What to do without OPAL??

[Claire Houlihan]

Recently the question has been raised, how to fill the void of our
missing OPAL or gifted programs with the reductions in the budget?

There are many ways to address the needs of Scotia-Glenville's high
ability students within the framework of our existing programs with
little to no additional costs.

Reading at grade level for all students by 2nd grade should not be
the primary goal for all of our students. Significant yearly progress
in all areas of study should be part of the goal for students already
at or above grade level. Below is an excellent article detailing a
few ideas that could easily be incorporated in the classrooms to help
encourage all students to excel.

Helping Gifted Learners Soar
Pre-assessment is the first step; differentiation is the second.
Here's how teachers can address the needs of their brightest
students.

Rakow, Susan.
Source:Educational Leadership, Feb2012, Vol. 69 Issue 5, p34-40, 6p.

Pre-assessment is the first step; differentiation is the second.
Here's how teachers can address the needs of their brightest students

I'm bored! I learned this a long time ago!" Shawna lamented to her
mother when she refused to do her math and spelling homework. Lately,
she even resisted going to school. When Shawna's mother called the
teacher, Miss Jefferson said that she'd try to find some kind of
enrichment for Shawna if she had time, but that Shawna still had to do
the homework like everyone else or it wouldn't be fair. Even after a
call to the principal, both Shawna and her mother were left feeling
frustrated. The principal told her to relax and "let Shawna just be a
kid."

Whenever we educators talk about raising achievement, grade-level
standards are most frequently the end goal for student learning. But
what about students who have already met some, if not all, of those
standards and who master material quickly and with depth? Like Shawna,
they frequently languish in our classrooms, held down by the low
ceiling imposed by narrow assessments; misunderstanding of their
needs; teachers' lack of skills in adjusting curriculum and
instruction for this population; and, most significant, a failure of
will to help them excel.

These students are often invisible as we pore over the scores of
students "at the bubble" and reams of data that are supposed to guide
our decision making and close various gaps. But rarely do we turn our
attention to the students who pass all the tests and score in the 90th
percentile or even higher, scores that indicate the test was probably
inadequate for measuring what these students know and are able to do.
Even though they may consistently score at the 99th percentile, many
students don't make sufficient yearly progress.

A Matter of Will
Few teacher preparation programs require coursework in differentiation
for gifted and advanced learners or strategies for teaching advanced
classes and content. Thus, even when teachers want to help -- and many
do -- they lack the knowledge and skills to do so. Moreover, recent
budget cuts have left teachers with few resources, little expert
assistance from gifted specialists, and no additional time to plan and
create.

Yet some schools and districts have chosen to include gifted and
advanced learners in their professional development discussions,
school scheduling, and instructional planning. Some reasons are
pragmatic: If students are to enroll and succeed in advanced placement
(AP) high school classes, teachers need to nurture their talent and
adequately prepare them in grades K-8. Some reasons are more
principled: School mission statements, which typically include
statements like "all students should receive an education that
optimizes their potential," should also apply to gifted learners. And
some reasons are political: Parents with means insist on such
programs, or they leave the public schools for homeschooling, online
schools, or private schools.

What follows are some best practices in gifted education that schools
all around the United States have implemented to ensure that every
student grows and learns each year.

First Step: Pre-assessment
If a gifted or advanced learner demonstrates mastery of adding
fractions on a short-cycle assessment, we can't stop there, even if
adding fractions is the outcome or standard for that grade level. What
else about fractions does he or she know?

The pre-assessment should start with outcomes for a unit or topic --
or even for the whole school year -- including both state and national
standards. Using objectives that are at grade level as well as those
that are a grade or two above will indicate how far ahead students
might be.

Pre-assessments should be administered at least one to two weeks
before instruction is to begin. They should be individual; the student
should complete them in writing (if he or she is old enough); and they
should be administered in school. The teacher can give the pre-
assessment to some or all of the students in a class, depending on who
the teacher feels is ready. Such unit-based pre-assessment avoids the
issue of requiring a gifted label. Instead, any student who
demonstrates mastery on the pre-assessment becomes eligible for
advanced work.

Pre-assessments don't have to be tests, although obviously post-tests,
often provided by textbook publishers, are suitable, especially if
questions are based on state standards. Pre-assessments can also be
graphic organizers, journaling, charts, or concept maps. Whatever
their form, they should be directed at multiple levels of Bloom's
taxonomy to explore students' depth of understanding.

For example, a pre-assessment on a 6th grade social studies chapter on
China might include some questions at the "remember" level of the
taxonomy (What is a dynasty? What religions developed in China? Who
was Confucius?) and some at a more advanced level (China has a
different kind of government than we have in the United States.
Describe what you know about China's government and explain how it's
similar to or different from ours.). Math concepts should be paired
with computations, word problems, and written responses explaining
students' rationales for their answers.

