Applications to Practice

1
Applications to Practice

• Bronwyn MacFarlane, Ph.D.
• University of Arkansas, Little Rock
• Panel Moderator

2
Projects Athena and Clarion Social Justice in
Practice

• Bruce A. Bracken, Ph.D.
• The College of William Mary

3
Which of the following does not belong with the
others?
HENRY KISSINGER
CESAR CHAVEZ
CHRIS KRAFT
MUHAMMAD ALI
4
Which of the following does not belong with the
others?
CESAR CHAVEZ
MUHAMMAD ALI
5
Premises Supporting the Status Quo in
identification

• Gifted students are verbally precocious
• Verbally loaded intelligence tests do well at
  identifying verbally precocious students
• Verbally loaded intelligence tests correlate well
  with verbal outcomes (e.g., academic achievement)
• Prediction of academic success and failure is the
  penultimate evidence of an intelligence tests
  utility
• Use of verbally loaded intelligence tests alone
  maintain the status quo - - they identify
  verbally precocious students as gifted, but they
  exclude large numbers of gifted and talented
  students with language or cultural differences

6
Status Quo or Status Woe?Logical Deductions

• If we continue doing what weve done in the past,
  things will not change. De facto we embrace the
  status quo.
• Office of Civil Rights and many within the
  profession believe that the status quo in gifted
  identification is really the status woe.
• To discontinue the status quo we must do
  something different.
• Joyce and I thought Maybe we should be
• As concerned aboutConsequential Validity as we
  are about Predictive Validity
• more concerned about inclusion than exclusion
• more concerned about disproving the predictive
  validity of ability tests than touting their
  predictive value.

7
Verbal vs NonverbalMyopic Debate?
General Intelligence
8
Hypothesis of the Status Quo?

• g method variance A (verbal ability) will
  predict method variance A1 (verbal achievement)
  better than g method variance B (alternative
  assessments) will predict method variance A1
  (verbal achievement)
• g English verbal abilities will predict English
  verbal achievement (e.g., reading comprehension)
  better than g nonverbal abilities will predict
  English achievement (i.e., reading
  comprehension).
• H1 supported for both English speaking students
  and ESL/ELL students.

9
Lets Test the Hypothesis Walk a mile in
someone elses shoes
Brackenese Ability Test Sap brasa mocks?
Bray ara em amoka. On soma sedas bray ara pad
on soma sedas, amm whesa and on soma sedas, fram
rad and fram whesa. Bray van ba cas togbrar wo
daka a deseg meka bra ona nor sap bra carl.
Fatch ma. Zow ton maka ona jug meka on bra carl.
Mo shad.
10
How about in your native language?
See these blocks? They are all alike. On
some sides they are all red on some sides all
white and on some sides half red and half white.
They can be put together to make a design like
the one you see on the card. Watch me. Now you
make one just like on the card. Go ahead.
11
Race and Ethnicity in the United States
Diversity Abounds
Note Hispanics comprise 15 of all Americans
12
Should linguistically different students be
allowed in gifted programs?

• Number of languages spoken in various cities
  schools
• Chicago, IL 200 (Pasko, 1994)
• California 140 (Unz, 1997)
• Palm Beach, FL 80 (Fast Fact, 1996)
• Tempe, AZ 67 (Ulik, 1997)
• Plano, TX 60 (Power, 1996)
• Des Plaines, IL 57 (Van Duch, 1997)
• Knoxville, TN 60 (Forrester, 2000)
• Scottsdale, AZ 50 (Steele, 1998)
• Prince William County 48 (OHanlon, 1997)
• Cobb County, GA 45 (Stepp, 1997)
• Nashville, TN 40 (Nashville Banner, 1997)
• Tukwila, WA 30 (Searcey, 1998)
• Schenectady, NY 22 (Lipman, 1997)

13
Should students from different cultures be
included in gifted programs?
One out of every 10 people in the U.S.A. is
foreign-born. Of the nations total
foreign-born population, 68 are White
(non-Hispanic) 24 Asian/Pacific
Islander 8 African American More than 40
are Hispanic.
14
Should we integrate gifted programs or maintain
the status quo?

