Greg Anderson - Director
of Curriculum & Instruction
Christopher Kocurek - DMS/DHS Principal
Carol Shefcik - DES School Principal
Tiffany Eversole - Parent
Kristin Piper - DHS Teacher
Darla Ham - DES Teacher
Celeste Kingrea - GT
Specialist
Stacey Matheson - DES Technology Teacher
Mary Margaret Coleman - DES Counselor
Danbury Independent School District is serving approximately 9.1% of its students through its gifted program. As of October 2006, 71 students have been identified as gifted for the 2006-2007 school year.
Information about the gifted program is available to parents and community members.
Several meetings are held for parents/guardians of gifted students and any other interested parties. The purpose of the meeting is to inform parents/guardians about the nature of DISD’s gifted program, create awareness about state and district goals for program quality, and to assist parents of gifted students in meeting the needs of their children. Parents/Guardians are informed of local conferences and workshops for gifted education and are invited to attend these sessions with DISD staff.
Nominations for screening any Danbury student can be made by a parent/guardian, a teacher, an administrator, a peer or the student themselves. Nominations can be submitted any time during the year. Testing is completed by the end of the semester in which the nominations are submitted.
Nominated students in kindergarten, grades one through twelve require parental permission for testing. Assessment tools that are both quantitative as well as qualitative may include, but are not limited to the following: achievement and aptitude tests, behavioral checklists (Gifted and Talented Evaluation Scales (GATES)) completed by teacher/s, state assessment instruments, the Structure of the Intellect (SOI) diagnostic instrument and/or the Raven’s Progressive Matrices. This information is combined with the most recent standardized test results from the student’s cumulative file and is kept confidential throughout the identification process.
Screening for all kindergarten students begins in the fall. Students may be recommended for testing based on the screening results, as well as persons listed above. Parents of students being considered further complete a checklist of gifted characteristics on their child. All information is recorded on a matrix and presented to the selection committee. This process for the Gifted and Talented Program is completed by March 1st. When needed, a translator is provided for Limited English Proficient (LEP) students.
Students
nominated in grades one through eleven are screened and recommended for further
consideration. Parents of students
being tested complete a checklist of gifted characteristics on their child.
All information is recorded on a matrix and presented to the selection
committee.
The selection committee is comprised of the GT
specialist, the campus principal, the counselor, and teachers from various grade
levels with thirty hours in gifted education.
The selection committee ensures that careful consideration has been given
to the exceptional student, the culturally diverse, the learning disabled, or
handicapped student. Continued
placement is contingent upon regular education and gifted education performance.
Information obtained and discussed during the identification process is
confidential and students are selected for the program using only an identifying
number; not names are used.
Notifications of placement decisions made by the selection committee are sent by mail to parents/guardians in their native language. Parents must sign and return a copy of the notification and are invited to schedule an appointment to review their child’s selection matrix.
Upon teacher or principal recommendation, students who consistently perform at remarkably high levels at one grade level may be accelerated to another grade level. Grade-acceleration decisions are based on the results of the Iowa Acceleration Scale.
When a student identified as
gifted by a previous school district transfers into the District, the
student’s records shall be reviewed by the selection committee to determine if
placement in the District’s program for gifted and talented students is
appropriate. A transfer student is
placed into the program on probationary status for thirty (30) days. The data that is collected on the student’s ability
during the probationary period includes, but is not limited to the following:
transfer records: observation reports of District teacher/s who instruct
the student, additional testing, and student and/or parent conferences.
The committee shall make a determination within thirty (30) days of the
student’s enrollment in the District. Prior
to receiving services, transfer students must meet the DISD selection criteria
as an identified student.
Students identified for the gifted and talented program may or may not have been appropriately placed. Only with time in the school system can appropriateness of the placement into the gifted and talented program be evaluated. Students may be re-assessed using the following condition/s:
Inadequate
performance in an academic subject area/s (two consecutive six weeks grade
averages in at least one subject fall below an 80 or failing at least one
subject in a six weeks).
