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MEMORANDUM
Attached is the final report developed by the Deputy Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on
Gifted and Talented Education that provides feedback on the implementation of Board of
Education Policy IOA, Gifted and Talented Education. The report includes four major
recommendations to improve programming and services designed to benefit all students who
show potential, capability, or motivation for rigorous and challenging instruction.
Beginning in 2004 the committee reviewed, researched, and discussed practices and issues
regarding the education of gifted students. Members visited Centers for the Highly Gifted and
magnet schools, and spoke with teachers, administrators, specialists, and other school personnel.
During the 2005–2006 school year the committee shared findings with an outside consultant,
revised, and finalized the report.
Staff in the Office of Curriculum and Instructional Programs (OCIP) and the Office of School
Performance have been acting on the initial recommendations of the report through the following
programs, services, and initiatives:
• Program expansions include Grade 5 at the Chevy Chase Elementary Center for the
Highly Gifted, Grade 6 and Grade 7 in the Middle School Magnet Consortium schools,
the Poolesville High School Whole School Magnet, and continuing International
Baccalaureate expansions.
• Two additional administrators have been budgeted to the Division of Accelerated and
Enriched Instruction (AEI) to provide additional support to schools and improve
monitoring of Policy IOA, Gifted and Talented Education.
• A 0.5 bilingual instructional specialist position has been added to the Division of
Consortia Choice and Application Program Services to increase outreach for students
traditional underserved by magnet programs.
• The middle school 0.2 GT Coordinator position and 0.2 SES position have been
combined into a 0.4 Accelerated and Enriched Instruction Support Teacher position. This
position provides greater emphasis on identifying and supporting underserved students in
accelerated courses.
• During the 2005–2006 school year, the Options guide to countywide programs was
developed and mailed directly to homes of students in Grades K–8 to provide more
consistent information about the application programs. In October 2006, the Options
guide was mailed to the homes of all students in kindergarten and Grades 3, 5, and 8.
Students in these grades are eligible to apply for center and magnet programs.
• The Grade 2 global screening and selection processes for elementary and secondary
magnets have been reviewed and changes have been made to monitor implementation.
These reviews will be ongoing as results of these processes are not consistent with system
goals.
• OCIP staff is developing a proposal for a kindergarten curriculum revision that will
include a primary talent development initiative similar to the Program for Assessment
and Diagnostic Instruction that has shown success in identifying and nurturing student
potential prior to Grade 2.
• AEI professional development has been focused to include training on economic, racial,
and cultural masks of giftedness.
• OCIP staff is developing documents for parents and teachers to clarify rigorous pathways
in mathematics and reading/language arts.
• The Division of Shared Accountability is continuing the evaluation of the 0.5 Title I
Gifted and Talented teacher initiative.
• Staff is developing a partnership with the College Board to improve rigor in curriculum,
assessments, and professional development.
I recommend that you share this report with members of the Board of Education. I know you
join me in thanking the committee for the countless hours they committed to preparing this
report.
FKL:llh
Attachment
Copy to:
Ms. Leleck
Mr. Creel
Mr. Lang
May 2006
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Introduction
Background
The Committee
Summary of Recommendations
Recommendation Four: Provide Equal Access for All Students to Gifted and Talented (GT)
Programs and Services
Summary of Recommendations
2006 Report
Executive Summary
Background
In January 2004 the deputy superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS),
formed an advisory committee charged with developing recommendations to ensure full
implementation of Policy IOA: Gifted and Talented Education. Ms. Virginia A. Tucker,
director, Division of Enriched and Innovative Instruction (AEI), submitted names of
representatives from a variety of stakeholder groups and constituencies within MCPS. The
Deputy Superintendent’s Advisory Committee for Gifted and Talented Education began its work
in March 2004. Appendix A contains the names and affiliations of the members of the
committee.
Over the ensuing 18 months, the committee reviewed research and best practices in the field of
gifted education, received presentations on topics of interest, and discussed emerging trends and
implementation issues within MCPS. Members chose to focus their work on two areas of
concerns that, if addressed, would have the greatest impact to change the level of access and
challenge for students in MCPS:
• Recognizing and Ensuring Access for Underserved Students in MCPS Programs and
Services
• Developing Challenging Local School Programs and Services
In May 2005 the committee made the decision to submit a report focused on the consensus of
both subcommittees. The compelling theme of this report is access to high-quality, challenging
services for all students within MCPS, as envisioned in Policy IOA adopted by the Board of
Education in 1995 and implemented through Regulation IOA-RA.