• Linguistically Different (ESL/ELL)
• Deaf/Hard of Hearing
• Aspergers
• Twice Exceptional (e.g., Verbal LD)
• Speech/Language Disordered
• Economically Disadvantaged
• Ethnic Minorities - - Culturally Different

15
Should ethnic/racial minoritiesbe included in
gifted programs?
By the middle of the this century, the nations
Hispanic population is expected to reach 96.5
million (24.5 of the total population).
Through 2020, the Asian/Pacific Islander
population is expected to grow faster than the
nations other race groups or the
Hispanic-origin population.
16
Should students withsignificant hearing loss be
allowed in gifted programs?

• 28,000,000 Americans have a significant hearing
  loss!

17
Should we be concerned about students for whom a
verbal assessment is inappropriate?

• If no, consider that if prediction of academic
  achievement is your sole or primary goal, then an
  academic achievement test will be an even better
  predictor than a verbally loaded intelligence
  test.
• If yes, consider supplemental assessment and
  identification methodologies
• Nonverbal assessments
• Gifted rating scales
• Measures of creativity
• Products/Performances
• Leadership Qualities

18
Empirical Investigation Project Athena The Value
of Multiple Measures
19
Clarion Student Proportions with Total Test
Scores 120Compared to the Total Sample
BBCS-R Total Sample NNAT Total
Sample Race/Ethnicity N N N N African
American 2 3.1 76 9.6 10 7.0 75 10.0 Asian
American 4 6.2 125 15.7 30 21.0 89 11.8 Caucasian
52 80.0 359 45.2 87 60.8 456 60.6 Hispanic 4 6.2
203 25.5 12 8.4 103 13.7 Native
American 0 0.0 4 0.5 1 0.7 6 0.8 Other 3 4.6 28 3
.0 3 2.1 23 3.1 Total 65 100.0 795 100.0 143 100.
0 752 100.0 Overall Identified
8.18 19.02
20
Graphical Display of Clarion Teacher Ratings on
CAB for Students Assessed on the BBCS-R
21
Graphical Display of Clarion Teacher Ratings on
CAB for Students Assessed on the NNAT
22
CAB Profiles for Clarion Students
23
Silver Bullets?No, just sincere efforts tobe
fair, equitable, and inclusive

• Recognized the need to address the condition of
  status woe
• Contributed to equitable assessment by combining
  verbal, nonverbal, and alternative identification
  methodologies
• Removed construct irrelevant variance associated
  with language expectations for children with
  communication difficulties or who speak English
  as a second language
• Increased identification of high ability,
  culturally diverse students
• Helped to integrate gifted programs
• Sought to avail high-powered curriculum to a more
  representative sample of students

24
But to succeed, be prepared to

• Differentiate the curriculum to accommodate
  diverse students individual needs
• Expand gifted programming to include additional
  appropriate content and constructs (e.g.,
  critical thinking)
• Teach traditional gifted students to be more
  accepting, tolerant, and supportive of
  non-traditional students
• Overcome the predictive correlations of English
  language tests by ensuring that non-traditional
  gifted students have the opportunity to maximize
  their educational growth in challenging
  classrooms

25
And be prepared to

• Change perceptions of gifted programs from being
  largely teacher self-reflections
• To culturally and linguistically rich
  environments!

