School Reform

Essential Educational Components
School Reform

Key Research Summary Points

School reform models should encompass students with advanced learning needs based on 21st century learning which structures classrooms in such a way that novelty, complexity, problem-solving, and innovation opportunities are included in the students' complete school experience, not just those contact minutes with a gifted facilitator.

The focus of school reform for high-ability students is shifting from limited access gifted services to adapting the regular classroom. While this expansion of services to the regular classroom is an important recognition of the need to challenge high-ability students every hour of every day, this initiative also brings with it a significant need to train regular education teachers. Support staff such as educators of gifted and talented students and school psychologists must become effective consultants to assist regular classroom teachers in applying instructional strategies appropriate for meeting the needs of high-ability students.

Educators must integrate technology into their curriculum to transform student learning and meet the goals of the 21st century. To succeed in today's information-driven academic environment, students need the opportunity to find, use, manage, evaluate and convey information efficiently and effectively. This includes not only knowledge of technology, but the ability to use critical-thinking skills to solve problems creatively within a technological environment.

Regular classroom instruction needs to be structured so that it accommodate the needs of gifted and advanced learners. Therefore, efforts must be made to enable all teachers to provide appropriate curriculum and instruction. It is essential to have a varied repertoire of other instructional settings available to provide educational experiences befitting gifted students.

Gifted and talented students also need opportunities to interact with each other for a portion of their school time providing additional intellectual challenge at a similar pace and level , social and emotional support, and the opportunity to gain a more accurate perspective on their own abilities as well as an understanding of others with like potential. None of this can occur without appropriate training for regular education & gifted facilitators.

Quality instruction for gifted and talented students is differentiated by faster pacing and greater depth and breadth, higher levels of abstraction and complexity, and presentation at an earlier age. Learning experiences which have been particularly successful with these students include in-depth investigations of special topics, directed independent study, regional or statewide off campus courses, internships, mentorships, and peer teaching, all of which should respect each student's preferred learning style.

All school improvement involving students must address these issues:

Individualizing instruction to students' ability level.
Emphasize conceptual thinking, real-world disciplinary inquiry, and problem solving within a framework of 21st century learning skills.
Continuosly assess learning needs of students.
Help students continue acquiring increasing levels of expertise.

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Administrators: A Educators: E Families: F

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~MTSS Model - Affective
~MTSS Model - General
~MTSS Model - Language Arts
~MTSS Model - Math
~MTSS Model - Social Studies
~MTSS Model - Thinking/Problem Solving

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Articles/Journals/Books
~Academic Diversity in Middle School
~A Nation Deceived
~Besides Google: Guiding Gifted Elementary Children.....
.Information Highway
~Blending Gifted Education & School Reform
~Bloom's Revised Taxonomy
~Differentiated Classroom Observation Scale
~The Gifted Children Left Behind
~Mapping a Route Toward Differentiated Instruction
~RTI Adapted to Meet the Needs of All Students
~Schoolwide Enrichment Model Articles
~Understanding & Challenging the Gifted: A Teacher's Handbook

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Kansas Multi Tier System of Supports (MTSS)

*School Reform -* *Videos/Power Point Presentations*
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MTSS Models for Advanced Learners:

Affective

General

Language Arts

Math

Science/Social Studies

Critical Thinking/Problem Solving

A new construct is needed to view students with advanced learning needs through the MTSS model. Data collection through universal screening and progress monitoring drives an appropriate level instruction and/or needs for related services. Students with advanced learning needs should receive research-based straegies and standards-driven instruction.

Acceleration in the area of strength, content extensions for depth and complexity, time with cognitive peers, high level problem solving approaches and use of inquiry and creative thinking strategies are a few critical elements for ongoing learning. Students with advanced learning needs may complete the K-12 learning continuum early, thus requiring post-secondary options at an early age.

Keeping these elements in mind, the MTSS triangles give a visual for building appropriate opportunities for more intense support.

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*School Reform -* *Articles/Journals/Books*
Title/URL *Click on a link for more information*	Implementation/Content Description

A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students	2004 Research report on disparity between the research on acceleration and the educational beliefs and practices that often run contrary to research
Besides Google: Guiding Gifted Elementary Students Onto the Entrance Ramp of the Information Superhighway	Using 21st century learning skills to differentiate learning with depth & complexity for gifted students. For gifted students, the power of the Internet is its vastness. Students can access extensive resources that far exceed the collections in their classrooms or school library. Especially with the rapid growth of the Internet during the last decade, the gateway to a rich array of sophisticated resources is literally a click away. Curriculum content can be differentiated by complexity and depth, and those gifted students with the ability to process large amounts of information quickly (Siegle, 2004) can race down the information highway at breakneck speeds. “The Internet is the single most significant technology available to gifted and talented students” (Siegle, 2005, p. 30).
Blending Gifted Education & School Reform by Gail E. Hanninen	School reform initiatives have resulted in many changes in American education during the past decade. The complexity of the process has presented numerous challenges for every educator. This digest provides a process for assuring that the unique needs of students who are gifted are addressed within the context of systemic reform. Several key elements guide the process: creating belief statements, clarifying the issues, and designing strategies for implementation.


The Gifted Children Left Behind By Susan Goodkin and David G. GoldMonday, August 27, 2007	An editorial discussing their views on No Child forces a fundamental educational approach so inappropriate for high-ability students that it destroys their interest in learning, as school becomes an endless chain of basic lessons aimed at low-performing students.
Mapping a Route Toward Differentiated Instruction September 1999 \| Volume 57 \| Number 1 Personalized Learning Pages 12-16	Differentiating scenarios in regular classrooms and ideas on making students invest in learning on their own level. Even though students may learn in many ways, the essential skills and content they learn can remain steady. That is, students can take different roads to the same destination.
RTI Adapted to Meet the Needs of All Students	How RTI can address gifted student needs A Gifted Leadership Conference in the state of Washington demonstrated one way that using this process can generate strategies for blending gifted education and school reform. Participants identified eight education reform efforts affecting services to highly capable students. The resulting product, created by the 41 participants, was entitled: "The Reform Movement: Where Do Gifted Students Fit?" (Fascilla, Hanninen, & Spritzer,, 1991). The following reform strategies, excerpted from the original publication, illustrate how bridges in thinking can be built between education reform and gifted education.

Understanding and Challenging the Gifted: A Teacher's Handbook Connecticut Association for the Gifted	A handbook for regular education teachers in providing them with basic definitions and specific suggestions for working in the classroom with gifted students.

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*School Reform -* *Websites*
Title/URL *Click on a link for more information*	Implementation/Content Description
Kansas Multi Tier System of Supports (MTSS)	MTSS is a coherent continuum of evidence based, system-wide practices to support a rapid response to academic and behavioral needs, with frequent data-based monitoring for instructional decision-making to empower each Kansas student to achieve high standards.

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Key Research Summary Points