Consider one 2nd grade teacher I worked with, who developed a
differentiated spelling program. All students took the spelling pre-
assessment on Monday. Those who scored above 85 percent moved on to
the next unit of more difficult words and more challenging activities
to apply them -- and they didn't have to do the spelling workbook
pages. For the first few weeks, a small number of students passed and
moved on. But when the rest of the class realized that they, too,
could skip the workbook pages if they studied the words for the next
unit over the weekend, their achievement rose dramatically. End
result? The majority of students completed two years of spelling in
one.

A word for principals here: When administrators are observing in
classrooms for appropriately differentiated instruction for gifted and
advanced learners, the first thing to ask for is the pre-assessment.
If there's no pre-assessment, there's no significant differentiation.

So what might Shawna's teacher do? She could give Shawna a pre-
assessment to see whether she really knows the material. (There may be
other reasons Shawna says she's bored.) The teacher could check her
standardized test scores and previous report cards (especially teacher
comments) to get additional information. She could administer
additional types of pre-assessments -- such as an interest or learning-
style inventory -- to explore having Shawna work on extended learning
projects in her areas of interest.

She could consult with the principal or with the gifted intervention
specialist or district gifted coordinator, if one is available. She
could suggest that Shawna's mother connect with the state gifted
organization or the National Association for Gifted Children, which
has an active parent network. If Shawna consistently tests out of
material in all content areas, the teacher could use the Iowa
Acceleration Scale to gather information before meeting with
significant stakeholders. The teacher could even consider whether
grade-level or subject acceleration is appropriate. Teachers make the
soundest decisions only after thorough pre-assessment has taken place
and in collaboration with others.

Next Step: Differentiation
It's Not Just Different

Too often, educators substitute faddish quick-fixes for significant
change. When Virgil Ward (1980) described the need for a "differential
education" for gifted learners, he was certainly not envisioning a tic-
tac-toe board or a song about prepositions. Carol Ann Tom-linson
(2001) reminds us that differentiation is a philosophy, not merely a
strategy. It's based on the belief that we need to identify each
student's starting place for learning. That's why pre-assessment is
the essential first step -- and differentiation is the next.

Most teachers will say they already differentiate. But what they often
mean is that they make accommodations for students with special needs
in accordance with individualized education programs (IEPs) and 504
plans for students with disabilities. For teachers, accommodations are
much easier than differentiation for advanced learners because the
content is already prescribed and, in many cases, so are the pace and
strategies. In addition, accommodations are usually connected to
meeting grade-level standards with which the teacher is already
familiar.

Differentiation for advanced learners requires something else: The
teacher must be familiar with above-grade-level standards, in-depth
content beyond the grade-level text, advanced and extended resources,
and alternative instructional strategies. The Fordham Report High-
Achieving Students in the Era of NCLB (Loveless, Farkas, & Duffett,
2008) describes what we already know -- that teachers have received
little or no preparation for meeting the needs of gifted and advanced
learners. As a result, many ask these learners to do something
different, but it's not differentiated.

For example, a student who demonstrates on a pre-test that she knows,
understands, and is able to use a set of vocabulary words
appropriately may not have to do the chapter in the vocabulary
workbook. Instead, the teacher may ask her to create a song using the
vocabulary words. This is a misapplication and misunderstanding, not
just of differentiation, but also of multiple intelligences. The
student has already mastered the material. She needs to learn
something new, not just practice the same words in a different way.
The teacher has ignored the substance of the results of the pre-
assessment. The student needs new vocabulary, application activities
that include etymology and Latin and Greek word parts, and reading
assignments that reflect her capability to handle more complex
material.

Differentiation isn't just "different." Here's where principals and
administrators are often led astray when they conduct observations and
evaluations.[1] If they see students doing different things, they may
assume that the teacher has differentiated these activities on the
basis of students' needs. The only way an observer can determine
whether appropriate differentiation is taking place is if he or she
understands how the teacher used the pre-assessment to assign students
to activities. This is especially difficult to ascertain with young
children and learning centers. If everyone rotates to all the learning
centers and does the same activities, no differentiation is occurring.

Starting Out
Ideally, a gifted intervention specialist can work with the classroom
teacher to review the pre-assessment, help design activities, and
collaborate when the multiple groups are working. Students may be
advanced in different ways and will require varied materials and
approaches.

For example, if young children were to go to a learning center on
insects, the teacher might differentiate activities at ascending
levels of complexity by color. He or she would guide students to
choose among red, blue, or green activities, basing this guidance on
an understanding of each student's readiness level for this particular
content, including the student's pre-assessment results in both
reading and science. This would reduce situations in which advanced
students take the easy way out to finish quickly or struggling
learners select activities so far beyond their zones of proximal
development that they are sure to experience frustration or failure.
The following week, the teacher could change the meaning of the colors
or use different colors so students don't decide that blue means smart
and green means dumb. Besides, the groups would always vary depending
on the content, thus helping to avoid assigning labels.