Last year, during the 50th anniversary of the landmark United States Supreme Court case of
Brown v. Board of Education (Brown I, 1954), MCPS took the opportunity to review the
resulting successes and ongoing challenges of equal-quality education for all students. In its
unanimous decision, the Court held that “separate but equal” public education denied many
children a good-quality public education. Brown I stands for the proposition that good-quality
public education for all children—in addition to being a moral imperative and an essential
component of the American dream—is a legal requirement.
MCPS has done some things well in its implementation of the policy. A more rigorous
mathematics curriculum for Grades K–5 has been developed and implemented in local schools.
This curriculum builds in acceleration pathways so that all children can receive above-grade-
level instruction through pre-assessment.
The MCPS tiered approach to an accelerated and enriched reading/language arts program
includes the William and Mary Language Arts and Junior Great Books units. Increased
availability of these programs enables more students to have access to instruction in critical
reasoning skills using high-quality texts with challenging themes and issues to discuss.
Starting in Title I schools, MCPS has expanded the number of schools participating in the
Program of Assessment, Diagnosis, and Instruction (PADI). PADI nurtures and enhances the
identification of potentially gifted students at an early age in diverse populations, especially
those whose giftedness may not have been revealed in standardized tests and assessments. In
2002 a six-school analysis was completed that compared similar schools with high Free and
Reduced-price Meals System (FARMS) enrollments and high enrollments of African American
and Hispanic students. The PADI schools recognized more than twice the percentage of their
students as gifted than did schools not using PADI.
The Title I initiative which provides a 0.5 teacher position for gifted and talented services, has
demonstrated that consistent professional development, coupled with services in place as
students need them, can build student capacity for more challenging instruction. Results from
the first three years of implementation indicate that in the majority of these schools, more
students are being recognized as needing services and more staff are prepared to provide those
services across grade levels.
MCPS has increased the number of “seats” in the center and middle school magnet programs as
it has made some progress in reducing disparities in identification and invitation rates for highly
gifted programs. Many of these initiatives will permit all students, whether identified as Gifted
and Talented (GT) or not, to have more access to rigorous instruction. This is truly “success for
every student” and the committee commends these efforts.
However, many challenges remain. During the 50th anniversary this past year of the landmark
United States Supreme Court case decision of Brown v. Board of Education, MCPS took the
opportunity to review the resulting successes and ongoing challenges of equal-quality education
for all students. The decision in Brown v. Board of Education stands for the proposition that
high-quality public education for all children is—in addition to being a moral imperative and an
essential component of the American dream—a legal requirement. A similar vision of high-
quality education for all is reflected in Policy IOA. The slow and uneven implementation of the
Brown decision illustrates the difficulties in improving public education for all students. As the
committee reviewed the implementation of Policy IOA, it found that there is considerable work
to be done to provide the quality of education and the level of challenge envisioned in the policy.
The state Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools act includes requirements for gifted education,
and the Maryland State Department of Education recently proposed reporting guidelines that will
stress the effective delivery of challenging services to the same student groups as are reported
under the federal No Child Left Behind law. The committee believes that the updated MCPS
Strategic Plan, Our Call To Action, provides an additional template to ensure that the policy is
fully implemented.
The committee recommends that MCPS double its efforts to meet the policy’s goal of ensuring
that all students achieve their highest potential by further strengthening GT services at local
schools and by taking additional steps to ensure access for all students. Specific
recommendations fall in four broad areas.
Summary of Recommendations
The Committee believes that action in four key areas will improve the MCPS implementation of
Policy IOA: Gifted and Talented Education.
The Committee believes that MCPS should improve the way it–
• collects and analyzes data on programs, services, and outcomes and uses these data to
drive service delivery;
• provides parents and stakeholders with information on programs, services, and outcomes;
• identifies students as needing gifted services (that is, accelerated and enriched
instruction) at every grade level and selects students for countywide programs for the
highly gifted.
