Advocacy

The major discussions relating the Common Core State Standards to gifted education seem to focus on several key issues:

The Common Core State Standards represent the “new core” standards, and therefore the assumption is that gifted students will fare well in these “new” standards.

Many of the Common Core State Standards skill sets have been mastered by students as evidenced by assessments of their giftedness within various identification processes.

The skill sets defined within the Common Core State Standards have been integral features of a differentiated curriculum for gifted learners.

“The uncommon concerns about the Common Core State Standards appear to be Philosophical and Pedagogical.”

These key issues do not negate the importance or responsibilities of educators toward deciphering and teaching the Common Core State Standards to gifted students. However, what appears to be lacking in the discussions about the Common Core State Standards in relationship to gifted education is determining what is uncommon or unique about the Common Core State Standards as curricular and instructional elements to plan and implement them appropriately for the gifted. The uncommon concerns about the Common Core State Standards appear to be classified into categories: philosophical and pedagogical. Each category becomes a reference for conversation and implementation of some of the uncommon or unique ideas that should emerge in the implementation of the Common Core State Standards.

Philosophically, it is uncommon yet specifically important to the education of gifted students that the skill sets within the Common Core State Anchor K-12 Standards should not be expected to be mastered at a specific grade level. Each year, or at each grade level, gifted students should be expected to gain new insights about the meaning and importance of the skills, be adept at transferring the skills originally taught in a subject to different subjects or disciplines, and be able to individualize or personalize the use of the skill with reference to its alignment with each student’s unique aptitudes and/or interests.

Philosophically, it is uncommon yet necessary to foster the belief that the concept of developmental readiness is as applicable to gifted learners studying the Common Core State Standards as it is to other learners. The assumption that gifted students are ready to learn sophisticated skills such as those embedded within the Common Core State Standards without being evaluated with respect to their intellectual receptivity, intellectual stamina, and intellectual humility is uncommon within discussions about teaching and learning the Common Core State Standards.

Pedagogically, it is uncommon to note in discussions regarding the teaching of the Common Core State Standards references to inquiry or discovery rather than direct instructional strategies. While modeling and practice are significant in the teaching and learning of skills, gifted students need to be given opportunities to inquire into the origin of the skill, the conditions under which the skill assumes different purposes and values, and the types of skills that support each other. It should be common rather than uncommon to teach each skill both as an independent or singular unit as well as to teach the same skill as a member of a pair.

Pedagogically, it is uncommon for educators of the gifted to discuss how and when the Common Core State Standards fit into pre-established educational designs for gifted students such as Independent Study. One of the most uncommon features in many professional educational settings are decisions regarding priority: the Common Core State Standards or the educational design for the gifted. The concept of what is dominant versus what is subordinate in these decisions has great implications for how, when, and where the Common Core State Standards will be taught to gifted students.

The Common Core State Standards present an opportunity for educators of the gifted to wrestle with uncommon issues related to the introduction and assimilation of the “new” ideas represented in the Common Core Standards. A question remains as to whether or not the Common Core State Standards will provide an opportunity for educators of the gifted to resolve uncommon ideas about teaching and learning for gifted students. Resolution of the uncommon ideas presented in the Common Core Standards could be the impetus to move the field of the gifted forward.