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Gifted & Talented Program
Our district's Gifted and Talented Services are quite broad, and include a continuum of services including services for all students (ex. school-wide assemblies, whole class enrichment activities), services for many students (ex. sign-up or interest-based activities such as ski club or Math Olympiad, classroom options such as choice in which novel group to join, classroom enrichment assignments), services for some students (ex. flexibly selected enrichment groups, differentiation of assignments, referral to programs outside school day that may match student talents/interests), and services for a few students (ex. ongoing pull-out groups studying interdisciplinary topics with a focus on the components of Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking and Leadership and Productive Behaviors, subject or grade advancements). The GT teacher and classroom teachers and building specialist teachers consult and plan in concert to provide these opportunities to students.
Not all GT service is provided by the GT specialist, as you can see. In fact parents are easily the most important GT service providers! Think of the opportunities parents make available to children: important conversations, music lessons, family field trips, camps, hobby items, etc.! (In fact, it's interesting to note a study, which concluded that if ZERO days were missed during a student's whole K-12 career, school would have been 10% of the child's lifetime.) Our district website's GT page is planned to keep updated listings of enrichment opportunities in our community. Please feel free to check the links on our pages (and to inform us of others we should add).
Students who meet district criteria for identification as Gifted and Talented (= eligibility for the pull-out groups) are students the GT Specialist will case manage individually. Our district's identification process includes multiple criteria including superior performances on cognitive tests, achievement tests, and classroom work. Parent, teacher and self-recommendation components are also part of the process.
Even all students who meet district GT criteria will not need the same school response. It's possible that some GT students have plenty of challenge and struggle with the enriching curriculum available within the grade level. That student's classroom teacher and the GT specialist then consult to be sure the GT student is working to meet his/her ability level. (We want to avoid underachievement; GT students need to experience the pride and satisfaction earned as the result of hard work and overcoming frustrations, just like other children need to do.) Other GT-identified students may benefit from the GT pull-out class: small group time together for social, emotional and intellectual reasons, (services for a few students). Within GT Pull-out units a broad variety of student challenge is available. In rare instances, students may need even further individualized programming to meet social or academic needs. In those cases, we (family and school) will endeavor (together!) to meet those readiness needs.
Young Scholars Program
The Young Scholars (YS) program is an academic program designed for students with high potential who are not likely to be identified for gifted programs using traditional methods of identification. It is funded by state integration dollars and is available in all District 196 elementaries. The program includes whole class thinking skills lessons at the beginning of the year in grades K-3. Utilizing student performance information from these classes as well as other school data, teachers collaborate to identify students for the YS program. These students are supported to develop their potential as creative and critical thinkers, with the goal being their pursuit of advanced coursework in middle and high school.
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