• improve the quality of service delivery at local schools by embedding the characteristics
of an ideal MCPS school described herein with a fully implemented program in every
school;
• expand the number of “seats” available in the Center Programs for the Highly Gifted, the
countywide middle school and high school magnet programs, and programs for the gifted
who also are learning disabled (GT/LD), based on analyses of the numbers of MCPS
students whose needs cannot be met in the regular classroom (the policy’s criterion for
such programs);
• disseminate the models for successful service delivery developed at the centers and
countywide magnets to local schools; and
• enhance professional development activities for key local school staff involved in
identification and service delivery.
One of the Board of Education’s priorities is that MCPS collect and use student, staff, and
system performance data to monitor and improve student achievement. The committee believes
that this activity is embedded in many of its recommendations and, in particular, it recommends–
• ensuring that the approach found in the primary-grade handheld initiative is used for data
collected as part of the global screening process so that relevant testing and assessment
results as well as a record of key services received follow the student through his or her
MCPS career; and
• making summary data regarding outcomes of gifted services easily available to parents
and stakeholders and making student-specific data regarding services available to parents
and instructional staff for advocacy and decision support.
IV Provide Equal Access for all Students to Gifted and Talented (GT)
Programs and Services
The committee believes that more can be done to ensure consistency among local schools in the
provision of high-quality programs and services and provide greater access for all students.
• Improve “just in time” delivery of services as part of the answer to the MCPS critical
question “what do we do when they already know it?”
• Improve the criteria used and training for staff involved in, identification, deciding who
gets services in local schools, and selection for countywide tests in programs.
Conclusion
The committee believes that the need for improvement is urgent. MCPS has made some
important gains in the nine years since the Board adopted Policy IOA. However, this progress
should not give us a sense of complacency. Because we have done much does not mean that we
cannot do much more. By allowing states to use “all deliberate speed” in implementing the
Brown decision, the Supreme Court slowed the access to high-quality education. The nation’s
current achievement gap demonstrates that the job is not done. Although MCPS has many
competing priorities, it must not allow the policy to proceed with “all deliberate speed.”
The intent of this committee has been to ensure that the original vision developed through Policy
IOA, and implemented through Regulation IOA-RA, is carried out in reality. The policy
addresses the need to serve not only those students recognized as gifted and talented but the
equally pressing need to have challenging services in place for all students as their strengths
emerge.
The greatest impact that the policy may have in subsequent years is to continue to demand that
MCPS use current research and best practices to develop an understanding of the level of
challenge that many more students can sustain as they access and succeed in more challenging
programs and services. The goal of Our Call to Action is to have all of our students meet or
exceed grade-level standards. The policy and this committee’s recommendations provide a
powerful leverage for MCPS to achieve that goal. The committee urges the Board and MCPS to
give its recommendations, as well as the input of other stakeholders, the immediate attention that
they deserve.
Introduction
Background
In 1978 the Montgomery County Board of Education approved a policy on gifted and talented
education (Regulation IOA-RA) that sought to expand differentiated educational opportunities to
students requiring more rigorous and challenging instruction. However, in 1992 the Board of
Education asked then superintendent Paul Vance to convene a group of parents, MCPS staff, and
community members to review this policy. This group, known as the Superintendent’s Advisory
Committee (SAC), submitted its report in February 1994 raising concerns that the existing policy
was inconsistently implemented from school to school and there was a need for more effective
parent communication, professional development, ongoing assessment, and equal access to
rigorous instruction for all children. The result of this work group was an amended policy,
approved in 1995, reaffirming MCPS’ commitment to gifted and talented education and rigorous
instruction to “all children who have the potential, capability, or motivation to accept the
challenge.”
Since the adoption of Policy IOA: Gifted and Talented Education, MCPS has taken significant
steps to increase the level of rigor and challenge available to students. A more rigorous
mathematics curriculum for Grades K–8 has been developed and implemented in local schools.
This curriculum provides acceleration pathways so that all children can receive above-grade-
level instruction through pre-assessment.
