Program Description

Guiding Principles and Rationale

The mission of Carroll County Public Schools is to ensure that every student can thrive as a responsible citizen in a changing world by providing rigorous and challenging curriculum in partnership with quality staff, caring families, and supportive community members.

The CCPS Gifted and Talented Education Program will work to support the county's overall mission as well as create goals and standards of its own to meet the needs of Carroll County's most capable students. Currently, the program's main focus is at the elementary level, but its goal, as per national and state legislation, is to work toward meeting the needs of gifted students at both the elementary and secondary levels.

Each of the seven essential criteria of gifted education programming, as stated by NAGC (the National Association for Gifted Children), is embedded in the goals of the school system's newly structured program. These goals are:

1. To provide training for school staff and address the awareness of the characteristics, needs, identification methods, and appropriate teaching strategies for the gifted student

2. To provide differentiated instruction and stimulate higher level processes through analytical, critical, and creative thinking strategies

3. To implement and maintain system wide identification procedures

4. To provide an ongoing process measuring student progress and program effectiveness

5. To ensure equitable access for all students regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, or disability

6. To effectively communicate with students, parents, and the community, encouraging involvement, support, and advocacy of the program

7. To continue to engage in professional development opportunities to maintain expertise in gifted education

 

Services Provided

The GT staff provide many services for all of the stakeholders in our service. Some of the services we offer students are:

• ILA/Math Enrichment

• Accelerated Mathematics

• Differentiated Support Services

• Special Interest Groups

• Independent Research Projects

For teachers we can:

• Provide Professional Development

• Co-teach/Co-plan

• Assist in Developing Curriculum Compacting, Research- based Investigations, Student Contracts, Tiered Assignments

• Analyze Student Data

• Assist in Grouping

• Provide Resources and Materials

• Model Lessons

• Differentiate Instruction

• Participate in Conferences

• Conduct Referral and Review Team Meetings

• Act as Community Liaison for Gifted

Identification Process

Screening for formal identification in the gifted and talented program begins in the second grade. Students are screened using multiple measures. These may include:

•  Teacher Observation Inventory of Gifted Behaviors

•  Parent Observation Inventory of Gifted Behaviors

•  Performance in the Primary Education Thinking Skills (PETS) Program

•  Student Area of Strength Content Checklist (Math and/or ILA)

•  Standardized Achievement and Ability Tests Scores

•  Math Benchmark Scores

•  Report Card Grades

•  Work Samples and / or Independent Production Projects

After the information is gathered, a referral and review team convenes to determine if the student qualifies for GT services beginning in grade three. The Referral and Review Team consists of school-based professionals, which may include an administrator, the GT teacher, a school counselor, and classroom teachers.

 

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