[Tag-Info] Oregon Talented and Gifted Teacher Update #3
FIGGINS Stacey
Stacey.Figgins at state.or.us
Wed Dec 3 13:31:15 PST 2008
Oregon Talented and Gifted Teacher Update #3
December 3, 2008
Please forward this issue of the update to interested professionals!
Teachers may sign up for this or other newsletters at: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=1843
Past issues are also available at this website.
1. Welcome to the TAG Teacher Update
2. Legal Reminder of the Month
3. TAG Services Centers Update
4. Twice Exceptional Students: Gifted and Autism Spectrum Disorders
5. Davidson Academy Resources-School for Profoundly Gifted Students and Summer Institutes
6. New Health Teacher Update Available
7. New Health/Physical Education Specialist at Oregon Department of Education
8. New and Improved TAG Web Page from the Oregon Department of Education
9. Tiering Assignments & Compacting Curriculum-Professional Development Opportunity
10. Legislative Updates from NAGC
11. Developing and Cultivating Talent in Language Arts
12. Teacher-Created Curriculum Units Designed for Gifted Students
13. New Book for Parents of Gifted Students
14. Fun with Bloom's Taxonomy
15. Texts for Children and Adolescents-Some Recommendations
16. Is My Child Gifted?
17. Nonprofit Resource for Technology
18. Identifying Gifted Students from Underrepresented Populations
19. National News Items about Gifted Students
20. Check Out Teacher Updates in Other Content Areas
21. How to Submit Articles
22. In Every Issue-Internet Resources
1. Welcome to the TAG Teacher Update
This newsletter is designed to provide current information concerning teachers of TAG students, guidance counselors, administrators, and coordinators of TAG programs. Please let your colleagues know that they can subscribe to this and other ODE content area newsletters by visiting: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=1843
2. Legal Reminder of the Month
OAR 581-022-1310-1: Districts shall make efforts to identify students from ethnic minorities, students with disabilities, and students who are culturally different or economically disadvantaged.
3. TAG Services Centers at WOU and SOESD Update
The TAG Services Center at SOESD has selected its cadre members who will be trained as trainers in differentiation from regions throughout Oregon. The differentiation trainings will begin on December 4th when the cadre meets for the first time in Medford. Marcia Imbeau from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum and Development will be the featured presenter. Imbeau is an associate professor at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where she teaches graduate courses in gifted and elementary education. Her professional experience includes serving as a field researcher for the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, teaching in the regular classroom, and teaching programs for the gifted. Imbeau has served as a board member and member of the executive committee of the National Association for Gifted Children and the Council of Exceptional Children-The Association for the Gifted Division.
The TAG Services Center at WOU held its first Advisory Committee meeting in early November. They also completed a Needs Assessment survey that was just sent out to all of Oregon's district TAG contacts. This survey was designed to determine the professional development needs of education personnel in meeting the needs of students identified as talented and gifted (TAG). Districts' responses will be used to develop workshops and online offerings throughout Oregon in the coming months.
4. Twice Exceptional Students: Gifted and Autism Spectrum Disorders
At the end of October, a group of TAG coordinators predominately from the Portland Metro area met with Regina Moreno from Portland State University. Moreno has much experience with students who are autistic. She presented quite a bit of helpful information, some of which I wanted to summarize for you here. First of all, I was surprised to learn that Oregon has the third highest ratio of students with autism in the United States. Approximately 1 in 88 Oregon students fall on the autism spectrum. It is possible for a student to fall on the autism spectrum and also be identified as gifted according to Oregon's state identification guidelines. This seems to be most likely with students who have Asperger's Syndrome, as one of their characteristics is having average or above average intelligence. (Source: http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=988)
The chart below comes from Moreno's PowerPoint presentation. I thought it might be helpful for districts when trying to identify potentially dually exceptional students with Asperger's. Keep in mind that these are generalities and each characteristic will never apply to every single student in this kind of model.