In addition, MCPS has increased the availability to elementary students of Math A, a middle
school math course. As a result of the Honors/Advanced Placement (AP) report of 1999, MCPS
also has seen increased enrollment and performance in gifted, Honors, Advanced Placement, and
other advanced-level courses in local schools as well as expanded International Baccalaureate
(IB) programs at all grade levels. These programs are now available to more students through
open enrollment or in consortium settings, not just through the countywide selection process at
the high school level. As a result, hundreds more MCPS students are receiving rigorous, high-
level instruction.
Advanced reading/language arts opportunities also have been expanded. MCPS has adopted a
tiered approach to accelerated and enriched reading/language arts programs, including the
William and Mary Reading/Language Arts and Junior Great Books units. Increased availability
of these programs enables more students to have access to instruction in critical reasoning skills
using high-quality texts with challenging themes and issues.
MCPS also has improved its global screening process. In Title I schools, MCPS has expanded
the number of schools participating in the Program of Assessment, Diagnosis, and Instruction
(PADI). PADI nurtures and enhances the early identification of potentially gifted students in
The Title I initiative, which funds a 0.5 teacher position for gifted and talented services, has
demonstrated that consistent professional development, coupled with services in place as
students need them, can build student capacity for more challenging instruction. Results from
the first three years of implementation indicate that, in the majority of these schools, more
students are gaining access to gifted and talented (GT) services and more staff are prepared to
provide those services across grade levels.
MCPS has also increased the number of “seats” available in Center Programs for the Highly
Gifted and middle school magnet programs, and has made some progress by reducing disparities
in identification and invitation rates for Center Programs for the Highly Gifted.
While many of these initiatives have given more students, whether identified as GT or not,
greater access to rigorous instruction, barriers remain that challenge the vision developed in the
policy and prevent it from becoming a daily reality for every student in every classroom within
the system.
One of the biggest challenges is that local schools are inconsistent in their implementation of GT
programming and services. This unevenness impacts students from all clusters and all
backgrounds, and many students who need accelerated and enriched instruction do not receive it.
Another challenge is that access to services for Highly Gifted Center highly gifted students is
restricted by limited funding and capacity of these programs. While Highly Gifted Center
programs have expanded to seven schools and an upcounty middle school magnet has been
established, capacity has not increased commensurate with the rising percentage of students
identified as gifted and the rising percentage of students whose standardized test scores and
assessment data suggest that they may need more rigorous instruction than is available in local
schools. Of special concern is the lack of access to these GT services appears to affect African
American and Hispanic students disproportionately and, from the available data, students
receiving special services as well.
Professional development that emphasizes recognition of and programming for highly able
students is inadequate and presents another challenge. While there is some staff development
available to teachers regarding effectively identifying and servicing gifted students, many
teachers would benefit from training in how to recognize various manifestations of giftedness,
how to effectively plan for and deliver differentiated instruction, and how to support students
who have the potential or the desire to pursue more challenging material.
Disparities also exist in access, service, and outcomes, especially for African American and
Hispanic students and those students receiving special services. From the limited data available,
it is clear that significant populations of African American and Hispanic students, students from
poverty, English language learners, and students with disabilities are underserved in MCPS
programs and services for GT students. (See Appendix B for detailed data analysis.)
Clearly, these challenges indicate that MCPS must redouble its efforts to meet the policy’s goal
of ensuring that all students receive educational experiences and opportunities that will enable
them to achieve at their highest potential.
The Committee
The committee’s membership was intended to provide broad representation of the various
interest groups in the county. Special attention was paid to ensure that the composition of the
committee was diverse, and committee members had the opportunity to bring additional informal
organizational input from the groups that they represented. (See Appendix A for a list of
committee members.)
