in the program.
—Long–Term Goal 2: Assess and implement high quality curriculum that is supported by research–based models appropriate for gifted students.
—Short–Term Goal 2.1: Assess the overall curriculum quality for gifted and talented students using the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC) Curriculum division’s rubric for assessing award–winning curriculum (Purcell, Burns, Tomlinson, Imbeau,&Martin, 2002).
3. Differentiation
—To make opportunities for PK–12 students available in a wider variety of subject areas than currently exists in the GAT program.
4. Staffing Provisions and Qualifications
—To provide a support system on which classroom teachers can rely on to help implement new procedures and concepts.
—To develop a written job description for all GAT staff (revised March 2007).
5. Professional Development (includes an in–service design)
—To provide a support system on which classroom teachers can rely on to help implement new procedures and concepts.
—To reinforce gifted and talented programming with differentiated instruction that will develop and enhance the knowledge and skills of gifted education teachers and regular education teachers with gifted children in their classrooms.
6. Budget
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7.GAT Programming Review and Evaluation (updated February 2007
—Long–Term Goal 3: Use a criteria–based evaluation process on a yearly basis to review the seven areas of the Iowa Administrative Code, Chapter 12.5(12).
—Short–Term Goal 3.1: Evaluators will include representatives from the Underwood School district administration, GAT teacher(s), classroom teachers, parents, and students.
—Short–Term Goal 3.2: Results and recommendations are communicated to stake holders via a variety of media (school district web site, school board meetings, written communication, faculty meetings).