Differentiating Characteristic Ordinary Gifted Gifted with Asperger's Syndrome
Speech Patterns Normal, or may have language of older child Pedantic, seamless speech
Response to Routines May passively resist, but may often go along Very low tolerance for change, agitation, aggression
Disturbance of Attention If disturbance exists, it is usually external Disturbance is internal
Humor Engages in socially reciprocal humor Can do word play, but typically doesn't understand humor that requires social reciprocity, timing
Motor clumsiness Not characteristic of most gifted children 50-90% of Asperger children manifest (gait, fine motor, easily fatigued by fine motor tasks like writing)
Inappropriate Affect Not a characteristic Nearly always observed
Social Awareness Usually know they are different and can reason why Know they are different, poor awareness of why
Moral Sense Empathy for others and for abstract whole Difficulty with empathy for others and abstract whole
Social Interaction Knows how to make friends
Socially isolated
Independent of age mates Unaware of how to make friends
Socially inept
Unskilled with age mates
Knowledge Base Extensive knowledge base-both deep and complex
Highly focused interest
Sophisticated vocabulary Extensive knowledge base-sometimes deep and/or complex
Highly focused interest
Advanced vocabulary hyperlexia
Cognition Complex cognition
Advanced understanding Simple cognition
Advanced memorization, hyper-rote
Stereotypy Not a characteristic May be present
I also found a great website that comes out of Minnesota, the state which actually has the highest ratio in the nation of students with autism. This website has helpful information about autism including podcasts from experts. Check it out at: http://www.autismhangout.com/
Also, out of a Minnesota newspaper, the Star Tribune, is a recently published article about dual exceptionality that focuses on individual students' experiences:
http://www.startribune.com/local/34937679.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUvDE7aL_V_BD77:DiiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
5. Davidson Academy Resources-School for Profoundly Gifted Students and Summer Institutes
The Davidson Academy of Nevada, a free public day school for profoundly gifted pupils on the University of Nevada, Reno campus, is now accepting applications for the 2009-2010 school year. Complete applications need to be submitted by the first of each month, with the final deadline being March 1, 2009. Admissions are on a first-come, first-served basis. The Davidson Academy seeks to provide profoundly gifted young people an advanced educational opportunity matched to their abilities, strengths and interests. Unlike many traditional school settings, the Academy's classes are not grouped by age-based grades, but by ability level. To be eligible to attend The Davidson Academy, students must be at the middle or high school level across all subject areas and score in the 99.9th percentile on IQ or college entrance tests, such as the SAT or ACT. To learn more about The Davidson Academy, admission criteria or to download an application, please visit www.DavidsonAcademy.UNR.edu<http://www.davidsonacademy.unr.edu/>.
The Davidson Institute is also seeking profoundly gifted students, ages 13 through 16, who are interested in attending the 2009 THINK Summer Institute. THINK is a three-week residential summer program on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno where students can earn six college credits by completing two university-level courses taught by university professors. The 2009 THINK Summer Institute will run from July 11 through August 1. Tuition is $2,700 and covers course credits, room and board, and the cost of planned programs and activities. Financial assistance is available based on need. To qualify, students must be 13 to 16 years old during THINK, and must meet or exceed designated SAT or ACT scores. The deadline for early acceptance is January 14, 2009. Due to the intense nature of the program, enrollment is limited to 60 students. Homeschooled students are eligible to apply. To download an application or to learn more about THINK, please visit www.DavidsonGifted.org/THINK<http://www.davidsongifted.org/THINK>.
6. New Health Teacher Update Available
The new Health Teacher Update is a monthly e-newsletter that will provide teachers information on health related issues, available trainings, grant updates and other important information. You can subscribe to this newsletter by visiting: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=1843
7. New Health/Physical Education Specialist at Oregon Department of Education
Tanya Frisendahl is the new Health/Physical Education Specialist at the Oregon Department of Education. Ms. Frisendahl taught in Oregon for over 20 years prior to coming to the Oregon Department of Education in January 2007. Ms. Frisendahl was previously the Healthy Kids Learn Better (HKLB) Health Education Specialist at ODE. In that position, she helped expand the HKLB Cadre of trainers to include both Physical Education and Health Education trainers and continued the Summer Health Summit, which is a professional development opportunity for Health and Physical Education teachers throughout Oregon. Ms. Frisendahl looks forward to continuing to work with all the health and physical education teachers across the state. Please contact her at: tanya.frisendahl at state.or.us or (503) 947-5754.
8. New and Improved TAG Web Page from the Oregon Department of Education
If you haven't already looked at our new TAG webpage, you can check it out at:
http://www.ode.state.or.us/go/TAG or http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=76.
The new home page is reorganized to be more user-friendly. There have also been new pieces of information added already like an expanded FAQ page, updated resources, and others. Be on the lookout for new information to continue to be added in the near future.