26
Curriculum for the Gifted and the Integrated
Curriculum Model

• Catherine A. Little
• University of Connecticut

27

• Curriculum experiences for gifted learners need
  to be carefully planned, written down, and
  implemented in order to maximize their potential
  effect.
• - Joyce VanTassel-Baska

28
Tylers Four Fundamental Questions

• What educational purposes should the school seek
  to attain?
• What educational experiences can be provided that
  are likely to attain these purposes?
• How can these educational experiences be
  effectively organized?
• How can we determine whether these purposes are
  being attained? (Tyler, 1949)

29
Beliefs and Assumptions

• All learners should be provided curriculum
  opportunities that allow them to attain optimum
  levels of learning.
• Gifted learners have different learning needs
  compared with typical learners. Therefore,
  curriculum must be adapted or designed to
  accommodate these needs.
• The needs of gifted learners cut across
  cognitive, affective, social, and aesthetic areas
  of curriculum experience.

30
Beliefs and Assumptions, cont.

• Gifted learners are best served by a confluent
  approach that allows for accelerated and advanced
  learning and enriched and extended experiences.
• Curriculum experiences for gifted learners need
  to be carefully planned, implemented, and written
  down in order to maximize their potential effect.
• Curriculum development is an ongoing process that
  uses evaluation as a central tool for the future
  planning and revision of curriculum documents.
• VanTassel-Baska, 1994

31
Gifted Education Traditionsin Curriculum

• Accelerated learning and advanced content
• Direct teaching and application of thinking
  skills
• Research with culminating products for real
  audiences
• Focus on abstract concepts to promote greater
  depth and complexity

32
The Integrated Curriculum Model
Advanced Content Dimension
Process-Product Dimension
Issues/ThemesDimension
- VanTassel-Baska, 1986, 1995, 2002
33
Student Characteristics and the ICM

• Precocity
• Intensity
• Complexity

34
Key Advanced Content Considerations

• Variety of options for content acceleration
• Use of diagnostic assessment
• Elimination of previously learned material
• Interaction with advanced stimuli
• Substantive and worthwhile content that is
  authentic to the discipline
• Collaboration with content-area experts

35
Key Process/Product Considerations

• Specific attention to the development of thinking
  skills within content areas and applications
  across content areas
• Product development to promote independent
  pursuit of areas of interest relevant to the
  field of study
• Product development that reflects research
  processes in the real world and engages
  students with real problems and authentic
  audiences
• Engagement with disciplinary habits of mind and
  interdisciplinary thinking and metacognitive
  skills

36
Key Concept Considerations

• Focus on a limited number of large-scale,
  interdisciplinary concepts explored in depth
• Allowing students to uncover and discover
  concepts focus on making meaning rather than
  conveying information
• Development and application of generalizations
• Applications within and across content areas

37
Filters for Enduring Understandings

• To what extent does the idea, topic, or process
  represent a big idea having enduring value
  beyond the classroom?
• To what extent does the idea, topic, or process
  reside at the heart of the discipline?
• To what extent does the idea, topic, or process
  require uncoverage?
• To what extent does the idea, topic, or process
  offer potential for engaging students? (Wiggins
  McTighe, 1998)

38
Bridges to Instructional Practice and Fidelity
of Implementation

• Teaching models
• High-quality stimulus materials
• Prepared higher level questions
• Professional development
• Explicit connections to core curriculum
• Grouping
• High expectations and engagement
• Monitoring and support

39

• I do believe that there should be a core
  curriculum for gifted learners, and that it
  should match up with the core curriculum for
  schools in general. Then on top of that base,
  you can continue to build layers of
  opportunities, depending on the age of the
  learner, the interests of the learner, the
  aptitudes of the learner. The fundamental
  premise is that differentiation for the gifted
  should begin with the core curriculum and then
  branch out, based on other considerations about
  the learner and the environment.
• Joyce VanTassel-Baska

40
Key Features of WM Curriculum Development
Projects

• Long-term development and revision process with
  teacher and student feedback
• Staff development model
• Alignment with national and state standards
• Research supporting effectiveness with varied
  populations in different grouping contexts
• Student results
• Teacher results
• National recognition

41

• My fundamental belief that gifted students should
  have a differentiated curriculum, instruction,
  and assessment system in schools with high
  quality materials I believed that when I first
  started teaching, and I still believe that even
  more fervently today, because now at least I know
  that its possible.
• - Joyce VanTassel-Baska

