EDG 554 Module 2 Discussion Board Posting

1. Use Standard 3: Curriculum Planning and Instruction (pages 34-36) to assess your level
of implementation of these standards. What are you currently doing to address these
standards and in what areas would you like to grow professionally?

Standard 3: Curriculum Planning and Instruction

Description: Educators apply the theory and research-based models of curriculum and instruction
related to students with gifts and talents and respond to their needs by planning, selecting, adapting,
and creating culturally relevant curriculum and by using a repertoire of evidence-based instructional
strategies to ensure specific student outcomes.
Self-Evaluation Evidence-Based Practices
Green – what I currently do to meet the (National Association for Gifted Children, 1994).
standard
Yellow – what I am starting to do or learning
about that meets the standard; areas I would
like to grow
Red – I am not meeting the standard
 I follow the district adopted curriculum and 3.1.1. Educators use local, state, and national
make changes in individual lesson plans and standards to align and expand curriculum and
assessments as necessary based on my instructional plans.
students.
 Changes are not necessarily for individual
students but based on whole class trends.
 I rarely return to the standards from which the
materials and lessons are derived.
 I do not develop differentiated plans for any 3.1.2. Educators design and use a comprehensive
students, let alone students with gifts and and continuous scope and sequence to develop
talents, but I am working on designing differentiated plans for PK-12 students with gifts
individual lessons based on readiness level and talents.
and giving students choices for summative
assessments.
 I am learning how to do this. I have given 3.1.3. Educators adapt, modify, or replace the
and reviewed a preassessment to determine core or standard curriculum to meet the needs of
alternate activities for students based on their students with gifts and talents and those with
readiness levels and try these activities special needs such as twice-exceptional, highly
starting tomorrow. gifted, and English language learners.
 I am at the beginning stages of this process. I 3.1.4. Educators design differentiated curricula
have designed two differentiated lessons that incorporate advanced, conceptually
based on student readiness and will challenging, in-depth, distinctive, and complex
implement those this year. content for students with gifts and talents
 I have not practiced differentiation for
interests or learning styles.
 I give formative assessments fairly
consistently and I get quality data that informs
me of student understanding.
 I do not use these to differentiate, only to
determine the direction for the whole class.
Sometimes I don’t even use them for
anything.
 I do not use pre-assessments and I do not
compact or accelerate learning.
 The district curriculum has an online
component where students can move quickly
if they demonstrate mastery on each
successive skill. I use this regularly in my
class.
 I am learning new programs to use with my
classes and finding some success.
 I do not incorporate affective, aesthetic,
social, and leadership domains in curricula.
 This year I did a reflection assignment where
students watched videos about Growth
Mindset and identified strategies that help
them learn math.
 I use a variety of instructional strategies
including direction instruction, small group
work, independent work, and computer-
assisted learning when teaching.
 I do design instructional strategies and
materials that respond to diversity for my
classes that are sheltered ELD instruction.
 I do not choose strategies based on the needs
of students with gifts and talents.
 I collaborate with colleagues to share and
design activities so that students have options
whenever possible.
 I do not use community resources to support
differentiation.
 I do not provide opportunities for students to
explore, develop, or research their areas of
interest and/or talent.
3.1.5. Educators use a balanced assessment
system, including preassessment and formative
assessment, to identify students’ needs, develop
differentiated education plans, and adjust plans
based on continual progress monitoring.
3.1.6. Educators use pre-assessments and pace
instruction based on the learning rates of students
with gifts and talents and accelerate and compact
learning as appropriate.
3.1.7. Educators use information and
technologies, including assistive technologies, to
individualize for students with gifts and talents,
including those who are twice-exceptional.
3.2.1. Educators design curricula in cognitive,
affective, aesthetic, social, and leadership
domains that are challenging and effective for
students with gifts and talents.
3.2.2. Educators use metacognitive models to
meet the needs of students with gifts and talents.
3.3.1. Educators select, adapt, and use a repertoire
of instructional strategies and materials that
differentiate for students with gifts and talents
and that respond to diversity.
3.3.2. Educators use school and community
resources that support differentiation.
3.3.3. Educators provide opportunities for
students with gifts and talents to explore, develop,
or research their areas of interest and/or talent.
 I ask students to reflect on their learning and
progress as well as to identify things that they
need from me to be more successful.
 I do not use creative-thinking strategies. I
have a fixed mindset about my creative-
thinking skills and have not attempted this.
 I use problem-solving model strategies when
talking with individual students, but I do not
explicitly teach students problem solving
strategies.
 The district adopted curriculum is a discovery
based model so I have used more inquiry
models to teach new concepts or to find the
connections between previous learning and
new learning.
 I have room for growth in this area because
my inquiry models are all tied to district
curriculum that is intended for all students
and specific to the content.
 I am intentional about developing culturally
responsive curriculum to engage my students
in my sheltered ELD classroom.
 I am not intentional about developing
culturally responsive curriculum to engage
my students in my general education
classrooms.
 I do not integrate career exploration
experiences into learning opportunities.
 I do this to a satisfactory degree when issues
arrise, but I do not discuss or design lessons
for deep explorations of cultures, languages,
and social issues related to diversity on a
regular basis.
 I am learning more about available resources
with each class I take.
3.4.1. Educators use critical-thinking strategies to
meet the needs of students with gifts and talents.
3.4.2. Educators use creative-thinking strategies
to meet the needs of students with gifts and
talents.
3.4.3. Educators use problem-solving model
strategies to meet the needs of students with gifts
and talents.
3.4.4. Educators use inquiry models to meet the
needs of students with gifts and talents.
3.5.1. Educators develop and use challenging,
culturally responsive curriculum to engage all
students with gifts and talents.
3.5.2. Educators integrate career exploration
experiences into learning opportunities for
students with gifts and talents, e.g. biography
study or speakers.
3.5.3. Educators use curriculum for deep
explorations of cultures, languages, and social
issues related to diversity.
3.6.1. Teachers and administrators demonstrate
familiarity with sources for high quality resources
and materials that are appropriate for learners
with gifts and talents.

