Professional Development Plan for Gifted Education Teachers

Professional Development Plan for Gifted Education Teachers Order Description   : Design a professional development plan for a group of new and junior level teachers at a school. You choose whether it is an elementary, middle, or high school. The PD is to be on the topic of serving gifted students. Inquiry has shown that most of these teachers lack complete understanding of the following areas of working with the gifted in this school: (1) the varied natures of gifted children; (2) how gifted students are identified in the district, and what the classroom teachers’ roles are in this process; (3) services offered to the gifted in the school other than services expected from the regular classroom teacher; (4) best practices by the regular classroom teacher in working with gifted and high achieving students. Thus the goal of this PD process is to improve teachers' knowledge and application of the 4 areas above. The PD can take place over an entire school year, but this is not a firm requirement. Options include group meetings, online meetings, individual consulting, smaller team meetings, independent work by teachers, use of outside resources, and other means. Research-related methods of data collection are to be proposed for the purpose of evaluating the effects of the PD on teacher knowledge, application of that knowledge, and the effects on the students. In your description of the PDP, address each of the areas below in the order in which they are listed in the questions. . Refer to the short rubric below for specific details to be addressed. The PD proposal discusses the content of the four areas of need. natures of gifted students identification of gifted students services offered best practices For each of the areas above, the accuracy and other qualities of the descriptions by the candidate indicate that the C has a thorough understanding of these features. 2. The description of the PD explains when and where the four areas of need are included in the process. The candidate’s inclusion of this information and rationale as to why this arrangement is best indicates that the C is competent in designing a collaboration/ advocacy presentation.     3. For each of the four areas of need, the PD proposal explains how the choice of timing, grouping, and media used should produce desired results. The rationale of the specific combination of timing, grouping, and media used indicates competency in collaboration. Timing Grouping media 4. The proposal describes how provision is made for differences among the participants in knowledge level of the four areas, which is to be determined early in the process. This indicates how well the candidate attends to individual professional development needs, in this case of the audience members. 5. The proposed evaluation of the PD includes assessment of the gain in teacher knowledge; assessment of change in teacher practices; and assessment of impact on students. A quality response to this attests to the candidate’s ability to design assessments and analyze data appropriately in determining if needs were met. Teacher knowledge Change in practices Impact on students Rubric short form Descriptor Proficient Competent 1a. The PD proposal (PDP) discusses the content of Nature of Gifted Students to be included in the PD process. In addition to the Competent features, the content discussion makes note of exceptions; and includes a discussion of twice exceptional. The content discussion includes academic ability and performance of the gifted; social emotional issues; artistic and leadership abilities; motivation traits. 1b. The PDP discusses the content of Identification of Gifted Students to be included in the PD process. In addition to the Competent features, the discussion covers the classroom teachers’ role in identification of gifted students. Also, description of formal identification is accurate. The content of the discussion about identification includes evident and observable traits and behaviors; subtle and negative behavior; other informal identification methods; formal measures. It also includes the procedure for submitting identification documents. 1c. The (PDP) discusses the content of Current Services Offered to Gifted Students to be included in the PD process. Discussion, in addition, includes services to all five of the areas of gifted identification, and how the services work with the school’s organization are described. Discussion uses typical terms for those service arrangements. The discussion of current services offered at the hypothetical school includes at least 5 options for serving gifted students at that span of grade levels. Four areas of giftedness are included. Service by specialists, focused classes, or regular classroom teachers are addressed. 1d. The (PDP) discusses the content of Best Practices in teaching Gifted Students to be included in the PD process. In addition, discussion includes how to match the areas of giftedness to the most fitting practices, and how to manage the services. In addition, the discussion of Best Practices specifies collaboration between team members and the gifted specialists in providing or services to gifted students. The discussion of Best Practices for the classroom teacher includes categories such as acceleration, curriculum compacting, extensions and replacements, and student choice. The discussion of Best Practices for the classroom teacher includes assistance for classroom teachers in matching the practices to their various content areas. 2. The PDP explains when and in what order the four areas of content are to be included in the PD process. In addition, the proposal notes if and when some content areas may be covered simultaneously, or if the timeline is adjustable. The proposal describes the time frames for the four content areas, including the order and the occasions. 3a. The PDP explains the PD time scale and how that arrangement should produce desired results In addition, the proposal describes possible alternate meetings. The proposal describes the medium and synchronous status of the meetings and why those are advantageous. The proposal describes the frequency and sequence of meetings/ activities and their content and explains why that arrangement is workable. 3b. The PDP explains the PD grouping plans and how those arrangements should produce desired results. In addition, the proposal includes specific examples of why at least two of these groupings are a good fit. The proposal includes a variety of groupings for the meetings/activities and explanations of why these groupings are suited to the tasks. 3c. The PDP explains the media used in the PD and how the media choices should produce desired results. In addition, the proposal explains why some of the media options are not workable or could possibly be added later based on initial results of the PD. The proposal addresses various possible media arrangements, including face to face whole group discussion; face to face teamwork; virtual real time activities; virtual asynchronous activities; individual activities; choice of presenters and leaders; use of alternative meeting times. The proposal explains why the options selected are workable for the situation. 4. The PDP describes how provision is made for differences among the participants in their levels of knowledge of the four content areas. In addition, the proposal describes how the specific needs assessment can affect grouping and other features of the PD. Proposal describes how specific needs for each participant in the four content areas will be assessed. Specific sample items in the assessment are provided 5a. The proposed evaluation of the PD includes assessments of the gains in teacher knowledge about working with the gifted. In addition, the proposed evaluation includes examples of positive and negative data results. The proposed evaluation of gains in teacher knowledge describes the types of data to be gathered, when, and how it would be acquired. It explains what areas of knowledge are to be assessed. 5b. The proposed evaluation of the PD includes assessments of the changes in teacher practice in working with the gifted. In addition, the proposed evaluation includes examples of positive and negative data results. In addition, the proposed evaluation includes examples of positive and negative data results regarding teacher flexibility. The proposed evaluation of changes in teacher practice describes the types of data to be gathered, when, and how it would be acquired. It explains what areas of practice are to be assessed. The proposed evaluation of changes in teacher practice describes the types of data to be gathered, when, and how it would be acquired. It explains what areas of flexibility in teacher practice are to be assessed 5c. The proposed evaluation of the PD includes assessments of the impact of the participants on gifted students in their need areas. In addition, the proposed evaluation includes examples of positive and negative data results. In addition, examples are given of possible areas of reflection by participants. The proposed evaluation of impact on gifted students in their needs areas describes the types of data to be gathered, when, and how it would be acquired. It explains what areas of need are to be assessed. The proposed evaluation of impact on gifted students describes how participant reflection would be used to analyze data about impact of the PD on students and their areas of need.