Teacher

Inquiry

Project

By: Sara Davis, Zachary Dill, Rusty Ramsey and Emily Singleton

Purpose and Inquiry Questions

How do educators identify students who will benefit from gifted education services?

What are some characteristics of students who are considered gifted?

Are there any outside influences that affect the probability of a student being identified as gifted?

Focus Question

What is the process used to identify 2nd grade students within Plano ISD who qualify to receive gifted instruction and services?

Plan and Procedure

Our plan is to answer this question through research and observations of the gifted program. We will be collecting data from the gifted instruction specialist and attending grade-level placement meetings.

Met with gifted instruction specialist to learn about the criteria for students who qualify for gifted instruction and services

Attended grade-level placement meetings

Analyzed data from student placement matrix and work samples for 2nd grade students

Background Information

Through our research we discovered the following The gifted and talented program in Plano

ISD is called Plano Academic Creative Enrichment or PACE.

Students considered for PACE placement can qualify through three different phases.

A committee meeting is required to discuss and analyze a student placement matrix.

PACE Program Placement Process

1: Students may be referred for assessment at any time during the school year by a teacher, a parent/guardian, him/herself.

2: Test are administered by PISD and no outside testing is accepted.

3: The campus committee meets to consider each assessed student and his/her special needs as indicated by the data collected.

4:The committee’s decision is mailed to each assessed student’s home.

5:All PACE students are reviewed annually to determine if performance warrants continued participation.

Three Phases

To qualify for PACE through phase 1 the student must score 90 percentile or higher on their overall test scores.

To qualify for PACE through phase 2 the student’s overall test scores fell slightly below the required phase 1 standards. However, their work samples indicate the need for gifted and talented services.

To qualify for PACE through phase 3, a teacher or parent must advocate for the student because their scores were well below the required phase 1 standards. The committee meets with the parents and teacher to discuss the individual needs of the child and to determine placement into the PACE program.

Placement Meeting

During the meeting the committee analyzed authentic work samples and the Student Placement Matrix which shows the overall test scores including: COGAT, NNAT, MAP, and corresponding scoring percentiles.

COGAT is a standardized intelligence aptitude test for measuring verbal, non-verbal, and quantitative reasoning.

NNAT is a nonverbal measure of general ability.

MAP is an academic norm-referenced test to measure math and reading skills.

Using authentic work samples including evidence of higher order thinking such as: writing prompts, questions posed by student, and higher level discussions the committee decided

Participants

The data collected shown on the next slides represents the second grade students who were placed in the gifted and talented program for the following school year.

Each student’s data was presented and discussed during a placement meeting.

The committee members in attendance included administration, the gifted specialist, and second grade teachers.

Research-Student 1

Reseach Student-1Work Sample

ReseachStudent-1Work Sample cont’d.

Research-Student 2

Research Student-2Work Sample

Research Student-3

Reseach Student-3 Work Sample

Reseach Student-3Work Sample cont’d.

Research Student-4

Research Student-4Work Sample

Data Analysis

Research student-1 was placed into PACE in phase 1. This means the student scored 90 percentile or higher on her overall test scores. Work sample shows interesting perspective and sense of humor. At this point poetry was not introduced yet.

Research student-2 was placed into PACE in phase 3. This student required advocacy represented by their teacher. The committee looked at work samples to determine placement approval. The writing sample is a narrative written in 3rd person which is a difficult style of writing for this age. This shows a higher level of creativity and advanced understanding.

***Research student-1 and 2 are identical twins.

Research student-3 was not placed in phase 1 because of test scores not meeting required standards. Nor was the student recommended by their teacher. The parents of the student advocated for them to be place in phase 3. The committee agreed that PACE would meet the needs of the student. Also, the work sample shows the student’s abstract thinking, ability to use personification appropriately, and high level vocabulary.

Research student-4 scored lower than 90 percentile on the “Non-Verbal” (NNAT) which disqualified being placed into PACE in phase 1. However, the student was represented by the parent in phase 2. The committee reviewed the students special needs and work samples. The student understands how to sequence events correctly, use dialogue appropriately, and greater sense of connections with real-world situations. The committee agreed based on the substantial evidence considering the one test score below the 90 percentile.