Committee Process
For the next 18 months, the committee read a selected body of research on various aspects of
gifted and talented education, reviewed data on MCPS GT programs, visited Grade 4 and 5
classes in the Center Programs for the Highly Gifted, and heard from several expert speakers on
current practices and initiatives, including a presentation on the Information Management
System (IMS) and the Data Warehouse. The committee engaged in an issues identification
exercise and formed two work groups to address what it felt to be the most important issues for
investigation—access to GT services and delivery of GT services—and formed subcommittees
to further research, develop, and refine recommendations in these areas. The committee then
reviewed the recommendations of the two work groups, identified the most critical issues that
emerged, and combined the recommendations of the two groups into this final report. It is the
committee’s belief that, if adopted, these recommendations will lead to a broader range of
Recommendations
The Deputy Superintendent’s Advisory Committee for Gifted and Talented Education has
developed recommendations in response to its charge to identify “areas that must be addressed to
ensure full implementation of the Policy on Gifted and Talented Education and provide supports
for students to increase capacity for Honors and Advanced Placement course work.” They are as
follows:
IV. Provide Equal Access for all Students to GT Programs and Services
Discussion
Committee discussions revealed a commonly held perception that there is an uneven level of
services for high-ability students within and across all schools. To ensure that they are meeting
the needs of all students, achieving student growth beyond proficiency, and implementing Policy
IOA-RA with fidelity, schools need to be held accountable. The single most important and
immediate action to improve the effectiveness of gifted instruction is to improve both the process
for monitoring the services provided and the process for monitoring student performance.
Effective monitoring and follow-up communicate to schools the expectation that that they are
accountable for maintaining consistency, increasing the quantity, and improving the quality of
accelerated and enriched offerings, critical elements in ensuring equal access to programming.
Implementation Strategies
MCPS currently has a process for monitoring GT programs. This process is largely narrative and
lacks significant quantitative data inputs. A more robust data-driven program evaluation effort
would provide a broader and timelier tool to use in monitoring whether all student populations
have equitable access to GT programs and services.
Besides holding local schools more accountable, MCPS must enhance systemwide accountability
and transparency by monitoring what actually happens to students who have been identified as
GT and those who may not be identified but who show potential for high achievement.
This reporting should include a longitudinal component. For example, examining average Grade
5 Maryland School Assessments (MSA) performance outcomes for students identified as gifted
in Grade 2 could address whether comparable students are experiencing similar long-term
outcomes. Information, such as the proportion of identified students who score “advanced” on
the MSA and who successfully complete Math A by the end of Grade 5, would indicate the level
of effectiveness of acceleration and enrichment provided within the instructional program.
These longitudinal outcomes for identified students should also reflect the quality of services
available to students not initially identified but who show potential or emerging strength in
specific areas. This annual report should provide data on high school outcomes, such as
successful completion of AP course work and IB programs, for students who exhibit high
abilities in middle school using performance criteria such as successful completion of Algebra 1
or above by Grade 8.
Enhanced data collection and reporting could also be designed to address the upcoming reporting
requirements of the Maryland State Department of Education regarding the documentation of
services provided by local school systems and the participations rates across student groups.
To increase schoolwide accountability, it is important to include the needs of gifted students and
the need for equitable access to accelerated and enriched instruction in the school improvement
planning process. The GT committee’s role needs to be expanded from its current status as an
oversight body tasked with monitoring identification of GT students and GT program
management, to a more robust committee, involved in making program decisions and monitoring
the effective implementation of the goals of the county GT policy at the school level, both in
School-based staff should be held accountable for their delivery of GT services and
implementation of the GT policy.
ID3. Add evaluation criteria for elementary school GT liaisons and 0.2 GT
coordinators
To strengthen and validate the role these teachers play in building local school programs, MCPS
should consider a seventh standard in the teacher PGS for the GT liaison or .2 GT coordinator
positions that includes indicators specific to the position, much the same way it currently does
for resource teachers.
ID5. Include a GT component in the evaluation criteria for all instructional staff
Include GT-specific goals and measures in the PGS and the Professional Development Plans
(PDPs) for all teaching staff.
Discussion
Services for gifted students in local schools and for highly gifted students through countywide
and regional programs should be improved and expanded. The chief issue for local school
programs is the lack of consistency within and across schools. Many local schools have not fully
implemented the GT policy and do not offer a wide range of GT experiences and opportunities to
their students. Committee discussions regarding the inconsistency of policy implementation
surfaced concerns that lack of access to GT services particularly affects schools with a
disproportionate high share of minority and low-income children. Believing that all children,
regardless of background, can achieve at high levels if given both opportunity and support, the
committee recognized the need to improve local school programs and make them more
consistent countywide.
