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| Published Resources on Gifted |
Did you know…
Department of Education’s Technical Assistance Paper for the Development of Educational Plans (EP). Pages 2-9 are in an easy to understand Q&A format. You may find pages 3 and 6-9 to be of particular interest.
- A parent can request a review of their child’s Educational Plan (EP) at any time?
- An EP should provide a clear picture of the student, how the student is gifted, and the student’s special needs related to the giftedness?
- An EP should include a determination of the measurable goals, including benchmarks or short-term objectives, that align with the needs of the student - along with a clear statement of how the student’s progress toward the stated goals will be measured and reported to the parents?
- An EP should also include the special needs the child evidences as a result of his or her giftedness; such as, priority educational needs or a determination of whether the student is an underachiever, a perfectionist, or whether there are social and emotional concerns related to gifted characteristics to consider?
Many parents are not aware of the incredible role they can play during the EP process: a role that enables them to effectively advocate for their child - to ensure that their child’s academic needs will be met. Knowing your rights is power - power to make a difference in the education of your child. |
Books
- A list of Books on Giftedness for Parents - provided by Pine View School’s media director, Ms. Deveny. Pine View is Sarasota County’s public school for intellectually gifted students. It is the only public school of its kind in the State of Florida and one of only several throughout the country.
- Books on Gifted Topics for Parents.
Hoagies’ Gifted Education website consists of about 900 pages of information on gifted children and adults… All the resources listed on Hoagies’ pages are recommended by parents, teachers, psychologists, and/or gifted kids themselves.
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In the News:
- Don’t Overlook Gifted Students
By DEL SIEGLE, President of the National Association for Gifted Children
Published: September 13, 2008 in the Tampa Tribune.
A recent national study by a leading education think tank has confirmed what many of us have long recognized - our education system as a whole is neglecting the needs of our highest-achieving performers, and the majority of our teachers are neither adequately trained nor encouraged to help these students maximize their potential…
…Our nation faces a clear choice: We can continue deluding ourselves with the belief that gifted students exist only in certain populations and can thrive educationally without prudent attention to their learning needs. Or we can begin working toward a solution that finally leaves no child behind.
- High-Achieving Students in the Era of No Child Left Behind
By Tom Loveless, Director, Brown Center on Education Policy
June 18, 2008
…Attitudes toward bright children have waxed and waned over the decades. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 sought to fuse equity and excellence into a single initiative, promoting academic achievement in the pursuit of equity. Historically, the federal government provided additional revenue to schools serving disadvantaged children, ostensibly so that schools could offer services that would help poor children learn. The architects of NCLB sought to transform the federal education dollar from a school entitlement into an incentive to prod schools towards better performance. Universal proficiency became the nation’s foremost education goal.
Incentives shape behavior. Some analysts today express the concern that, by focusing attention on the education of students at the bottom of the achievement distribution, NCLB is surely encouraging schools to neglect high achievers. After all, schools face consequences for failing to move lowachieving students to proficiency. Students in schools that fail to make adequate progress for two consecutive years must be offered the option of transferring to another public school. A school that continues to fall short faces possible replacement of its teaching staff, conversion to a charter school, or state takeover. Nothing, however, happens when schools fail to boost the learning of already-proficient students to higher levels. As Susan Goodkin argued in the Washington Post, "By forcing schools to focus their time and funding almost entirely on bringing low achieving students up to proficiency, NCLB sacrifices the education of the gifted students who will become our future biomedical researchers, computer engineers, and other scientific leaders."
Are these concerns well founded? Do the incentives of NCLB create a Robin Hood effect, yielding gains for low-achieving students but at the expense of high achievers? That’s what we set out to investigate. Read the Report.
- Excellence versus Equity: Political Forces in the Education of Gifted Students
Duke Gifted Letter, Volume 8 / Issue 4 / Summer 2008
This should be must read for anyone involved with education.
Here are a few highlights:
Do gifted students warrant special attention in the public schools in the United States? Rhetoric and heated political discourse surround the question of identification and education of gifted students with the philosophical positions of egalitarianism and elitism at odds. Critics of appropriately differentiated academic experiences for highly able children contend that these services are somehow unfair to other children.
"The ’love-hate’ relationship society has had with gifted education has led to both an energetic focus on gifted students and a near total ignoring of their needs."
For example, despite seventy years of research on the benefits of acceleration a consistent policy on acceleration does not exist at state levels or across the states. Although programs for the gifted have served as laboratories of innovation for years, accountability measures and reform efforts in the wider education arena have focused singly on meeting basic proficiency standards. The passage of No Child Left Behind underscores the federal emphasis on bringing students "up" to proficiency and completely ignores those students scoring at and above proficient levels.
The irony is that schools receive accolades for their best and brightest such as National Merit Finalists or boast proudly when students win at state or national levels in academic competitions, yet efforts to group gifted students with like-ability peers are hindered. Schools strive toward improved test scores and high quality teachers, but there is resistance to funding teachers to go back and receive licensure or special training in gifted. Parents of gifted students are often perplexed because they want their children to receive appropriate programming but are often reluctant to challenge a school’s practices for fear of sounding elitist or being ostracized.
