Gifted programs and services: what are the nonnegotiables?

1. Is the curriculum sufficiently advanced for the best learners in the group?

2. Is the curriculum complex enough for the best learners, by requiring multiple levels of thinking, use of resources, or variables to manipulate?

3. Is the curriculum sufficiently in-depth to allow students to study important issues and problems related to a topic under study?

4. Is the curriculum sufficiently creative to stimulate open-ended responses and provide high-level choices?

Differentiated Curriculum Resources

Curriculum differentiation must also address the need for careful selection of materials for use in classrooms serving gifted and promising learners who may not yet be identified as gifted. These materials should go beyond a single text as resource, provide advanced readings, present interesting and challenging ideas, treat knowledge as tentative and open-ended, and provide a conceptual depth that allows students to make interdisciplinary connections. High quality technology resources that meet the same criteria should be used as an important part of integrated learning.

It is useful for schools to appoint a materials selection committee who can review materials in each subject area, with an eye to principles of differentiation and exemplary content (VanTasselBaska, 2004). The following list provides a few guiding questions that should influence the process:

1. Does the material address the goals and outcomes of the curriculum framework?

2. Is the material differentiated for gifted learners in respect to advancement, complexity, and creativity?

3. Is the material well-designed in respect to emphasizing research-based strategies, such as concept mapping, metacognition, and articulation of thinking?

4. Is the material aligned with standards in the relevant subject area, or easy to align?

A more complete review form may be found in another publication (VanTassel-Baska & Little, 2003). The materials selection committee may rate each material reviewed and make decisions for use based on the data collected.

Instructional Differentiation

Instructional approaches that foster differentiated responses among diverse learners include those that are inquiry-based, open-ended, and employ flexible grouping practices.

Problem-Based Learning

One example of an effective inquiry-based model is problem-based learning (PBL) that has the learner: (a) encounter a real-world problem sculpted by the teacher out of key learning to be acquired in a given subject, (b) proceed to inquire about the nature of the problem as well as effective avenues to research about it, and (c) pursue sources for acquiring relevant data. The instructional techniques needed by the teacher include high-level questioning skills, listening skills, conferencing skills, and tutorial abilities to guide the process to successful learning closure in a classroom. PBL also requires the use of flexible team grouping and whole class discussion. Problem resolution requires student-initiated projects and presentations, guided by the teacher. Thus, effective instruction must include the selection of a few core teaching models that successfully highlight the intended outcomes of the curriculum.