2. If schools are to serve the academic and social needs of students who require
differentiated services to advance their skills, which of these standards would be on the
top of your list for professional development for educators? How do these
recommendations square with your beliefs and values regarding human nature and its
potential?
✓ 3.1.5. Educators use a balanced assessment system, including preassessment and

formative assessment, to identify students’ needs, develop differentiated education plans,

and adjust plans based on continual progress monitoring.

o Teachers must understand the needs of their students before they can meet them

so preassesments are essential for getting to know students’ interests, learning

styles, and readiness levels.

o Teachers have to evaluate student learning regularly in order to ensure that

students are understanding the content and to be able to offer extension and

enrichment activities for students who have shown advanced mastery.

o Professional development in this area for me has been limited to trainings on

using district technology to design preassessments and look at student data. There

has been no training on what to do with the information or how to create lessons

based on the data.

✓ 3.1.6. Educators use pre-assessments and pace instruction based on the learning rates of

students with gifts and talents and accelerate and compact learning as appropriate.

o Students with gifts and talents need to be challenged and it is not a productive use

of their time or a respect for their gifts and talents to give them the same materials

as their same age peers.

o Teachers need to understand their content sufficiently to determine when a

student is ready to accelerate based on what she already knows and can do.

o My personal focus during my teaching career to this point has been on supporting

students who are academically deficient and working to give them opportunities
 to be successful. I reduce assignments or allow them to use notes or work with

me individually. Reflecting now, the same should be true in my work with gifted

students. I should reduce and/or alter assignments so that they can grow as

learners just as much as students who are struggling.

