Gray Matters Volume 15, Issue 2
November-December, 2013
Published by the Department of Advanced Academic Services, Boulder Valley School District
In This Issue: TAG Educational Advisor Meetings
Enrichment Activities
Professional Development
New Resources
Reversing Underachievement in Gifted Students
C-GER Update, Review and Improvement Planning
TAG Educational Advisor Meetings TAG Advisors are expected to attend scheduled meetings the second Monday of the month during the 2013-2014 school year (except October and March. Meetings are from 8:30 to 11:00 a.m. Half-day subs for teachers will be paid by Advanced Academic Services. Ongoing Professional Development Credit is available through Avatar. Date September 9 October 7-8 November 4 (1st Mon.) December 9 January 13 February10 March (no meeting) April 14 May 12
Location Black Diamond Room No Meeting Black Diamond Room Davidson Mesa & Crescent Rooms Black Diamond Room Black Diamond Room No Meeting Black Diamond Room Black Diamond Room
Enrichment Activities BVSD Sponsored Enrichment Activities Check the website for dates, locations and additional information. Literary Magazine Submission Due Feb. 22, 2014 Science Fair CU Glenn Miller Ballroom Feb. 27, 2014 Destination Imagination Monarch HS Mar. 15, 2014 History Day Boulder High School Apr. 5 , 2014 Additional enrichment activities that are not BVSD sponsored can be found HERE
Professional Development What BVSD Educator Effectiveness Means for Gifted Education
Beyond Giftedness Conference Feb. 21, 2014 BVGT Presentations including the new salon series Ongoing during the school year Socratic Seminar Close Reading Instruction Course (Avatar #3606.7350) 2014 Saturdays BVSD TAG Study Group Grants and out-of-district classes Ongoing during the school year Spring offerings will include the following. Go to Avatar and Select Adv. Academic Services. * Engagement for Twice Exceptional Learners * GT 101 * Inclusive Identification and Assessment Practices * Instructional strategies for increasing rigor and challenge
Reversing Underachievement in Gifted Students A topic that comes up continually with both teachers and parents is the frustration of having a student with high ability who persistently underachieves and how to reverse that pattern. This is an issue not only in BVSD as seen in the fact that one of the most popular 2013 CAGT (CO Association of Gifted and Talented) presentations was the one on the Underachievement of Gifted Middle School Students by Jennifer Ritchotte from the University of Northern Colorado. Much of her presentation was based on the work of Del Siegle. BVSD participated in Siegle’s Gifted Student Underachievement Study which he designed and implemented out of the University of Connecticut and therefore BVSD has permission to use the interventions located at http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/Siegle/NRCGTUnderachievementStudy.htm. These interventions are designed for gifted students in grades 5-8 but may be adapted to students in other grades. Students who qualified for the study and interventions had aptitude and/or achievement test scores in the 95%ile and above with grades of C and below in the corresponding subject (such as a verbal battery of 97%ile and a language arts grade of D; quantitative battery score of 95%ile and a math grade of C). Underachieving gifted students for the purpose of this study and its interventions is defined: As: students who exhibit a severe discrepancy between expected achievement [italics added] (as measured by standardized achievement test scores or cognitive or intellectual ability assessments) and actual achievement [italics added] (as measured by class grades and teacher evaluations). To be classified as an underachiever, the discrepancy between expected and actual achievement must not be the direct result of a diagnosed learning disability. (Reis & McCoach, 2000, p. 157) There is no single cause of underachievement in gifted students. They may underachieve for a variety of reasons which is why there is no universal intervention that will be effective with all gifted students who underachieve. The first step in Siegle’s underachievement intervention is to have students take a survey to determine which intervention would best fit the source of their underachievement. Scoring Form for Student Underachievement Survey Question My classes are interesting.
Factor Attitude Toward Teachers
I am intelligent.
Academic Self Perception
I can learn new ideas quickly in school.
Academic Self Perception
I am glad that I go to this school.
Attitude Toward School
This is a good school.
Attitude Toward School
I work hard at school.
Motivation/Self-Regulation
I relate well to my teachers.
Attitude Toward Teachers
I am self-motivated to do my schoolwork.
Motivation/Self-Regulation
This school is a good match for me.
Attitude Toward School
School is easy for me.