42
Applications to Instructional Practice in Gifted
Education

• Karen B. Rogers
• College of Applied Professional Studies
• University of St. Thomas
• Minneapolis, Minnesota
• kbrogers_at_stthomas.edu

43
Components of Instructional Practice

• The Who Teacher
• Attitudes
• Behaviors
• Traits
• The How Processes that
• Change how students will think and learn
• Are organized to best meet unique learning needs,
  styles, preferences, and readiness levels

44
The Who The Literature and a Case Study

• Cognitive and Intellectual Traits of effective
  GT teachers
• Life-long learners with advanced expertise in at
  least one academic area
• Teaching Approaches and Philosophy
• Genuine liking of high ability learners and
  willingness to acknowledge and accommodate their
  learning needs
• Respect for and belief in individual differences
• Covers the materials they are supposed to cover
• Eliminates excess practice and starts students
  where they need to start
• Provides immediate, corrective feedback
• Personal Traits and Characteristics
• Sense of humor in line with subject area taught
• Emotional stability, openness to differences in
  opinion
• Enthusiasm for subject area and learning in
  general

45
Effective Instructor Application

• Not every teacher will be an effective teacher of
  gifted learners. That means we have to select
  carefully those who will work full-time with the
  gifted and talented. Will we ever get to a point
  when administrators can deliberately place
  teachers with those students with whom they will
  be most effective?
• That means that even when we have a set of
  competencies we want all teachers to know and
  be able to do, they may still not fill the bill
  as an effective teacher of gifted learners. The
  big question is, will a teacher proof
  curriculum override this gap?
• And, if a curriculum could be developed that is
  teacher proof, how do we guarantee the
  extensive training and monitoring for fidelity of
  implementation that would be required?

46
The How Pacing, Organizing, and Delivering

• Pacing - variable
• 2-3 times faster in math, foreign language, and
  in lower science levels
• Considerably slower when going into depth in
  higher order science, literature, humanities
• Organizing - conceptual
• MACOS, College of William Mary units may take
  considerably longer to work through because of
  the depth and conceptual complexity
• Higher order thinking, proof and reasoning, and
  open-ended reflections are a major focus of how
  the instruction is structured
• Delivering - sequence, instructional management
• Whole-to-part-to-whole with concepts
• Chronological or concrete to abstract with facts,
  details
• Small like performing/ability group or
  independently-balance

47
Effective Instruction Applications

• How can we organize classrooms so that the
  teacher can vary the pacing for a small number of
  gifted learners without forcing other learners
  who need the regular pace to go too quickly or
  too slowly?
• How can we teach the whole of a concept up front
  to gifted learners when that is not as
  appropriate for regular learners? Do we just
  give up on one of our groups learning needs?
• How can we properly supervise and monitor
  multiple independent learning experiences for
  high ability learners when we cannot know their
  level of skills for doing this effectively?
• And, what do we do when we ARE doing things right
  instructionally for gifted learners and they take
  off into the stratosphere, increasing rather than
  reducing the achievement gap? (CAG example)

48
Counseling the GiftedDr. Susannah
WoodUniversity of Iowa

49
Why counsel the gifted student?

• Their signature strengths and unique gifts will
  contribute to societys advancement
• By virtue of being gifted they may encounter
  challenges different from their average peers
• They do not always receive the services needed
  for their talents to flourish
• Many gifted students from minority or
  disadvantaged backgrounds are in critical need
• Studies demonstrate there is a need for
  differentiation of counseling for the gifted

50
Common Challenges to Talent Development

• Engagement and achievement
• Working with relationships
• Parents
• Peers
• Educators
• Paralyzing perfectionism/fear of failure
• Identity development
• Career development
• Skill sets
• Finding meaning

51
Additional Issues and Crises

• Mental health concerns
• Eating disorders
• Self-injurious behavior
• Abuse
• Suicide attempts
• Drug abuse
• Changes in family structure/dynamics