✓ 3.3.3. Educators provide opportunities for students with gifts and talents to explore,

develop, or research their areas of interest and/or talent.

o This standard aligns with my belief that people are inherently good. If we allow

students to pursue their interests, they will develop innovative ideas that benefit

society as a whole and perhaps solve problems that have been around for years.

o This standard aligns with my belief that people desire a connection. By giving

students a chance to research and explore areas of interest, they are more likely to

find others like them and make connections.

✓ 3.5.2. Educators integrate career exploration experiences into learning opportunities for

students with gifts and talents, e.g. biography study or speakers.

o This standard aligns with my belief that people desire a connection and to be in

community because students will be able to see people who had similar struggles,

obstacles, dreams, or passions and how those fueled their success. Students will

be able to see themselves in these role models and may connect with their story.

o I have received minimal professional development in this area and do not know

how to effectively implement this in my classroom and with my students.

3. In the state of Washington implementation of the CCSS is a requirement. In knowing

this, what argument would you put forth to those who believe that the implementation
of these standards will be enough to take care of the advanced needs of highly capable
students and what recommendations would you make when using these standards with
highly capable students?
 The CCSS are benchmarks for students to hit and show mastery of. They are not the ceiling

of what a student can learn at any given grade level. Tricia Ebner (The Education Gadfly, 2015)

described the Common Core State Standards as the foundation for her class and how she referred

to them regularly when designing and building her lesson plans for her classroom of gifted

students. The CCSS are applicable and important to gifted students, but they should be the

starting point, not the final destination. If your child starts to walk before the standard

development benchmark says they are supposed to, you do not make them continue to crawl, but

rather celebrate their accomplishment. The same could be said for gifted students. If they

demonstrate mastery of a grade level skill or even above grade level skill, we should not

continue to teach them like they need support to reach that benchmark. Teachers and schools

need to provide opportunities for students to continue to show growth relative to their starting

point. Growth cannot be measured against skills that a student had prior to beginning a class or

unit, but should be a “demonstration of growth commensurate with their aptitude” (Johnsen,

2015, p. 10). Did the student make a gain of one year of skill relative to where they started?

The Common Core State Standards raised the bar and increased expectations on all students

to learn and perform at higher levels. This is a great step towards educational excellence, but it

is not sufficient to meet the needs of gifted students. Johnsen (2015) warned that “Without

standards [for gifted and talented students], services to gifted and talented students are left to the

discretion of decision makers who may or may not have a background or even an interest in

gifted education” (p. 5). While the CCSS are a step forward, they are not sufficient to ensure

gifted and talented students are still challenged and supported in their journey. In my own

experience as a classroom teacher, I know that my focus has been to bring students up to grade

level standard, not to push students who have already mastered grade level content so that they,
too, are learning and growing. Brown (2015) articulates the problems with a model such as this

when she writes that “providing differentiated methods and materials in the typical classroom for

a heterogeneous group of learners, including those who are struggling or below grade level, may

diminish attention to the needs of gifted advanced learners” (p. 64).

Gifted and talented students will become our next innovators, problem solvers, and leaders.

We must nurture their gifts and talents so that these students can reach their maximum potential

and use their gifts and talents to better their communities and our nation. While the CCSS are an

improvement, they are only the beginning of what these students can achieve.

References:
The Education Gadfly. (2015, February 23). Can gifted education survive the common core?

[Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIK3qNmeg_k

Johnsen, S. K. (2015). Gifted education programming standards. In F.A. Karnes & S. M. Bean

(Eds.), Methods and materials for teaching the gifted (4th ed., pp. 3-41). Prufrock Press.

Brown, E. F. (2015). Common core state standards and gifted education. In F.A. Karnes & S. M.

Bean (Eds.), Methods and materials for teaching the gifted (4th ed., pp. 43-65). Prufrock

Press.

National Association for Gifted Children. (1994). Pre-k-grade 12 gifted programming standards:

A blueprint for quality gifted education programs. NAGC. Electronic source:

http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=546&langtype=1033