Gifted programs and services: what are the nonnegotiables?

A final consideration in the use of alternative assessment approaches with gifted learners involves providing rubrics for assessment at the time the assignment is given so that students can understand expectation levels required for any given assignment at conception rather than at the end. This approach also ensures that criteria for judgment are both well-defined by the teacher and well-understood by the student.

Quality Teaching

Core knowledge and skills for teachers who work with gifted students might be a long list indeed, but focusing it on nonnegotiables may make it more manageable. What are the critical requirements for identifying high-quality teachers of gifted learners? First of all, teachers of gifted learners need to be lifelong learners themselves, open to new experiences and able to appreciate the value of new learning and how it applies to the classroom. Second, they need to be passionate about at least one area of knowledge that they know well, and be able to communicate that passion and its underlying expertise to students. This would imply deep knowledge in a subject area, coupled with the ability to use the skills associated with that knowledge domain at a high level. Third, they need to be good thinkers, able to manipulate ideas at analysis, synthesis, and evaluation levels with their students within and across areas of knowledge. Such facility would imply that they themselves were strong students in college and scored well on tests of reasoning, like the SAT and the Graduate Record Exam. Fourth, teachers of gifted students must be capable of processing information in a simultaneity mode, meaning that they need to be able to address multiple objectives at the same time, recognize how students might manipulate different higher level skills in the same task demand, and easily align lower level tasks within those that require higher level skills and concepts.

Teacher-directed differentiation for gifted students has no meaning if teachers cannot perform these types of tasks and evidence these skills. To develop and demonstrate these skills, teachers of gifted students need in-depth preparation through an endorsement or certification program of studies at a university. Sustained professional development is also necessary in areas of program delivery.

Access to Advanced Opportunities External to Schools

Although local schools play a critical role in educating students, they can be even more effective when coupled with outside community resources that supplement learning. One such program model is the Saturday and Summer Enrichment programs offered by local universities. These initiatives tend to be enrichment-oriented and allow area gifted students to use their leisure time pursuing topics of academic interest such as poetry, computers, chemistry, and architecture under the direction of a highly qualified instructor. Because these programs usually charge tuition, it is often necessary for schools to disseminate information to parents to make them aware of such services. Also offered by universities are the Talent Search programs, usually targeted to academically able middle-school students who qualify based on SAT scores. Often offered during the summer, and including a residential component, many of these programs provide accelerated content equivalent to high school coursework.