Countywide programs are limited in number and capacity. The Center Programs for the Highly
Gifted, countywide middle school magnet programs, and countywide high school magnet
programs serve approximately 4 percent of MCPS elementary school, 3 percent of middle
school, and 2 percent of high school students, respectively, providing opportunities to learn
among intellectual peers to a small percentage of students. The number of slots at the high school
level has increased little, albeit some, over the past 18 years, despite a 50 percent increase in the
student population. As a result, these programs are becoming more and more competitive at a
time when the diversity within MCPS is increasing, especially with respect to non-English-
speaking students, students eligible for Free and Reduced-price Meals (FARMS), and
underrepresented student populations such as African American and Hispanic students. In
addition, programs for other aspects of giftedness (e.g., leadership, arts) also need to be
expanded.
Implementation Strategies
IIB1. Expand seats in Center Programs for the Highly Gifted and middle and high
school magnet programs
MCPS identifies more students than can be served in the spaces available at Center Programs for
the Highly Gifted and magnet programs. And, as the early childhood initiatives experience more
success, more students will meet the threshold for giftedness and the number of students
identified as highly gifted will continue to increase. As the number of students in need of these
services continues to grow, it becomes more imperative that the county expand the number of
“seats” available in the Center Programs for the Highly Gifted programs, the countywide “test-
in” middle school and high school magnet programs, and programs for the gifted who are also
learning disabled (GT/LD).
Effective professional development is paramount to the attainment of the school system’s goals
regarding GT programming. As the demand for services in accelerated programs continues to
grow, local schools face the challenge of meeting the needs of highly able students. And, with
the increasing diversity within the county, these needs are not always immediately apparent.
Teachers must recognize and build upon the strengths and talents of culturally, ethnically, and
linguistically diverse students who may demonstrate their gifts in nontraditional ways. (See
Appendix C for further discussion.)
(See Appendix D for further details about teaching highly able learners.)
IID1. Disseminate lessons, materials, and resources from centers and magnet
schools
After visiting various center programs, committee members recognized the importance of having
center and magnet schools serve as models of high expectations, acceleration, and enrichment.
The AEI should identify ways to disseminate lessons, materials, and other resources developed at
the various center and magnet schools to enrich local school GT programming. These resources,
coupled with the high expectations they reflect, provide teachers with solid and practical
examples of challenging instruction.
The MCPS Strategic Plan, under its goal of ensuring success for every student, commits MCPS
to “develop and implement high quality information systems”, and further commits MCPS to
provide “a continuum of services for its gifted and talented students.” These objectives are
complementary. High quality information systems are a necessary component for providing a
continuum of services for gifted and talented students. Consequently, easily and readily usable
data must be available for teachers to make instructional decisions; for parents/guardians to
advocate more effectively for their children and become better partners with their children’s
teachers; and for MCPS to promote continuous improvement through implementing structures
and processes for ongoing research-based data-driven program evaluation.
Implementation Strategies
Longitudinal student-specific data should be collected and analyzed to ensure that students are
appropriately accessing accelerated and enriched instruction at all grades, including honors, AP,
and IB courses in high school, and to better inform teachers’ instructional decisions. Any
assessment data indicating that a child should receive more rigorous instruction should be made
available along with other individual student data through SIMS and the Data Warehouse to
teachers and principals. These data must be easy for teachers and others to access and use.
Data, indicating whether or not a student has been taught curriculum extensions; how well the
student performed on unit assessments (at least for the previous and current academic years) and
standardized tests, such as the second grade global GT screening tests (currently the Raven and
InView); and results of the Terranova CTBS, MSAs, center and magnet school screening tests,
should follow the student electronically and be easily accessible through the data warehouse or
IMS.
Currently, existing data are not easily or readily available to school administrators and teachers
to support classroom decision-making. Assessment results are often “lost” after the student
leaves the grade in which the assessment was administered. Thus, vertical articulation and
flexible grouping decisions may well be made without these critical pieces of information. The
lack of adequate data, including data tracking the progress of students identified during the
Grade 2 global screening, impedes rigorous long-term evaluation of MCPS GT programs and
activities.
