E- Squared is one level of supplemental services within the district’s MTSS (Multiple Tiered Systems of Support) initiative to accelerate the performance of all students. E-Squared represents the identification protocol and services for high achieving students who are exhibiting a mismatch between their current level of achievement/performance and that of their grade level peers. These supplemental services will be offered in conjunction with other interventions and extensions for 3rd-5th grade students across the district during the WIN (What I Need) portion of the daily schedule.
Teachers work in grade level teams using the district's universal achievement screener to identify the highest 10% of a grade level, within a school, in math and ELA (English Language Arts) using the most recent achievement data. Identification is ongoing and flexible, so a student may be identified for one, two or all units.
No, previously students took the CogAT test at the very beginning of 3rd grade based on 2nd grade teacher recommendation for inclusion in the GATE program. Students were included in 4th and 5th grade if they were in the 95th%ile or above on MCAs in both math and reading.
Concerns with this method of identification were:
Equity concerns in identification
Time spent testing relative to service time
Vague notions of aptitude, not connected to essential learning
Research shows that screening every child, rather than relying on nominations, produces far more equitable outcomes. This is why we have moved to using the district’s achievement screener, FAST, which is given to all students in the grade levels receiving E-Squared services. Also, minority and students living in poverty are extremely underrepresented in gifted programs nationwide and the method of identification called OTL (Opportunity to Learn) is a way to address this inequity. By using local norms, as suggested by OTL, we are able to identify students who are exhibiting a mismatch between their current level of achievement/performance and that of their grade level peers and provide services that are more locally responsive.
Strengths of current method of identification:
Refrains from labeling students as gifted/nongifted
Focuses on more immediate, measurable academic needs rather than notions of aptitude
Offers more continuity between classroom and pull out services
More service time, less testing time
Fits district’s MTSS framework for student support
If a student’s learning opportunities have differed markedly from those students in the same grade, comparisons across varied opportunities will underestimate or overestimate the student’s ability relative to each other. By looking at a school, or local norms, we are attempting to compare students with a similar opportunity to learn.
Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment is a standards based measurement. FAST measures students achievement above or below standards.
MCAs are not available for 3rd graders, and using FAST allows us to be consistent with our criteria across grade levels.
MCAs do not offer local percentiles and FAST does.
MCA scores can be used as an indicator that alternate measures should be looked at to include a child, but they are not sufficient to be the primary screener.
Each elementary site has a designated WIN (What I Need) time that provides opportunity for targeted instruction according to student needs. Teachers also provide small group differentiated instruction to meet students where they are at. E-Squared is one portion of a continuum of services that the district provides to assure every student is learning every day.
E-Squared serves 9 elementary schools and is operating with the monies from the state for Gifted and Talented services, which allow for 1.5 FTE staff. Using that staff to serve a similar percentage at each school site ensures equitable distribution of a finite amount of service, but is not sufficient to meet the needs of all students needing extension. E-Squared is just one extension option for students in grades 3-5. The bulk of extension and enrichment happens within the classroom, and during WIN groups, with talented teachers who know the students best.
Teacher teams (PLCs) look carefully at longitudinal data and other measures to include students who may not have demonstrated their ability on the universal screener. Alternative pathways to service include: student portfolios that demonstrate level 4 work on common assessments and/or longitudinal data that points to a test score being unusually low relative to typical results.
E-Squared services has a toolkit of learning activities that align with state standards, but allow for increased pace of instruction, as well as a greater depth and complexity of content for high achieving students. That said, there is flexibility in topics covered with each group, allowing services to be responsive to a particular school/group of students’ needs. Please communicate with E-Squared staff by inviting us to PLC with your team! We believe services should be linked to essential learning and responsive to site needs.
We are focusing on students exhibiting a mismatch from their peers in specific academic subjects in grades 3-5 using one of the broadest definitions of giftedness that exists. See below for the Minnesota Department of Education’s (MDE) definition and the National Association for Gifted Children’s definition.
The more we widen the achievement band, the impact of having targeted services becomes less, and does not address the issue of someone perpetually being just below the cut. The aim of services is to allow students to learn alongside others who learn at similar rates, possess similar levels of knowledge, and share similar goals, resulting in a peer group where students can challenge one another.
The State of MN definition of Giftedness (MARSS definition):
Students capable of high performance when compared to others of similar age, experience and environment and represent the diverse population of our communities. These are students whose potential requires differentiated and challenging educational programs and /or services beyond those provided in the general school program. Students capable of high performance include those with demonstrated achievement or potential ability in any one or more of the following areas: general intellectual, specific academic subjects, creativity, leadership and visual or performing arts.
NAGC (National Association of Gifted Children) definition of Giftedness:
It is difficult to estimate the absolute number of gifted children in the U.S. and the world because the calculation is dependent on the number of areas, or domains, being measured and the method used to identify gifted children. However, many consider children who are in the top 10 percent in relation to a national and/or local norm to be a good guide for identification and services