Academic Self Perception
I like my teachers.
Attitude Toward Teachers
My teachers make learning interesting.
Attitude Toward Teachers
My teachers care about me.
Attitude Toward Teachers
Doing well in school is important for my future career goals
Goals
I like this school.
Attitude Toward School
I can grasp complex concepts in school.
Academic Self Perception
Doing well in school is one of my goals.
Goals
I complete my schoolwork regularly.
Motivation/Self-Regulation
It’s important to get good grades in school.
Goals
I am organized about my schoolwork.
Motivation/Self-Regulation
I use a variety of strategies to learn new material.
Motivation/Self-Regulation
I want to do my best in school.
Goals
It is important for me to do well in school.
Goals
I spend a lot of time on my schoolwork.
Motivation/Self-Regulation
Most of the teachers at this school are good teachers.
Attitude Toward Teachers
I am a responsible student.
Motivation/Self-Regulation
I put a lot of effort into my schoolwork.
Motivation/Self-Regulation
I like my classes.
Attitude Toward Teachers
I concentrate on my schoolwork.
Motivation/Self-Regulation
I check my assignments before I turn them in.
Motivation/Self-Regulation
I am capable of getting straight As.
Academic Self Perception
I want to get good grades in school.
Goals
I am good at learning new things in school.
Academic Self Regulation
I am smart in school.
Academic Self Perception
I am proud of this school.
Attitude Toward School
Total Academic Self Perception
Total Attitude Toward Teachers
Total Attitude Toward School
Total Goal Valuation
Total Motivation/SelfRegulation
Curriculum Compacting
Out of 7
Out of 7
Out of 5
Out of 6
Out of 10
See intervention for candidate assessment
Intervention strategy selected based on student profile ____________________________________________ It is interesting to note that students in the control group of the original study who met with a teacher as per the intervention protocol yet did not receive a targeted intervention also showed an increase in achievement. Siegle
attributed this to what has long been known about the positive impact in a student’s life made a caring adult who checks in with her/him on a regular basis. The curriculum compacting intervention is for students who have already mastered the objectives or outcomes of a unit or segment of instruction that is about to be taught. Being a candidate for compacting does not necessarily mean that a student knows all of the material under consideration. The curriculum compacting intervention is based on school/class characteristics, not student characteristics as are the other interventions. Resources The Underachieving Gifted Child: Recognizing, Understanding and Reversing Underachievement by Siegle, D. in The Update, Council for Exceptional Children, Fall, 2012. The School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised: A New Instrument to Identify Academically Able Students Who Underachieve by McCoach,D. B. and Siegle, D. in Educational Psychological Measurement, 63/3/414 Reversing Gifted Underachievement by Ritchott, J. in Parenting for High Potential, June, 2010.
Underachievement Interventions – A Brief Introduction From the Gifted Underachievement Study by Siegle, McCoach, Greene and Reis The following intervention descriptions are from the Gifted Underachievement Intervention Strategies
Self Efficacy Intervention The purpose of this intervention is to provide you with some easy-to-implement strategies that educators and educational researchers have found will increase your students’ confidence to learn new material. Although no single strategy works with all students, a combination of these techniques can increase your students' confidence in their ability to achieve, which is referred to as self-efficacy by Albert Bandura (1986). A growing body of research reveals that there is a positive, significant relationship between students' self-efficacy beliefs and their academic performance. Our goal with this project is to increase the self-efficacy of the student you are working with. People with low self-efficacy toward a task are more likely to avoid it, while those with high self-efficacy are not only more likely to attempt the task, but they also will work harder and persist longer in the face of difficulties. Selfefficacy influences: (1) what activities students select, (2) how much effort they put forth, (3) how persistent they are in the face of difficulties, and (4) the difficulty of the goals they set. Students with low self-efficacy do not expect to do well, and they often do not achieve at a level that is commensurate with their abilities. They do not believe they have the skills to do well so they don't try. The connection between self-efficacy and achievement gets stronger as students advance through school. By the time students are in college, their self-efficacy beliefs are more strongly related to their achievement than any measure of their ability. If we wish to develop high educational achievement among our students, it is essential that we begin building stronger self-efficacy as early as possible. Goal Valuation Intervention Often underachievers appear to be unmotivated to complete their schoolwork or to engage in classroom activities. Let us begin by reframing this problem as a general question. What motivates a person to put forth effort to accomplish a given task? There are 2 basic reasons that a person engages in an activity. Either the person enjoys the activity, or the person values the outcome or byproduct of the activity in some way. For example, Fred might study Social Studies