9. Tiering Assignments & Compacting Curriculum-Professional Development Opportunity
SDE, Staff Development for Educators, is hosting a one-day session on curriculum compacting and creating tiered assignments. Lynda Rice is the presenter of this workshop geared toward teachers in grades 3-8. In addition to the focus on curriculum in these strategies, the workshop will also address those ever-challenging issues of assessing learning and managing behavior when implementing differentiation. I think this workshop could be extremely helpful for classroom teachers trying to learn how to differentiate to meet the needs of their TAG students. (And there is always the added benefit that differentiation is good for all students.) The cost is $199 per person, or $189 per person with a team of three people. An additional discount is available for teams of 5 or more. This workshop will be held in Eugene on January 16, 2009, and in Portland on January 15, 2009. For more information, go to www.SDE.com<http://www.SDE.com> or call David Kellog at (800) 210-6034. Additionally, SDE has provided me with one certificate to attend the workshop free at each location. I will be holding a raffle of teachers interested in attending. If you would like your name entered in the raffle, please email me at: stacey.figgins at state.or.us<mailto:stacey.figgins at state.or.us>. Please indicate your location preference, Portland or Eugene. The raffle will be held on Wednesday, December 10th of all names submitted by then. Please do not email or contact SDE about this give-away. The certificate only covers the cost of attending the workshop. The participant is responsible for securing funding for any other related costs like sub fees.
10. Legislative Updates from NAGC
While I was at the NAGC convention, I attended a meeting with Jane Clarenbach, the NAGC Director of Public Education. She informed us of pertinent legislative issues that came out of the 110th Congress. Universities that receive grants from one of the several Title II programs in HEOA (Higher Education Opportunity Act) will be required to address the learning needs of gifted students. Additionally, the Javits program will receive $7.59 million. Finally, she noted that although Congress did not make any final action on NCLB, gifted advocates did have success in raising concerns about the impact of NCLB on gifted students. Future efforts during the 111th Congress will focus on extending requirements for professional development in gifted education to in-service teachers as well as pre-service teachers, expanding accountability systems in NCLB to include requirements for academic growth for above-level students, and advocating for a grant program to increase early interventions for high-ability students from disadvantaged backgrounds. For more information on NAGC, you can visit http://www.nagc.org.
11. Developing and Cultivating Talent in Language Arts
I would like to share with you some of the highlights from a presentation I attended with Susannah Richards, Assistant Professor at Eastern Connecticut State University.
* A main focus of her presentation was Norman Mailer's idea that, "If we lose the motivation to read (and write), we lose the ability to read (and write)." Richards is a strong advocate of building intrinsic motivation for students to want to read by matching them with texts that are appropriate to their ability and interests.
* She strongly advocates for using an interest inventory for reading and writing, especially with high school students who, according to her research, overwhelming report that they are never asked about their interests by teachers.
* She suggests promoting a thematic focus to literature instruction and incorporating several differentiated reading selections for students to choose that match the thematic focus. For example, rather than requiring all students to read To Kill a Mockingbird, develop a unit on books at various levels that focus on injustice vs. justice, coming of age and a loss of innocence, racism, etc.
* She reported that read-alouds are most effective for advanced vocabulary development when the selections being read are about two years above students' grade level. For TAG students, this might mean that they rarely hear read-alouds at their needed level. She suggested incorporating audio files for students to listen to independently that are at two years above their level.
* She strongly recommended that no book, when taught to the whole class or in differentiated units, should ever be more than ten class days of instruction.
* She also reminded us that most language arts classrooms do not incorporate enough experience with nonfiction texts.
12. Teacher-Created Curriculum Units Designed for Gifted Students
East Carolina University holds a summer camp for gifted students, and they have posted their thematic curricular units on the web. All of the units are planned around the overarching theme of change and were designed specifically for upper elementary gifted students. However, I think with some adjustments many of the components of these units could be utilized in grades 4-high school. Units cover topics like chemistry, cryptology, and crime scene investigation, and can be found at: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-educ/ci/Rigorous-Camp-Curriculum.cfm. Please note that you must save the units to your computer in order to open them.
13. New Book for Parents of Gifted Students
From the author of a popular blog on parenting gifted children comes the definitive how-to manual for parents, Raising a Gifted Child: A Parenting Success Handbook. Raising gifted children isn't easy, but when armed with the practical knowledge and tools in this exciting book, parents can navigate the maze of raising bright kids, leading to success in school and beyond.
This book offers a large menu of strategies, resources, organizations, tips, and suggestions for parents to find optimal learning opportunities for their kids. The focus of this resource is on empowering parents by giving them the tools needed to ensure that their gifted kids are happy and successful both in and out of school. Find more information at: http://resources.prufrock.com/GiftedChildInformationBlog/tabid/57/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/292/Book-Just-Released-on-Raising-a-Gifted-Child.aspx
14. Fun with Bloom's Taxonomy
No self-respecting teacher would have left his or her teacher education program without being able to rattle off the different learning levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. We all know that gifted students should have instruction that minimizes learning at the lower levels of the taxonomy, and emphasizes learning at the higher levels. However, teachers who attained their teaching credentials prior to 2001 might be surprised as I was to learn that Bloom's taxonomy has been slightly revised! You can compare the original taxonomy to the revised edition at:
http://www.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm
Also useful is this graphic organizer that takes the taxonomy and lists coordinating classroom activities and products:
http://www.cobbk12.org/sites/alt/training/Blooms/circle.GIF
15. Texts for Children and Adolescents-Some Recommendations
I love reading and literature, and that includes literature for children and young adults. I wanted to share with you some books I've read lately that I thought could be particularly useful with TAG students.
