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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It will be interesting to see what she does in Gifted office.  The director position was created and the former Supervisor was rolled up into that position, with no job description or job posting from what I can tell.  Then, a former principal with gifted education background has been in the job for a year and the word on the street was that she has been under scrutiny for treating him so badly he had to be moved out to avoid a lawsuit.[/quote]

Anyone friendly with her that can get pull out I gifted restored?[/quote]

Her goal is not to reinstate a pull-out model. As an RTG during the transition from pull-out to push-in services, she has supported the talent development model from the beginning. Pull-out services are inequitable, exclusionary, and outdated. Yes, many districts still use this model, but it doesn't mean they are at the forefront of education for doing so. The days of students visiting a resource room once a week for a special activity with a small group are long gone in many districts, including APS. Today, a much broader range of students has access to the same high-quality activities and resources.

Where it once took an entire grading period to complete a Project M3 math unit in a pull-out setting, students can now finish the same unit—and more—in just a few weeks. Classroom teachers are using the high quality, researched based curriculum units that are woven into their pacing guides. Many parents are too focused on the "exclusivity" of the pull-out model without realizing that their children are receiving the same lessons in a more time-efficient and equitable environment. It is baffling to me that any parent would be satisfied with their child receiving an hour a week of "extension" and think their gifted child was adequately being challenged.  [/quote]

Classroom teachers are fully occupied trying to reach the high need and SOL challenged students; the gifted “curriculum” are some extra worksheets they can use when they finish their work before the rest of the class — or they can use this iPads which many choose because, you know, the siren call of screens vs some lame worksheet.

The very fact you are pushing a screed about pull-out being inequitable already shows how your true motivation. It’s not about helping gifted children, as you allude to a broader range of students, ie not gifted. So meanwhile ADHD kids get their SE needs met with pull out services, APS has decided the Gifted SE students aren’t special enough to get something similar.   Why not have executive skills and small groups for all students, not just ones with IEPs?[/quote]

Unfortunately, there's not enough personnel to support small groups for all students with any type of regularity. Class sizes are in the upper 20s in a lot of cases with one full time teacher. In Virginia, gifted is not classified as special education. In APS, the large number of identified gifted students would make it next to impossible to ever consider reverting back to a pull out model. We have 1 special education teacher per grade level in our APS ES, but there's always been 1 RTG/AA Coach. [/quote]

Let say that half the class is gifted. That 50 students per grade. So a 1 hr pull out class, 20 kids per class would be 3 classes per grade. There is no K gifted, so it could easily be one grade per weekday.

Why is this not feasible? My gifted cohort was about 20 kids. [/quote]

Generally, the AA teacher has an office or is sharing a room with multiple staff members, not a full-fledged classroom. Also, 20 kids is not a small group. That schedule also allows for zero collaboration among staff members, among other issues. Sounds like a simple solution coming from someone who does not work in a school and understand how scheduling, co-planning and logistical nuances of a school work. Also, 1 hour for a blanket label of "gifted" kids? To work on which subject area? Some kids are specifically identified in math and others ELA. Some may just be science or social studies. Not enough time in the week for one staff member to meet with 50 kids per grade level who are identified across different subject areas. [/quote]

Meeting every other week could match the subject matter. Gifted cohorts meet up year after year, so even the infrequent times you all know each other, know the routine, and the work can build slowly.

20 is smaller than any of my kids current classrooms.

This sounds like a bunch of make-work: scheduling, co-planning and logistical nuances

Also, if the gifted teacher is delivering the lessons, they will need to do less coordination.

1 hr a week is infinitely greater than the 0 hrs they get now. So not bad. [/quote]

Ah, the pull-out model—where gifted students get to feel “special” for 60 minutes every other week [b]while the rest of their cognitive, academic, and emotional needs are politely ignored by the classroom teacher [/b]who passes off the responsibility to the "gifted teacher". What a progressive vision for 2025!

Meeting every other week isn’t an instructional model—it’s a scheduling compromise dressed up as a solution. Research consistently shows that gifted students require [b]consistent[/b], [b]integrated[/b], and [b]differentiated[/b] instruction to thrive (see NAGC, Tomlinson, etc.). Biweekly enrichment sessions might make for lovely reunions and an excuse for kids to miss their normal class, but they don’t exactly address asynchronous development or the need for daily academic challenge.

Yes, 20 students is likely smaller than your kid’s general ed class. That doesn’t mean it’s optimal for gifted instruction. Ability grouping works when it’s flexible, needs-based, and supported by research-based curriculum—not when it’s a "playdate" for the high-achievers club.

And the idea that pull-out requires less coordination? That's funny. [b]Only if your definition of coordination excludes actual alignment with the core curriculum.[/b] Spoiler alert-- effective gifted instruction doesn’t happen in isolation when the "gifted teacher" is the gatekeeper. It requires collaboration, scaffolding, and yes, logistical planning. Anyone who has worked in a school knows that teacher schedules change all the time. A specific time for a pull out may work one week, but the next week there might be a class field trip, an assembly or a a holiday. Then, the every other week pull out turns into once this month and the classroom teacher is left in the dark as to what resources to use with their gifted students because the AA teacher no longer has flexibility in their schedule to offer coaching, resources or time to provide professional learning.

You’re right about one thing: 1 hour > 0 hours. But setting the bar at “marginally better than nothing” isn’t exactly a bold educational philosophy. Gifted students deserve more than one single teacher in an entire school who knows the pedagogy and best practices to add rigor to instruction.   [/quote]

Classroom teachers are already ignoring gifted. There are no incentives or punishments tied to neglecting them, unlike the huge pressure to take SOL scores, and ESL gap closing. So they focus on what determines the career progression, knowing gifted students will excel at the water down curriculum and instruction fine.

There is no need to coordinate with core curriculum; they can focus on independent topics and projects.  [/quote]

That's a disappointing blanket statement about classroom teachers. That is not what I've observed across three APS elementary schools. Yes, there are a few duds, but I've seen some solid collaboration and differentiation in many classrooms. Making a generalized statement like that is intellectually dishonest. [/quote]

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