Gifted Education

Elementary Services

Elementary Level Gifted Education Services

The strategic planning team members focused on designing programming to meet the needs of gifted learners. The Gifted Education program provides a continuum of service that is flexible and has the capacity to include students formally identified and those that revolve-in for service in a strength-area in the pull-out portion of programming. In this way, students who demonstrate a need in the general education classroom can participate with formally identified students in Needs Based Classes, or NBCs. Students formerly identified as core students, will continue to participate in Needs Based Classes with the GE teacher in the building.

The program model for Gifted Education is provided in a ‘continuum of services’ to address the range of needs at each school. Administrators, teachers, parents and students will have a spectrum of support that is respectful of individual student differences and mindful of classroom and community resources. The decisions about range of services offered were made by the Results Teams that followed the strategic planning teams work, and may include pull-out programming, collaborative teaching, varied grouping strategies, acceleration, differentiation of curriculum and instruction, dual enrollment, magnet schools, and specialized or self-contained schools.

Focus on Differentiation

Gifted Education is providing the leadership as the district implements curriculum differentiation to meet the needs of all of our learners. First, State standards and benchmarks tell us what students need to know. Then, through pre-assessment, the classroom teacher looks at the readiness, interest and learner profile of each student to determine each learner’s needs. Meeting the needs of all learners can be best achieved when the delivery of the curriculum varies to address those needs.

Level 1 – Support for All Students

Gifted Education staff is present in all elementary buildings. Classroom teachers participate in professional development to understand the characteristics of gifted learners and address their academic needs. Student screening for needs-based pull-out instruction is provided beginning in grade two.
In August, cluster classroom teachers, gifted education teachers, instructional coaches, curriculum and instruction staff, some special education staff, elementary principals and district administrators participated in a workshop entitled, “Clustering and Differentiation.” Dr. Marcia Gentry, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology & Research Methodology, Department of Educational Studies and Director of the Gifted Education Resource Institute, provided an in-depth presentation on cluster grouping. Elementary principals had additional time to work with Dr. Gentry and work with clustering, differentiation and her longitudinal work in raising student achievement.
Teachers had the opportunity to work with Dr. Rebecca Mann, Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Studies and Dr. Scott Peters, Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater. This team focused on characteristics and strategies to use in the differentiated classroom. Strategies for meeting the needs of a range of learners, present in all classrooms, included compacting, tiered lessons, anchor activities, flexible grouping, learning centers, Bloom’s taxonomy and many others.
The Gifted Education staff looks forward to collaborating with other educators as we work together to provide differentiated instruction to meet the needs of a range of learners. Purdue staff will return in October to continue or work.

Level 2 – Cluster-Based Services (CBS)

Gifted Education (GE) staff collaborates with and support the general education classroom teacher. In kindergarten and first grade (2009-2010) and second grade (2010-2011) , the GE teacher goes into each classroom to focus collaborative instruction on higher-level thinking skills and differentiation. Affective support is provided outside of the classroom for students demonstrating the greatest need for rigor.
In intermediate grade levels, the GE teacher focuses on differentiating instruction in the cluster classroom with students who have the greatest need for rigor. Professional development for the gifted education teacher and cluster classroom teacher at each grade level, K – 6, focuses on differentiation of instruction throughout the year.
Some schools also pursue the opportunity to develop before or after school on-site teams participating in academic challenges, such as Destination Imagination or Future Problem Solving.

Level 3 – Needs-Based Classes (NBC)

Gifted Education staff provides direct instruction in a pull-out model for students identified with the greatest need for rigor. Students previously in the “core” group and newly-identified students form the new NBC groups. Students may participate in up to four topics per year at each grade level: Affective, Non-Verbal, Verbal or Quantitative, depending on the site focus.
Children’s Chorus is also a part of the Level 3 service. Gifted students from all elementary sites in the district have the opportunity to meet weekly to enjoy music, gain choral skills, and prepare for performances in the local and surrounding communities. Audition camps, which combine skill-building, fun, and the opportunity to audition, are held in the fall of the year and include participants from every elementary school in Osseo Area Schools.

Level 4 – Grade/Subject Acceleration, Early Admission, Duel Enrollment Programs

Gifted Education staff work directly with individual students to meet specific needs such as early admission, dual enrollment, and/or acceleration. This data-driven process to meet the needs of gifted students frequently includes collaboration between parent, teacher, student and GE teacher.
Acceleration is a way a student can move more quickly through an education program than their age-peers. For students who have the need for acceleration, a range of needs are reviewed to determine academic readiness. The data-collection process can be facilitated by the Gifted Education teacher. The decision to accelerate a student in a single content-area or in a full grade level, or more, involves a team of professionals at the elementary site.

Beginning in the spring of 2008, Osseo Area Schools began the Early Admission process as a component of acceleration through the lens of Gifted Education. This screening opportunity is provided to families of children who are too young to start school, by State definition, yet see the need for their four-year old to be in Kindergarten. The two-stage screening process begins with a classroom experience for prospective students. For those children demonstrating potential need to the team of observers, the next level of screening addresses fine motor, social-emotional and cognitive readiness from an agency outside the school system. Students demonstrating need through these steps, are offered the opportunity to enter Kindergarten. By School Board policy, the student must turn five by November 1st be eligible in this process. Parents are responsible for the outside screening portion of this process.