- Global Superpower - The unique International Baccalaureate program sparks both admiration and controversy ---Edutopia magazine’s November 2006 issue
For much of its thirty-eight-year history, IB was available in a sprinkling of high schools -- perhaps the best-kept secret in education. But as school districts strive (and struggle) to improve student performance, IB is expanding quickly. In the United States, 521 high schools offer IB, a demanding collegeprep curriculum with an emphasis on global education -- up from 327 in North America six years ago. Last May, 13,089 students were candidates for the IB diploma, and 27,557 more took at least one IB exam without necessarily enlisting in the full program. Once adopted on a school-by-school basis, the IB Diploma Program now is embraced by entire districts, including those of Philadelphia and Chicago, in a push to raise high school standards. Lower-grade versions of IB, designed to improve learning from day one, are gaining steam in elementary schools and middle schools… If you want academic excellence, put students in an academically excellent program. They’ll rise to the occasion…
- A Dozen Promising Practices ---Edutopia: Success Stories for Learning in the Digital Age
Despite numerous efforts to improve what happens in classrooms, many schools continue to follow decades-old models and roles. The traditional classroom is a closed box, sealed off from access to people, ideas, and experiences beyond its walls. All knowledge is contained in the teacher’s head and in the textbooks and other materials inside the classroom. Students sit at desks arranged in rows and work individually. Roles are confined to a strict hierarchy -- the teacher’s job is to teach by talking; the student’s job is to learn by memorizing.
As many have noted, the 21st century requires very different kinds of classrooms bearing little resemblance to their ancestors. Here we present 12 tips from leading teachers and exemplary schools around the country that can break down the isolation of the classroom, open up its four walls, and breathe new life into teaching and learning. Many of these innovations introduce new roles for students and teachers and address how time is used during the school day. They all lead to closer relationships between students and teachers and among students themselves. Perhaps surprisingly, many of these practices do not require more funds, if any, but only the willingness to "think outside the box."
- Schools vying for Brevard’s brains (October 16, 2006)
BY JAMES DEAN, FLORIDA TODAY
It’s a matter of keeping up with the Joneses, some Brevard Public Schools principals say. Tired of watching many of their most talented students leave for choice schools each year, traditional middle and high schools are fighting back by adding "signature" accelerated academic programs of their own. A half-dozen are adding, or trying to add, the International Baccalaureate or Cambridge programs, hoping to retain and attract top students, improve FCAT results and build recognition. In an increasingly competitive educational market, they say, offering advanced placement classes and earning A or B grades from the state isn’t enough to prevent "brain drain" at neighborhood schools.
- Local leaders like school’s IB program - A field trip to Palm Harbor University High School impresses Hernando officials, who want to start an IB program of their own. (January 11, 2006)
St. Pete Times
The trip took about an hour and a half in a yellow school bus, a 51-mile trek from the School Board offices in Hernando County to Palm Harbor University High School in north Pinellas County…to view the school’s International Baccalaureate program, a curriculum that might offer the most rigorous academic experience available for many high school students…Although students in Hernando County can take AP classes, school district officials say they want to offer more opportunities to the county’s most talented students…
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Periodicals that address gifted issues: (subscription may be required)
- Imagine, a periodical for students published by the Center for Talented Youth, Johns Hopkins University.
Published five times a year, Imagine provides insights, information, and solid counseling to young, motivated readers.
Each issue includes: Articles about exciting summer programs and extracurricular activities across the country written by student participants, Advice on planning for college, Student reviews of selective colleges, Career profiles of accomplished professionals, Book reviews, puzzles, web resources, and much more…
Half of each issue is devoted to a broad focus topic, showcasing activities that students can do now to pursue that interest, as well as career opportunities in the field. Focus topics for 2006-07 are: Mathematics, Storytelling, Medicine & Health Sciences, Seeing the World, Computers, Connections, and Codes.
- Links by Subject
- Understanding Our Gifted, published by Open Space Communications. Columnists include Dr. Miraca Gross, the author of Exceptionally Gifted Children and A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students. Available in print or Online. All quarterly issues from the past year are available for Online subscribers. A complimentary online issue is available upon request.
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Additional Resources for Parents:
- ERIC - the Education Resources Information Center - is an internet-based digital library of education research and information sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education. ERIC provides free access to more than 1.2 million bibliographic records of journal articles and other education-related materials indexed from 1966 to the present. For example:
- Challenging Gifted Students in the Regular Classroom
- Differentiating Curriculum for Gifted Students
- EROD - Education Resource Organizations Directory - U.S. Dept. of Education
The Directory is intended to help you identify and contact organizations that provide information and assistance on a broad range of education-related topics. Ability to search by keyword, for example "gifted".
Books for Kids
- Book Adventure is a FREE reading motivation program for children in grades K-8. Children create their own book lists from over 7,000 recommended titles, take multiple choice quizzes on the books they’ve read, and earn points and prizes for their literary successes. Book Adventure was created by and is maintained by Sylvan Learning.
- Categories in Thinking Skills - A list of books on Analogies, Creative Problem Solving, Logic and Reasoning, and Thinking Skills by Prufrock Press Inc.
- An extensive list of Books on a variety of Gifted Topics is available on Hoagies’ Gifted Education website.
- Check out their reading resources for Kids:
- Hot Topics Reading Lists!
Where can you find book lists for the math monster, physics fiend, young lawyer or political scientist, programming prodigy, scientist, and more? Fantasy books featuring Dragons? Special topic books for gifted kids from 1 - 100?
- Reading List for Gifted Kids
- Reading List for…Girls and Young Women
- Stories with Holes -- by Nathan Levy. Promotes critical and creative thinking skills and imagination. The logic stories that make kids think! Offers other stories for the brain too.
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