Gifted & Talented
Our elementary and middle school students who are enrolled in our gifted and talented program receive enrichment programming while remaining in the general classroom setting with the rest of their peers. Our program provides for differentiated instruction in the classroom, one on one instruction, as well as small group instruction, within the classroom and outside of the classroom during pullouts once a week. Programs for the gifted and talented will be periodically evaluated for their continuing efficacy and adjusted accordingly.
Teachers have been trained in differentiating instruction for all learners, including the accelerated learner. Their lessons and instruction will be differentiated and accelerated to meet the needs of the gifted and talented students.
Differentiated instruction is...
More qualitative than quantitative. Students are offered learning experiences that are developmentally appropriate. In other words, instruction is “different, not more.”
Student-centered. Because teachers believe that learning experiences are most effective when they are engaging, relevant, and challenging, and because they accept that all students come to the classroom with differing levels of readiness, teachers actively seek to provide appropriate and challenging learning experiences for all their students.
A blend of whole class, small group, and individual instruction. To best meet the needs of all children, students often begin a study as a whole group, move out to pursue learning in small groups or individually, then come back together to share or to make plans for further investigation, move out for more work, come together again, and so on.
Fluid and flexible. In differentiated classrooms, as children grow and gain from learning experiences, teachers continually assess students' needs, interests, and readiness. Grouping is changed often and instruction is adjusted in anticipation of and response to these changing needs.
A method that uses a variety of teaching strategies. Teachers in a differentiated classroom challenge, extend, enrich and accelerate students in many ways. For example, teachers may use curriculum compacting, tiered assignments, group investigations, learning centers, independent study, or learning contracts.