because he enjoys learning about history whereas Rico might study Social Studies because he wants to get a good grade in the class. Fred studies because he finds the class INTERESTING; Rico studies because he finds the class USEFUL. Some students underachieve in school because they do not value the outcomes of school, nor do they enjoy completing schoolwork. To reverse underachievement that stems from an apparent lack of motivation, we must first determine how to build value into the student's scholastic experiences. The purpose of the goal valuation intervention is to increase the motivation and achievement values of underachieving middle school students. Environmental Perception Intervention This module begins with the evaluation of a student's perceptions of the school environment. Once it has been established whether the perceptions are accurate or distorted, the next step is taken. For example, a student may perceive that a particular classroom environment is not a safe place to voice her opinions or make mistakes. This perception may prove to be totally accurate. If this is the case, then the student can be helped to learn how to deal better with this situation and the teacher may be willing to make some changes in either their interactions with the student or in the physical classroom environment. If, however, the perception that the classroom is not a safe place is unfounded, then the student can learn the necessary skills to do the cognitive work required to change the inaccurate perception. It is important that students do not fall victim to external forces. There are situations and aspects of situations that they can control, provided they have the skills to determine this. Teacher-student collaboration is key to the success of this cognitive work. This module focuses on helping a student move forward academically rather than remaining stuck in a pattern of underachievement. Although the strategies, techniques, and activities in this module are designed for one-on-one work with a student, they are also applicable to almost any teaching situation and group size. The lessons in this module are intended to guide you through discussions with the selected student, as well as to help you reflect on classroom and school interactions and environments. Students' perceptions of classroom environments influence their achievement. A match between a student's preferred classroom environment and the actual class environment may be as important to achievement as the actual nature of the classroom environment. Meeting the individual needs of students in a structured climate, with organization of student roles in the classroom, clear role expectations, and shared group-sanctioned norms have been shown to be effective factors contributing to student achievement. An educational climate that is orderly, but not rigid with a consistent set of rules and values while still allowing for pleasure in learning is an effective environment. Establishing learning teams and changing them often and allowing students to participate in decision-making can lead to higher student morale, and thus, impact their achievement. Self Regulation/Motivation Intervention Self-regulation is an integrated learning process, consisting of the development of a set of constructive behaviors that affect one's learning. These processes are planned and adapted to support the pursuit of personal goals in changing learning environments. Self-regulated learning is a fairly new construct in research on student performance and achievement in classroom settings. A common set of self-regulation strategies exists, as well as an individual set of skills that each student must develop personally to be successful in school and life. These self-regulation skills can be taught, learned, and controlled. Students can be taught to become more self-regulated learners by acquiring specific strategies that are both successful for them and that enable them to increase their control over their own behavior and environment. Most researchers agree that the best learning occurs when someone carefully observes and considers his own behaviors and acts upon what he has learned. This means that students learn to decrease negative behaviors and increase positive behaviors. Therefore, students who are self-regulated must learn to continually ask themselves "Does this strategy work for me in this situation?" In order to self-regulate, students must shift their focus from comparing their performance to peers to self-comparisons, and from being reactive to being proactive learners. Goals direct activities, and students must learn that there are different ways to attain goals, and how to select the best way to complete a specific task. In many classrooms
Curriculum Compacting Intervention Curriculum compacting is a procedure used to streamline the grade level curriculum for high potential students to provide time for more challenging and interesting work. Curriculum compacting is an instructional technique that is specifically designed to make appropriate curricular adjustments for students in any curricular area and at any grade level. Essentially, the procedure involves (1) defining the goals and outcomes of a particular unit or segment of instruction, (2) determining and documenting which students have already mastered most or all of a specified set of learning outcomes, and (3) providing replacement strategies for material already mastered through the use of instructional options that enable a more challenging and productive use of the student's time. Too often, for example, some of our brightest students are asked to learn material they already know, which can lead to frustration, boredom, and ultimately, underachievement. One strategy that has been proven to be effective in addressing underachievement is curriculum compacting and replacement of compacted material, with self-selected work in a high interest area or with advancing to higher level work. This module explains how to streamline or "compact" curriculum through a practical, step-by-step approach. In it, teachers can learn the skills required to modify curriculum, as well as techniques for pretesting students and preparing enrichment options based on individual areas of interest. Practical issues such as record keeping and how to use the compacting form are also discussed. These guidelines can save valuable classroom time for both teachers and students. Curriculum compacting, as presented in this module, can be used with individuals and groups of students with above average ability in any academic, artistic or vocational area. Most important, it has been proven to be beneficial. Current research demonstrates that compacting can dramatically reduce redundancy, and challenge gifted students to new heights of excellence. It can be particularly meaningful for high ability students who are underachieving as it provides one clear way to eliminate work that may be too easy and replace that work with self-selected opportunities in an area of interest.
