Implementing Innovation in Different Service Delivery Models

Honors Program

In the honors program, gifted specialists provide accelerated and enriched instruction in mathematics and/or language arts, depending upon the area(s) of identification and needs, to gifted students in lieu of the regular grade-level curriculum provided in their homeroom classes. In both mathematics and language arts, students receive instruction beyond the grade-level curriculum using advanced levels of analysis and critical thinking. Enrichment of the language arts curriculum includes Latin stems and vocabulary studies, Socratic seminars, classic and contemporary literature studies, project-based learning, and Core Knowledge integrated curriculum. Students qualify for content replacement services when scoring at the 97th percentile on any one, or combination, of the verbal, quantitative, or nonverbal sections of the Cognitive Abilities (CogAT) examination. At most elementary sites providing content replacement, students receive 60 min of math and 40 min of reading instruction.

Self-Contained Program

The self-contained program is designed for students working at least two grade levels beyond their current grade. The students receive accelerated content in language arts, mathematics, history, and science. Each subject area is taught at least 2 years above grade level. They participate in art, music, physical education, lunch, and recess with other grade-level classes. Students qualify for this program by scoring at the 97th percentile or above in two areas and at the 90th percentile or above on a third area on a state-approved test. Students may also score 140 index score (99th percentile) or higher on an IQ test. In addition, students must display the capability and need for accelerating two or more grade levels ahead and meeting or exceeding standards on state achievement tests.

Honors Program in a Non-Title 1 School

As it would be in any other district, the overarching goals of the content replacement program are the same for all the schools; however their implementation might look a bit different from school to school depending on the school location, student population, and teacher’s practices. One of the Non-Title 1 schools that implemented the William & Mary ELA curriculum units is in a moderate socioeconomic neighborhood. This school includes about 750 pre-kindergarten through sixth-grade students with approximately 10% qualifying for free and reduced lunches. At this site, roughly 65 fourth through sixth graders were qualified for gifted services, constituting about 20% of the school’s upper grade population. The content replacement model at this site provides 40 to 45 min daily services in reading and math through a pull-out program. The gifted specialist is responsible for all assessments and grading in reading.

Enrichment and acceleration of the curriculum are the hallmark of the content replacement program. The William & Mary ELA curriculum aligns well with the features and goals of this program. One could describe these units as vital to address the instructional needs of gifted students. The units are leveled in multi-grade formats and build on each other. This format is an asset for teachers who work with multiple grades and ages. Students receiving content replacement from fourth to sixth grades are exposed to a variety of advanced literature and consistently expand their higher order literature skills.

Other features of the curriculum that worked well for this service delivery model were (a) the organization of activities around broad, interdisciplinary concepts and themes and (b) the teaching models that are scaffolded with graphic organizers. As one PVUSD (2017) shared,

Conceptual curriculum is powerful for gifted learners who favor a road map. Gifted learners are experts at making connections and utilizing the graphic organizers/models within the curriculum to promote a detailed picture and impact of the literature pieces shared in the literature units. In fact, the students are given the opportunity to construct connections between the varied poetry, short stories, and novels and create a profound understanding and analysis using the literature graphic organizers. It was clear that students were benefiting from this curriculum, but the units also influenced us, the teachers. (Honors Program Gifted Specialist 1, 2017)

Another teacher said,

I used the TABA model of Conceptual Development to aid my student’s organization and evaluation of literature. The [graphic] organizers highlighted in the William & Mary Language Arts curriculum changed my instructional focus from a curriculum to be graded to a method to master the reading standards. (Honors Program Gifted Specialist 2, 2017)

Although these curriculum units have strong alignment with the honors program, modification was necessary to address the needs of the students in the classroom. Many PVUSD Gifted Specialists supplemented the William & Mary ELA curriculum units with nonfiction selections, which was relatively easy as the activities are already organized around broad, interdisciplinary concepts and themes. For example, the literature My Daniel was paired with nonfiction pieces and poetry such as Buffalo Dusk, by C. Sandburg. This integration increased student engagement, as well as provided research opportunities as driven by student interest. One teacher explained,