The selection committee will
evaluate re-assessment data and reach a consensus decision about consequent
placement. A student may continue
in the program, be monitored, placed on furlough, or exited from the program.
Students experiencing difficulty maintaining academic achievement either in the Gifted and Talented Program or in the regular education classes can be put on monitored status. Those involved in the decision will determine the length of time. Teachers serving monitored students will offer assistance as needed and document student progress.
The selection committee may
place a student who is unable to maintain satisfactory performance within the
structure of the Gifted and Talented Program on furlough.
The purpose of the furlough status is to provide the student an
opportunity to attain performance goals established by the selection committee.
A furlough also may be granted at the request of the parent/guardian.
A student may be furloughed for
a period of time deemed appropriate by the selection committee.
At the end of the furlough, the student’s progress shall be reassessed,
and the student may re-enter the program, be removed from the program, or be
placed on another furlough.
A student may be removed from
the program if it is determined that it would be in the best interest of the
student, or if the student has been improperly placed.
State guidelines specify that no single criterion can be used to
determine an exit from the program. This
may include school performance, as well as personal or social stresses.
Parents can request removal from the program.
Danbury Independent School District will honor that request after a
conference with the campus administrator, GT specialist, parent and student.
A student who has exited from
the Gifted and Talented Program can be re-admitted after following all of the
procedures of identification. Parents/guardians
and students shall be notified in writing of the decision to re-enter the
program. The student shall have
only one opportunity to return to the program after an exit.
Parents may appeal a placement decision made by the
selection committee regarding admission or dismissal from the program.
Appeals shall be made in writing first to the campus administration and
then to the selection committee. Any
subsequent appeals shall be made according to Board Policy.
Thirty (30) hours of gifted education training have been
provided to the staff of Danbury Independent School District.
Teachers new to the district, who have not completed the training, are
required to complete thirty (30) hours in nature and needs of the gifted,
identification and assessing student needs, and curriculum and instruction for
gifted students.
The gifted and talented program for kindergarten, grades
one through five is a weekly pull-out program in which the GT Specialist
provides a curriculum rich in the areas of creativity, logic, critical thinking,
problem solving, language development, and technology literacy.
In addition, classroom teachers offer higher levels of tasks or skills
for gifted students through a differentiated curriculum in the core academic
areas of math, reading/language arts, science and social studies.
When possible, a student may also participate in enrichment activities
with the pull-out teacher and/or classroom teacher.
Sixth grade gifted students are served in advanced classes in language arts and math. Classroom teachers of advanced classes are the teachers of record and they assign grades. In addition to the advanced classes, the curriculum may be differentiated by pulling students to work on advanced level performances and/or products.
Students
in middle school are served in advanced level classes in math, English/Language
Arts and foreign language. Algebra
I and Spanish I are offered to eighth grade students. Other seventh and eighth grade classes provide opportunities
for greater challenge in writing, higher-level thinking, and creativity.
Students will be engaged in critical/creative thinking, problem solving,
and developing GT quality products.
At the high school level,
students are serviced in pre-Advanced Placement (Pre-AP) and Advanced Placement
(AP) classes. Other opportunities
afforded to the students include dual and concurrent enrollment courses with
participating junior colleges, on-site video teleconferencing, and/or other
off-site course.
Yearly evaluations of the
Danbury Independent School District Gifted and Talented Program are to be
completed by staff members, students, and parent/guardians involved in the
program.
One or two meetings are held
each year for administrators, faculty, and parents of students in the gifted and
talented program to discuss ways to improve the program.
A program survey is completed
each year to share opinions about program quality and to make suggestions for
improvement.
Scores on RPTE, TPRI, ITBS, STAR
Reading/Math, TAKS, PSAT, SAT/ACT, and End of Year subject areas are compiled
and used as indications of individual student progress.
For
more information, please contact your child’s campus principal.
Helpful Links –Gifted Education:
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Texas
Education Agency Advanced Academic Services National
Association for Gifted Children Texas
Association for the Gifted and Talented Neag
Center for Gifted Education and Talented Development |
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