52
Techniques for counseling the gifted Dialogue

• Exploration of common myths and misconceptions
  regarding giftedness
• Explore worldview gender, family values,
  education, areas of passion
• Brainstorms/Imaginative play
• Solution-focused frameworks
• Open, honest dialogue about costs/benefits of
  hiding or pursuing gifts acknowledge gifted
  students experiences with ridicule
• Examine cognitive constraints must, should,
  always, have to, never, I have to be

53
Techniques for counseling the gifted
Psycho-educational strategies

• Goal setting
• Risk-taking with support/guidance
• Self-talk
• Cost/Benefits
• Skill-streaming
• Role-play
• Meta-cognitive strategies
• Stress-reduction techniques
• Biblio/cinematherapy

54
Techniques for counseling the gifted
Home/School/Community Partnerships

• Community
• Shadowing opportunities/mentorships/apprenticeship
  s
• Resource/referrals for mental health/family
  counseling
• Local universities and colleges
• Educational opportunities/enrichments/early
  entrance
• Collaboration
• School counselor, therapists, family, GT
  coordinator/educator, classroom educator
• Advocacy

55
Whats missing?

• Research
• No outcome research on whether or not (or the
  degree to which) specific counseling strategies,
  techniques, orientations or programming options
  are effective
• Service providers
• Training and preparation
• Partnerships
• Needed professional advocacy for and
  understanding of gifted population

56
Future Directions

• Collaborative and partnerships
• Outcome and action research on services and
  interventions
• Preparation programs
• Professional development needs

57
Infrastructures that Support Giftedness

• Elissa Brown, Ph.D.
• North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
• Panel Moderator

58
Teacher and Talent Development

• Dr. Ann Robinson
• University of Arkansas, Little Rock
• The Festschrift of
• Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska
• College of William and Mary
• March 13, 2009

59
Teacher and Talent Development

• Leta Hollingworth

60
Professional Development

• Teachers and the fidelity of implementation
• COS-R

61
NAGC-CEC Standards for teachers

• A Collaborative effort Leading the field to
  consensus

62
Leadership forSustainability
Welcome to

• Education and
• Gifted Education
• Ken Seeley, Colorado Foundation for Families and
  Children

63
Infrastructure Qualitative Research

• How does it fit into the study of gifted persons?
• Dr. Larry Coleman
• University of Toledo

64
Qualitative research is not method qualitative
research is paradigm

• Qualitative research is neither an isolated tool,
  nor a collection of tools or procedures rather
  it is a broader paradigmatic way of looking at
  the world which employs methods systematically
  for the purpose of understanding phenomenon and
  uncovering the meanings of persons in cultures.

65
Qualitative Researchs standards for judging
quality are different

• Qualitative research, unlike its conventional
  cousin quantitative research, makes no pretense
  at generalization, prediction, or objectivity
• Instead it uncovers the meanings of actions of
  persons in context from their perspective.
• It even has a different conception of causality
• It has a different standard of quality
• Data do not speak data only point the way

66
The purpose of a study determines the paradigm,
sets the research question and suggests methods

• Using unstructured interviews, narrative data,
  observations and field notes alone, or in
  combination, is not doing qualitative research.
• When used for purposes consistent with the goals
  of quantitative research, they are still
  quantitative procedures.