* The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
The main character of this book is Junior, a teenage boy who leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white school. Junior seems to possess many characteristics of a gifted youth, and students who have ever felt out of place may easily relate to him. It is an amazingly written novel that will make you laugh and cry. Please be aware that there is some content in this book for mature readers only.
* The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry
"Once upon a time there was a family named Willoughby: an old-fashioned type of family, with four children." Thus begins this delightful new tale by Lois Lowry. This novel is very different from anything she has ever published. The Willoughby parents devise a plan to rid themselves of their children they don't much care for, and an adventure follows. This book is quite funny, and is infused with great vocabulary. It even includes a humorous glossary at the end of the story. For all of these reasons, I think it would make an especially good read aloud, probably in grades 5-9.
* The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
If you loved The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, you might also enjoy this new novel. This novel features another British teenager who happens to have autism as its protagonist. This novel also has interesting characters and an engaging mystery. It is important to note that although Haddon's novel has some content that is appropriate for more mature audiences, Dowd's novel is appropriate for a younger age range.
* Oogie Cooder by Sarah Weeks
Oogie Cooder is an interesting fourth-grade boy who has a special talent "charving" cheese. This talent gains him recognition with his peers and Oogie learns valuable lessons about staying true to himself. The Lexile score of this book is 880, and it may be a good match for a young TAG student who excels at reading. The content is appropriate for as young as second grade. I know it is often difficult to find challenging texts for TAG readers that are also age appropriate, and this is one that might work in many cases.
16. Is My Child Gifted?
The online article "Is My Child Gifted" at: http://hometownlife.com/article/20081113/LIFE/811130369/1104/NEWS11
probably won't contain any new information for many of you. However, it is a nice succinct explanation of some of the differences between gifted students, high achievers, and creative thinkers. The information is based on Dr. Bertie Kilgore's work and might be a nice objective article to give to parents to help them understand why or why not their child is TAG.
17. Nonprofit Resource for Technology
The TechStart Education Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission to use technology education to strengthen the teamwork, critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving skills of K-12 students and, in so doing, awaken a passion for technology among all Oregon students. The goals of TechStart are to provide professional development and support to Oregon technology educators and to awaken an interest in technology among their students. Find out more at: http://www.techstart.org/index.html
18. Identifying Gifted Students from Underrepresented Populations
Even though I have only been in this position for three months, I have already heard from districts statewide their concerns about identifying students who are gifted but might be challenging to find due to their background. This includes students who are ELL, economically disadvantaged, twice exceptional, and ethnic minorities. The graph at the end of this article illustrates the disproportionate identification happening statewide. When I attended the NAGC conference, I chose to attend many sessions that addressed these issues. I want to share some of the things I learned at the conference as well as some other ideas I've had in my educational "bag of tricks" for awhile now. Also, please know as I continue in my position here at ODE this is an area that is of high priority not just for myself, but for the department as a whole as we strive to grow educational equity across the state.
Some ideas/thoughts to consider to ensure your identification process includes underrepresented students:
1. Begin with examining your current identification data. Statistically, your percentage of TAG students should have commensurate percentages within most subgroups. For example, if Latino students make up 15% of your overall district population, then they should also make up around 15% of your TAG population. Sometimes pulling out this data for your district and presenting it in graph form to staff is a great way to begin or continue a conversation on the need of expanding the identification process.
2. Cast as wide a net as possible. Train teachers to look for giftedness in every student they encounter. Hold brief trainings on the characteristics of giftedness in these different populations. Work to fight against stereotypes that often keep these children from being identified. There are countless resources out there to help with this. Please feel free to contact me if you need help finding resources or incorporating them.
3. Reflect on your current practices with cognitive assessments. A nonverbal cognitive test may help identify students who otherwise would not be noticed because of language barriers. Also, the WISC does offer an intelligence assessment in Spanish. Be wary, though, to rely on these tests as a sole indicator. The OARs call for multiple criteria for very good reasons. Nonverbal tests might help alleviate problems with language issues, but there has been some research to show that they create new problems with gender differences in that spatial tests tend to favor male intellect. Additionally, a recent research article published in the Fall 2008 issue of Gifted Child Quarterly, "Identifying Academically Gifted English Language Learners Using Nonverbal Tests," found that neither the Raven, the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, nor the CogAT predicted achievement for ELL students very well.