New Resources Organic Creativity in the Classroom: Teaching to intuition in academics and the arts Edited by Jane Piirto, PhD. Creativity can be taught and nurtured, and we can build classrooms in which creativity thrives. This philosophy acts as a central thesis in this book. This innovative collection of essays explores approaches to teaching creativity from the perspectives of twenty-three experienced educators and artists. In this book they share teaching stories and helpful strategies that can be used to encourage students to become more creative within specific domains. Essential Questions: Opening doors to student understanding by Jay McTighe. What are “essential questions,” and how do they differ from other kinds of questions? What’s so great about them? Why should you design and use essential questions in your classroom? Essential questions (EQs) help target standards as you organize curriculum content into coherent units that yield focused and thoughtful learning. In the classroom, EQs are used to stimulate students’ discussions and promote a deeper understanding of the content. McTighe and Wiggins provide practical guidance on how to design, initiate, and embed inquiry-based teaching and learning in the classroom. Offering dozens of examples, the authors explore the usefulness of EQs in all K–12 content areas. EQ is an important element of the backward design approach to designing curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Quiet Kids: Help your introverted child succeed in an extroverted world by Christine Fonseca. Being an introverted child is difficult, especially in an ever-increasingly noisy world. Often viewed as aloof, unmotivated, or conceited, introverted children are often deeply misunderstood by parents, educators, and peers. Designed to provide parents and educators with a blueprint for understanding the nature of introversion, Quiet Kids provides specific strategies to teach children how to thrive in a world that may not understand them. Presented in an easy-to-read, conversational style, the book uses real-world examples and stories from introverts and parents to show parents and educators how to help children develop resiliency and enhance the positive qualities of being an introvert. With specific strategies to address academic performance, bullying, and resiliency, Quiet Kids is a must-read for anyone wishing to enhance the lives of introverted
children. Raising Creative Kids by Susan Daniels and Dan Peters. How can you nurture creativity? Written for parents and teachers, Raising Creative Kids is a guide to fostering creativity and sustaining the creative spirit in children both at home and at school. Creativity is both a capacity we are born with and a skill that we can further develop. In addition to describing various theories of creativity, the authors describe personality traits, programs, processes, and products that foster creativity. Filled with examples and practical suggestions, this book describes parenting for creativity, teaching organizational skills, and ways to preserve and enhance one’s own creativity. Curiosita Teaching - Integrating Creative Thinking in Your 21st Century Classroom: Teachers edition, Handbook of Instructional Strategies and Teaching Book by Patti and Richard Shade. Handbooks and CDs. These materials Include a section aligning creativity to the Common Core State Standards. Curiosita Teaching a practical creativity program that allows all students to grow creatively! Curiosita Teaching is the narrative that supports you as you teach creativity and teach creatively. The authors focus on bridging the gap between research, theory, and practical application. Under the umbrella of creativity this engaging resource provides the flexibility and structure to integrate creativity into your curriculum at your comfort level as well as provide for differentiation, multiple intelligences, backward planning, and brain-engaging strategies. The practical, step-bystep approach in The Handbook provides tools, activities, and an organizational plan to develop and implement creativity in your classroom. Sequential lessons provide students with the basic skills and understanding of the creative process. The Handbook includes activities in classroom environment, learning and thinking styles, the components of creativity, guidelines, and product-based units. The CD includes over 240 .pdf templates for classroom activities. This is a practical program that allows all students to grow creatively.