The complexity of differentiation requires that teachers start with
something manageable, especially if they're working alone. They should
begin with one unit or subject area at a time rather than try to
differentiate all units for the whole year at once. One way of easing
this process is to work during summer planning time with a gifted
intervention specialist, consultant, or faculty member from a local
university to develop activities and materials.

Grouping -- Not Tracking
Most elementary schools have special groups for struggling learners as
well as special classes for students with physical and mental
disabilities or behavior problems. These placements should be data-
based, frequently revisited for appropriateness, and reflect
principles of social justice. The labels we apply to students help
them access these services and therefore can be helpful.

But when we look at the typical response to grouping practices for
high achievers, the party line is frequently "we don't use tracking."
Of course not. Nobody uses tracking anymore in the way it used to be
implemented -- as an inflexible trajectory toward college, the
factory, or the street.

However, we do use achievement grouping to meet students' needs. Just
as in grouping for special services, these groups should be flexible
and frequently reevaluated. Teachers should use assessments that
document student ability, prior achievement, motivation, and interest
to make appropriate placements. By the time students reach about 6th
grade, advanced and gifted learners need subject specialists. And to
meet with these teachers and use the teachers' time effectively,
students need to be grouped.

Students who demonstrate advanced knowledge and skills in science in
7th grade probably need an additional licensed science teacher with
advanced content knowledge, perhaps even with high school teaching
experience, to prepare them for AP science classes or dual enrollment
at a local college. The same is true for math and foreign language.

The "gifted" label simply isn't enough. Too many schools provide pull-
out or push-in services with a gifted intervention specialist for just
a few hours a week. These programs offer wonderful opportunities for
creative problem-solving activities; participation in competitions
(such as Destination Imagination, Knowledge Master Open, Geography
Bee, or MathCounts); and social interactions with students'
intellectual peers. But like students with learning disabilities,
gifted students are gifted all day long. In elementary school,
teachers can offer flexible reading and math groups, interest centers,
and Internet-based enrichment in their classrooms while the gifted
intervention specialist, who provides the pull-out or resource room
program, can offer a different and more challenging kind of
curriculum.

Laying the Foundation
Once gifted students hit middle school, often called the "black hole
of gifted education," few services are available. In addition, the
pull-out model, which worked in elementary school, is a social
disaster in middle school. The peer pressure not to be "a nerd" is
fierce, and being pulled out of class often embarrasses gifted
students at this age. A recent Fordham report (Xiang. Dahlin, Cronin,
Theaker, & Durant. 2011) describes how "high flyers" often hit a wall
in middle school, where the emphases on social development, well-
roundedness, and athletic competition can trump meeting students'
academic, artistic, and intellectual needs.

The fact is that if we expect students to take AP courses in high
school, we need to lay the foundation in middle school. Many 6th
graders could take pre-algebra or algebra and possibly complete a high
school-level honors geometry course before they leave middle school.

So what are the roadblocks? First, there's the assumption that serving
gifted learners is inherently undemocratic. Second, the detracking
movement insists that all students have access to the same advanced
material at the same time because it shouldn't be restricted to an
"elite." But when a school's racial, linguistic. or ethnic diversity
isn't reflected in the makeup of advanced classes, we need to address
the problem, not cancel the class! Finally, the pressures of
standardized testing and accountability, coupled with decreased
financial resources, can inhibit even a motivated district or school
from implementing programming for gifted and advanced learners and
professional development for their teachers.

One district with which I have worked addressed the issue of lack of
diversity in advanced classes in high school by starting with
kindergarten. Understanding that AP calculus and AP English students
are nurtured from a young age, the district began using alternative
talent identification tools (such as the Naglieri and Discover
assessments) to find more high-potential minority students. These
assessments draw more on students' multiple intelligences and
nonverbal problem-solving skills than traditional verbal-oriented
ability tests do. However, students weren't just dropped into an
existing academic gifted program. Teachers and administrators
recognized that they needed to build a bridge for these students
between their strong, often nontraditional, abilities and traditional
academics.

Taking Action
The time has come to put aside the outdated notion that flexible
achievement groupings designed to meet students' needs are the same as
tracking and cannot also reflect principles of social justice. It's
also time for the United States as a nation to do a better job of
nurturing our most capable and creative students and providing them
with the tools and opportunities they need to lead us into a brighter
future.

If there's no pre-assessment, there's no significant differentiation.

Even though they may consistently score at the 99th percentile, many
students don't make sufficient yearly progress.

[Andrew Crapo]

This seems to me, as a lay person, to be very well written and well founded. This is the kind of view of differentiation and acceleration that we need to be discussing. Thanks!

[Christine McKenna]

I thought this was an excellent article, and right on target.
Critical to the success of any type of differentiation is teacher
training - both in how to differentiate instruction, and on the needs
of gifted learners.