Gifted Education 101

Let me preface this post by saying I am NOT an expert in gifted education by any means.  I do hold my three part specialist qualifications in Special Education (including the gifted elective) and I have been teaching in a gifted intensive support program for the past six (going on seven) years.  I am also the mother of a beautiful daughter who was identified as profoundly gifted by her paediatrician when she was only 16 months old.  She attends a gifted ISP class in another school in my district.  

I am learning about teaching gifted students the same way I have learned about teaching ALL students, by listening, by observing, by trying new things, by differentiating, by talking to parents, to other staff, to experts in the field, by reading about and researching best practices, and by remaining open minded to all the things I don't know.  

When I started this blog, it was my intention to blog about teaching gifted students.  And I have.  But it might not look like it to someone outside looking in.  What is it that you do that is different I am often asked?  Usually I want to say NOTHING...good teaching is good teaching...but that is too simplistic a response.  Why?  Because gifted students do have different needs, they have different strengths and they do need different programming. 

This series of posts will not about whether or not gifted programs are a good thing or a bad thing, they will not meant as debate about funding or resources.  These posts are going to be straight up about what I do in my school board, in my school working with my colleagues and in my classroom with my students.   

Well let's start off with what is a gifted child?  I am asked this all the time by other teachers and non-eductors alike.  I bet you have all seen this before:

Click on the image above to download your own copy.

As an educator of the gifted and as a parent of a gifted child, first off let me say that neither column encompasses the whole child.  Many bright children possess gifted characteristics and many gifted students possess the characteristics of bright children.  Some children are bright and gifted.  Other children have been identified as "gifted" but may not present as "bright".  Some gifted students have multiple diagnoses and can be gifted/learning disabled.  I have students in my class who run the whole gamut of the continuum.  

In the Toronto District Public School board students are "tested" for the gifted program in the third grade.  Students are usually nominated by their teachers, but they can also be nominated for screening by their parents/guardians.

I won't get into the specifics of the testing/screening.  This is formally conducted by trained psychologists. On the overall scoring a student needs to be in the 98th percentile in one area - either perceptual or reasoning.  Parent and teacher observations and checklists are taken into account and a IPRC (Individual Placement and Review Committee) meeting is called to decide what would be the best placement for the student.  

The IPRC will meet with the parents and:

• decide whether or not the student should be identified as exceptional
• identify the areas of the student’s exceptionality, according to the categories and definitions of exceptionalities provided by the Ministry of Education
• decide an appropriate placement for the student
• review the identification and placement at least once in each school year

Students traditionally start in the gifted progam in the fourth grade, although TDSB does have some gifted programs for primary students.

You can click HERE to read my earlier post about the Top 10 Myths About Gifted Learners.

In the upcoming instalments of this Gifted 101 series I will delve into how teachers in my school work to meet the identified needs of gifted students.  Stay tuned!