assistance from gifted specialists, and no
additional time to plan and create.
Yet some schools and districts
have chosen to include gifted and
advanced learners in their professional development discussions, school
scheduling, and instructional planning.
Some reasons are pragmatic: If students
are to enroll and succeed in advanced
placement (AP) high school classes,
teachers need to nurture their talent
and adequately prepare them in grades
K– 8. Some reasons are more principled:
School mission statements, which
typically include statements like “all
students should receive an education
that optimizes their potential,” should
also apply to gifted learners. And some
reasons are political: Parents with means
insist on such programs, or they leave
the public schools for homeschooling,
online schools, or private schools.
What follows are some best practices in gifted education that schools all
around the United States have implemented to ensure that every student
grows and learns each year.
and with depth? Like Shawna, they
frequently languish in our classrooms, held down by the low ceiling
imposed by narrow assessments; misunderstanding of their needs; teachers’
lack of skills in adjusting curriculum
and instruction for this population; and,
most significant, a failure of will to help
them excel.
These students are often invisible as
we pore over the scores of students “at
the bubble” and reams of data that are
supposed to guide our decision making
and close various gaps. But rarely do we
turn our attention to the students who
pass all the tests and score in the 90th
percentile or even higher, scores that
indicate the test was probably in-
adequate for measuring what these stu-
dents know and are able to do. Even
though they may consistently score at
the 99th percentile, many students don’t
make sufficient yearly progress.
A Matter of Will
Few teacher preparation programs
require coursework in differentiation
for gifted and advanced learners or
strategies for teaching advanced classes
and content. Thus, even when teachers
want to help—and many do—they
lack the knowledge and skills to do so.
Moreover, recent budget cuts have left
teachers with few resources, little expert
First Step: Pre-assessment
© SUSIE FITZHUGH
If a gifted or advanced learner demonstrates mastery of adding fractions
on a short-cycle assessment, we can’t
stop there, even if adding fractions is
the outcome or standard for that grade
level. What else about fractions does he
or she know?
The pre-assessment should start with
outcomes for a unit or topic—or even
for the whole school year—including
both state and national standards. Using
objectives that are at grade level as well
as those that are a grade or two above
will indicate how far ahead students
might be.
Pre-assessments should be administered at least one to two weeks before
instruction is to begin. They should be
individual; the student should complete them in writing (if he or she is old
enough); and they should be administered in school. The teacher can give
the pre-assessment to some or all of
the students in a class, depending on
who the teacher feels is ready. Such