With all assessments it is most important that you compare apples to apples and not apples to oranges. In other words, don't compare a student from an ELL background to a student who grew up speaking English. Compare all of the ELL students' scores to each other, and look to see who rises to the top. They may not have scores to automatically qualify them for TAG, but they should at least be on your radar as someone about whom to gather more evidence. Some experts recommend using verbal rather than IQ tests, but pulling out subgroup data and comparing like groups to each other to determine talent. For example, pull out all of your students who are on free and reduced lunch as a separate group and look at the top 3% of scores as a beginning point for TAG identification. All of these ideas could work under the "Potential to Perform" identification. It is most essential that your district establish set policies that are consistently followed in order to provide consistency and objectivity.
4. Draw upon your specialists in these diverse areas. Ask the ELL teacher which students in his or her class learn faster than the rest. Collaborate with special education leaders to train teachers to notice giftedness in students who have learning disabilities. For example, do they know a student who articulates amazing observations and questions in oral discussion, but struggles to put together a simple sentence on paper? Again, if you need more help finding resources in these areas, feel free to contact me, and I will help point you in the right direction.
5. From a presentation with Martha Nice and Larry Hollan from Paoli School District in Indiana, I was reminded of the importance of limiting checklists and including planned experiences. Traditional teacher checklists can be unhelpful for identifying students from underrepresented populations because they often include in their checklist the kinds of behaviors that would be exhibited by gifted children who are white middle class children with no duality. They may reinforce rather than reduce stereotypes. Planned experiences are different types of activities where you ask students to do a task, usually involving some sort of creative thinking, critical thinking, or problem solving. You have all students complete this activity, and then you have a scoring guide in place to evaluate the results. An example might be a writing prompt: "Create a new tree. Describe in a paragraph or more your new tree, and include a diagram or illustration if you'd like." Bertie Kingore has some examples of planned experiences that might be implemented. You could also create your own, as was the case of this school district in Indiana.
6. Don't forget the importance of parent input. Some experts in this area of study even advocate using peer input during a talent search.
7. When you are doing a TAG screening or talent search, make it known in your local community in as many diverse subgroups as possible. Pull in leadership from the various diverse groups in your community and encourage their help in spreading the word about your programs.
This isn't a challenge that will be met instantly. It is most important for districts to take on this task and take measures to move toward an accurate identification of all students who are talented and gifted, regardless of their background.
19. National News Items about Gifted Students
At http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=resources/lifestyle_community/kids&id=6503159
you will find a news story as well as a video clip about a young man in California who is gifted in math and science and also shows strong leadership and community involvement. I thought this video clip and news story could be helpful in staff trainings or a student gifted support/outreach group. Additionally, if you are considering adding some community involvement or mentorship to your TAG program, you can read a story about one Wisconsin district's success at http://www.weau.com/news/headlines/34429624.html
20. Check Out Teacher Updates in Other Content Areas
There are fabulous Teacher Updates being published monthly in other content areas like foreign language, social studies, and mathematics. You can subscribe to them by visiting: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=1843
21. How to Submit Articles
If you would like to submit information for this newsletter, please email publication-ready short articles by the end of the month to stacey.figgins at state.or.us<mailto:stacey.figgins at state.or.us>. Please include links and contact information but no attachments.
22. In Every Issue-Internet Resources
Oregon Department of Education TAG
http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=76
ERIC - Educational Resources Information Center
http://www.eric.ed.gov/
Supporting Emotional Needs of Gifted (SENG)
http://www.sengifted.org/
Council for Exceptional Children http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
National Association for Gifted Children
www.nagc.org<http://www.nagc.org>
Oregon Association for Talented and Gifted
www.oatag.org<http://www.oatag.org>
REAL - Resources for Educational Achievement and Leadership
http://www.ode.state.or.us/teachlearn/real/
Get Ready Oregon web page: New Oregon Diploma information for the general public
http://www.getreadyoregon.org
Oregon Diploma web page: Resources and tools for educators
http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=368
Contact the Education Specialist in TAG
Stacey Figgins, stacey.figgins at state.or.us<mailto:stacey.figgins at state.or.us> (503) 947-5701
****Disclaimer--The materials contained in the Oregon Talented and Gifted Teacher Update produced by Oregon Department of Education are drawn from both internal and external sources and inclusion of external materials does not necessarily indicate Oregon Department of Education endorsement.****
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