67
Characteristics of Qualitative Research

• Participant selection
• Insider perspective
• Data Collection
• Disclosure
• Data Analysis
• Interpretation presentation of meaning
• Voice
• Rich description
• Triangulation
• Discrepant case
• Credibility and trustworthiness
• Grounded Theory

68
2 studies

• Alex papers the professional practical
  knowledge of a master teacher is discovered (2
  weeks, all day)
• Greenhouse Institute papers A public
  residential high school is studied to discover
  how academic talent develops in a specialized
  context (1 academic year)

69
(No Transcript)
70
Teachers Cognitive map of active discussion
71
KINDS OF HOMEWORK

• Busywork can do while doing something else,
  straightforward, concrete, factual, quickly
  done, daily, often due in math, science,
  foreign language,
• Writing have to think, constant process, not
  fixed product, medium amount of work dependent
  on weekly, biweekly, monthly assignments,
  papers, essays, science reports, often in
  language, humanities,
• Reading squeeze in spare moments, alone, last
  thing to do, daily. primary sources, textbooks,
  library, in humanities, history,
• Projects presentations or creative homework,
  speeches, lead discussions, long time lines

72
Homework is not Studying

• Homework is done during the day, studying is done
  at night.
• Homework is what is due the next class, studying
  is something that is to be completed later.
• Homework is what I do for the school, studying is
  what I do for myself.

73
Topics and representative studies

• Motivation
• Process

• Success stories of girls
• Crystallizing experiences of music students
• Compensation strategies of GT/LD

74
Topics and representative studies

• Emotions
• Life stories

• Depression in adolescent girls
• Emotions while teaching
• Cross generational life stories of women of 4
  ethnicities

75
Topics and representative studies

• Teachers and teaching
• Curriculum

• Career path
• Tacit invisible knowledge
• Collaboration in a challenging math class of 11
  year olds
• Research processes used by junior high students

76
Qualitative Research Summarized

• Less is more. In-depth studies are favored,
  usually face to face. The context forms a
  boundary.
• Description is the starting point of analysis
  interpretation is the real work. Uncovering the
  meaning or voice of participants is the goal.
• The process is transparent and believable.
• Qualitative researchers shun generalization,
  readers ignore it and generalize.

77
Final Words

• All development happens in context, so
  qualitative research is a natural and powerful
  way to understand the growth of talented and
  gifted children in the various settings of life,
  such as family, peer group, club, church,
  classroom, program, and so forth.
• If you want to know, ask and observe
• Thoughtful researchers use their creativity to
  conceptualize studies on most phenomena.

78
A study never ends, you only take a step
79
Looking back and moving ahead Quantitative
research in gifted education

• Carol L. Tieso, Ph.D.
• Class of 1964 Term Distinguished Associate
  Professor of Education
• The College of William and Mary
• clties_at_wm.edu

80
Where Have We Been?

• My colleague and friend has advocated
  passionately for
• Teaching advanced content and high-powered
  concepts
• Using the pedagogy of gifted education with kids
  from diverse backgrounds
• Conducting research on what works rather than
  just stating what works.

81
ASPIRE An example from Project Athena

• Mixed-Methods, Exploratory Design
• Data from interviews and focus groups were used
  to create a new Likert-type instrument to measure
  stakeholders perceptions of reform efforts.
• Results from pilot were analyzed for construct
  validity and reliability.

82
Research or Evaluation?

• The purpose is not simply to explain what
  happened, but rather to evaluate the
  effectiveness of such practices in order to
  effect policy changes at the school, state, or
  federal level.
• For Project PROMISE, a Javits project recently
  evaluated by the CFGE, the purpose of the
  evaluation was to assess the impact of using the
  pedagogy of gifted education and the science
  curriculum of the CFGE with students in
  heterogeneous, Title I schools.

83
Where Are We Going?

• Logistic Regression Analysis
• Multilevel Modeling
• Longitudinal Designs
• Structural Equation Modeling
• Single Subject Designs
• Regression Discontinuity Designs

84
Final Thoughts

• There are no fancy statistical methods that can
  compensate for a poor research design.
• One makes ones place in the field by
  demonstrating honesty and integrity in reporting
  findings, or more illustratively, no findings.
• In the field of gifted education, the subjects of
  our research are not lab rats or specimen in a
  Petri dish, but children.

85
Policy as an Infrastructure

• Dr. James Gallagher
• University of North Carolina
• Chapel Hill

86
Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska

• The College of William and Mary