With the short story The Ransom of Red Chief, my students were interested in the irony of the story and driven to uncover the history behind the story and motivation of the author, O. Henry. This additional research deepened my students’ understanding of the selected story. (Honors Program Gifted Specialist 3, 2017)

Some modifications to the units were also made due to the time restrictions in the 40-min block. For example, students were asked to complete reading and preparation outside of class. By doing so, classroom time focused on the deeper level of literature analysis and critical thinking about conceptual ideas that the William & Mary curriculum units provided. In other cases, some novels were condensed, and a few short stories were excluded. However, all the poetry in the units were used due to the high levels of critical thinking involved, the ability to integrate multicultural literature, and the degree of student interest. Another modification to the units that helped with the time constraint was the integration of technology. Teachers set up a Google Classroom which provided an interface for all students to connect with each other, as well as with the teacher. Students were able to participate in online discussions, complete assignments, and receive feedback from us on Google Classroom. Several creative and collaborative projects were completed using Pic Collage, Popplet, or Google Suite apps. “Teacher judgment and teacher decisions about what to pull in” per one participating teacher, “were important factors in the implementation phase” (Honors Program Gifted Specialist 4, 2017).

Honors Program in a Title 1 School

The William & Mary ELA curriculum units were also implemented in a Title 1 school where 82% of the students receive free or reduced lunch. Of the 436 students enrolled at the school, 67% are Hispanic, 21% Caucasian, 6% African American, 4% two or more, 1% American Indian, and 1% Asian (PVUSD, 2017). At this site, the students who qualify for gifted services meet as a whole group for reading and language arts instruction. The group remains flexible due to the various class schedules, and most commonly, small group instruction is used to maintain the fluid movement between classes.

The multi-grade format William & Mary ELA curriculum units worked well with the flexible grouping on this site. Grade-level standards were addressed while engaging multi-grade students in the same novels, poems, and articles. Rather than reading the core novel over a long period of time as the curriculum suggests, these students read collectively as a group. In addition, direct instruction and focused dialogues were necessary to make meaning of the text. The graphic organizers in the units were used to form a foundation for students’ development of critical thinking and higher order thinking. The curriculum units were also supplemented with nonfiction literature. However, for this group of students, supplements were used to broaden their background knowledge to access meaning of the text. For example, students completed jigsawed research projects about historical time periods to scaffold the text prior to reading. Vocabulary was another strong focus for students from diverse cultures and English language learners. The vocabulary web, which was a graphic organizer infused throughout the curriculum, provided structure and reinforcement for these necessary skills.

A highlight for this population was the Hispanic American poetry and African American poetry section in the Literary Reflections unit. For many, this was the first time they had ever read the voice of a native ancestor and the discussions that followed were rich and insightful. As one student said, “This is the first time I have ever read something from the viewpoint of an author who shares my heritage” (Honors Program Student 1, 2017). This simple comment broadened into a literature circle and research project that fed the overall goal of the William & Mary curriculum and was shared across classrooms at each grade level.

Self-Contained Gifted

PVUSD also strives to meet the needs of the profoundly gifted through a self-contained program where students spend their whole school day with a certified gifted teacher. Implementing the William & Mary curriculum in the self-contained program was much easier than content replacement, as the students are seen all day by the same teacher. Time isn’t an issue in the same way it is in content replacement classes. However, modifications were still made to ensure that the curriculum fit well in the classroom. Technology was integrated throughout the program to revamp the way the learning was shared in certain situations. It was not used unnecessarily just when it fit the outcome of the lesson.

Another modification in the curriculum was eliminating grammar and vocabulary instruction as we have other adopted programs for it. Unlike Honors Program gifted specialists, the self-contained gifted specialist did not struggle with time constraints. Therefore, the curriculum could be spread throughout the day and integrated within other content areas. For example, stories could be paired with primary sources and connected in social studies. The unit had many elements that could stand alone, as well as others that were easily integrated across the curriculum to make broader connections. Students responded well to the lessons and enjoyed the literary selections and activities. Teachers easily translated assignments into grades for reporting.