Colorado-Gifted Education Review Update and Improvement Planning By Jennifer Barr, Coordinator of Advanced Academic Services At the November 12 BVSD Board of Education meeting, Dr. Ron Cabrera, Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services and Equity, and Jennifer Barr, Coordinator of Advanced Academic Services presented an information item on the Colorado-Gifted Education Review and improvement planning processes. A video of the information item is available on the Board of Education site. To see the report along with questions and comments from Board members, click on Information Item A: Update from Advanced Academic Services. Review and improvement for BVSD’s talented and gifted programming began last April when a team of educators from the CDE Office of Gifted Education visited the BVSD through a process called the Colorado-Gifted Education Review, or C-GER. Before the team arrived, they reviewed desk audit materials which included state funding applications, school and district level data, communications, policies, and budget reports. Once the team arrived onsite, they met with stakeholders in gifted education through focus groups, site visits to schools, and interviews with students, teachers, TAG advisors, administrators, and parents. At the end of the two day visit, the team then compiled their findings in a comprehensive report which was received in June. This report is posted on the TAG Website. The C-GER process was designed to acknowledge strengths and prioritize improvements in ten indicators of gifted programming. The report also identifies and describes what quality programming looks like for each indicator. In the BVSD, three components of the program plan were identified as areas for future development: ● ● ●
Programming Evaluation and Accountability Personnel
In other words, the BVSD is not yet meeting all of the state programming requirements in these three areas. Specific recommendations were made for improving programming, evaluation and accountability, and personnel. These recommendations are detailed in the C-GER comprehensive report. Once the report was received and reviewed by multiple stakeholders including BVSD central administration, the Talented and Gifted District Advisory Committee (TAG DAC) and a work group, the improvement planning process began. Using the improvement planning template provided by the CDE, improvements and goals for school year 20132014 were created and prioritized. With guidance and approval from the CDE Office of Gifted Education, the improvement planning focused on those goals related to Personnel. It was important to all stakeholders that programming improvements were connected with the BVSD Educator Effectiveness work. Specifically, as educators and administrators better understand what effective instruction looks like for gifted learners, they will know how to meet Standard II, Elements c, d, and f.
The next steps for 2013-2014 are to ensure that principals and teachers receive ongoing staff development and support in gifted education and to evaluate the effectiveness of the current TAG staffing model. This work has already begun with staff surveys and data analysis. Current TAG staff was surveyed about their job responsibilities and their background in gifted education. In addition, all BVSD teachers, counselors, and administrators were surveyed to gauge expertise and interest in professional development related to gifted students. The current staffing model allows less than 11 Talented and Gifted Tutor FTE to distribute across all BVSD schools. Elementary schools receive about 8 FTE, middle schools about 2, and high schools about 1. The TAG Tutor Allocation from the district is not enough to fully fund and support TAG personnel at each school, so individual sites must supplement that position with their own funding or supports. This varies from site to site and causes lots of programming inconsistencies. At the central office level, one Gifted Teacher FTE exists, which is used for the Advanced Academic Services Coordinator position. Three TAG teacher leaders are supported by Advanced Academic Services. These are full time classroom teachers who are contracted for TAG leadership work in addition to their full time teaching load. Finally, destratification funds support 2.5 Gifted Teacher FTE (one at Lafayette, one at Angevine, and .5 at Columbine). In order for schools to deliver high quality gifted programming, they need personnel who are trained in gifted education and who have the time to work specifically with gifted learners, train and support teachers, and communicate with parents and staff. For school year 2013-2014, then, the improvement plans will focus on two areas. First, multiple data will be analyzed in order to determine the current programming effectiveness and future needs. Second, professional development offerings will be aligned to Educator Effectiveness and BVSD District Goals and Plans, thereby connecting the dots for educators and stakeholders. Building effective personnel for gifted learners is not a separate, free-standing goal of the Advanced Academic Services Department. Instead, it is clearly connected to the mission of the Instructional Services and Equity Division and to the BVSD as a whole.
What BVSD Teacher Effectiveness Means for Gifted Education By Jennifer Barr, Coordinator of Advanced Academic Services Educator Effectiveness is a general term used to describe several related initiatives and processes within the BVSD. Senate Bill 191 is the legislation behind Educator Effectiveness. The purpose of the legislation is to provide school districts across Colorado with educator evaluation systems that would: ● ● ●
evaluate the effectiveness of licensed personnel to improve the quality of education; Provide meaningful feedback for professional growth and continuous improvement; and Provide a basis for making decisions in the areas of hiring, compensation, promotion, assignment, professional development, earning and retaining non-probationary status, dismissal, and nonrenewal of contract.
In the BVSD, Educator Effectiveness means both the standards - descriptors of what effective educators do - and the evaluations - tools for measuring effectiveness. The Educator Effectiveness Website is especially helpful and informative. It includes standards, training links, and evaluation worksheets. According to the Fall 2013 Educator Effectiveness newsletter, the BVSD’s Educator Effectiveness work is well under way. For the 2013-14 school year, the goals are as follows: to provide opportunities for teachers and building administrators to engage with the standards, elements, and professional practices of the new BVSD evaluation system. The hallmarks of the evaluation system are observation, collecting of artifacts, dialogue, professional development, and utilizing data on student performance. The BVSD Educator Effectiveness evaluation system is evolving this year and a priority of the Educator Effectiveness Committee is to provide multiple opportunities for all stakeholders to provide feedback. So what does all of this mean for gifted education? To begin with, it’s important to know that as part of its ColoradoGifted Education Review (C-GER) process, the BVSD Advanced Academic Services Office recently submitted an improvement plan to the CDE that aligns with the BVSD Educator Effectiveness work. Specifically, as professional development and trainings are designed to help educators and administrators understand what effective instruction looks like for gifted learners, there will be explicit connections to Standard II, Elements c, d, and f. Standard II: Teachers establish a safe, inclusive and respectful learning environment for a diverse population of students. • Element c: Teachers engage students as individuals with unique interests and strengths. • Element d: Teachers adapt their teaching for the benefit of all students, including those with special needs, across a range of ability levels. • Element f: Teachers create a learning environment characterized by acceptable student behavior, efficient use of time, and appropriate intervention strategies. Standard II, elements c, d, and f are particularly applicable for gifted learners because they focus on student strengths, differentiation, and management for learning. As educators demonstrate mastery of Standard II, they will focus on gifted learners as students with unique strengths, needs, and challenges. In order to achieve a highly effective rating in a standard, educators must create a classroom environment where students take an active role in their learning experiences. For example, compare the descriptors for a partially to highly effective below, in Standard II, element c. The following chart is from the BVSD Effective Teacher Standards.
Strength based programming is a well-documented best practice for both gifted and twice exceptional learners. The recently revised National Association for Gifted Children’s (NAGC) Pre-K-Grade 12 Gifted Education Programming Standards specifically addresses strength based programming in multiple standards. In particular, the learning and development standard addresses how important it is for educators to recognize that gifted learners are different learners. Educators must understand the learning and developmental differences of gifted students in order to promote student growth and awareness. Although other BVSD Educator Effectiveness Standards may also apply to gifted learners, Standard II provides a solid base for strong instructional practices that will benefit students with advanced learning needs. Finally, the new evaluation systems will use student growth as 50% of the measure of educator effectiveness. These measures have not yet been finalized; the Educator Effectiveness Committee, along with the Planning and Assessment Department will identify the what - which growth measures will be used - and the how - how those growth measures will make up the 50% student academic growth portion of the evaluation. Growth measures will be implemented in the evaluation system for the 2014-2015 school year. Graphic from the Human Resources Department teacher training. For gifted learners, showing growth on certain types of assessments can be a challenge. For example, consider a fifth grade student taking seventh grade math. If the student is assessed using a standardized fifth grade math test, his or her opportunities to show growth may be quite limited. Since the Educator Effectiveness Committee is providing multiple opportunities for feedback and input, this is a unique opportunity to advocate for the use of growth measures that will allow gifted students to soar. These might include off-level standardized assessments, qualitative and quantitative information, and assessments matched to student strengths. As you learn more and hear more about Educator Effectiveness in the BVSD, consider the positive impact it will have on gifted learners and the emphasis it will place on solid instructional and assessment practices.