Absent longitudinal data, it is difficult to monitor whether students are receiving a strong
foundation in the primary grades, an important prerequisite for success in later Honors, IB and
AP coursework. Similarly, it is difficult to identify gaps in students’ understanding of math
Currently, GT data are collected at several locations within MCPS—at schools, in the GT office,
and in MCPS centralized data collection systems. As a part of its ongoing data initiatives, MCPS
should undertake a systematic inventory of data relevant to gifted and talented education,
evaluate whether it is collecting the appropriate data, and consolidate these data at the
appropriate organizational level. It is likely that some of what is collected would be extremely
useful if more easily available, while other data currently collected may be too burdensome to
merit collection, duplicative, or unnecessary. Finally, it is likely that there will be gaps in the
data that are collected. These gaps should be remedied.
MCPS should seek input from a variety of stakeholders, including teachers, principals, the
Department of Shared Accountability, parents/guardians, and external entities regarding what
data should be collected to support the development and implementation of MCPS gifted and
talented programs and services, and how its activities can provide timely support for instructional
decisions, better information for parents, and information needed for evaluation efforts.
MCPS should also seek stakeholders’ input regarding the burdens associated with existing and
proposed data collection, and whether equally useful information can be obtained in a less
burdensome manner such as statistical sampling.
Students of color, students from poverty, GT learners, and students with disabilities are often
underrepresented in gifted and talented programs. These culturally, linguistically, and
economically diverse students have the potential to achieve at high levels but often do not
because their unique cognitive, emotional, and social development needs have not been
recognized or addressed in schools. The consequence has been the historical underrepresentation
of culturally diverse students in GT programs. Although MCPS is making strides in this regard,
we cannot assume that only those children labeled as GT in the Grade 2 global screening, or
those invited under the current selection criteria to attend a magnet program, would benefit from
accelerated or enriched instruction. If the policy is to be implemented with fidelity, then it must
examine the institutional and external barriers to accessing GT programs and remedy them.
Implementation Strategies
Given that there is more than one way of demonstrating readiness for more rigorous instruction,
MCPS should examine its process of selecting students for county “test-in” programs. MCPS
should look for ways to broaden the indicators used to identify student strengths and potential. At
the same time, MCPS should ensure the validity of these indicators as predictors of success.
The county should continue its efforts to provide support prior to the Grade 2 global screening
process, such as the PADI initiative currently being undertaken at several elementary schools.
Further, the global screening process needs to continue to undergo revision to ensure that it is
effectively used to surface giftedness.
Implementation Strategy C: Enhance training for staff so that they can better
recognize and support students who could benefit from greater rigor
It is critical that MCPS continue to offer training and professional experiences that develop
teachers’ cultural competence. This cultural competence would improve teachers’ ability to
recognize various manifestations of giftedness and provide them with a wider repertoire of
teaching strategies to support students’ different ways of learning. Culturally, ethnically, and
linguistically diverse students often have ways of representing their knowledge that are different
from the mainstream. Unfortunately, if teachers are poorly prepared to recognize alternate ways
of representing knowledge, they may interpret cultural differences in communication, learning,
and behavior as limitations in students’ ability to handle challenging material.
IVC1: Outreach
Families knowledgeable about GT services and programs help support and improve the delivery
of services at the local school level. Research addressing the importance of parental involvement
highlights the need for schools to develop culturally sensitive ways to reach out to parents and
invite them to be involved in the decision-making processes of the school. By making parents
partners with the school and helping them effectively advocate for their children, local schools
can help families, especially those of underserved students, better access appropriate GT
programs and services.
MCPS has done an excellent job of being responsive to educated parents who demonstrate high
levels of interest in their children’s education. Schools often do not always provide challenging
educational opportunities for students independent of their parent’s level of involvement. Many
parents, however, do not understand the expectations for parental involvement, nor do they have
the means to be effective advocates for their children’s education. Marginalized by culture,
language proficiency, socioeconomic status, educational level, or the lack of time or resources
needed to learn how to navigate the system, these parents need education not only about what
GT programs and services are available, but also how to access them, interpret testing data, and
avail themselves of the human and material resources available at the local school and county
levels. (See Appendix F for more specific details about outreach recommendations.)
There is also a critical need for institutional advocacy for those students who lack family
advocacy. Each school should designate a staff member to be responsible for monitoring the
progress of those students who do not have a strong support network outside of the school. This
designee would be tasked with making sure that students are accessing appropriate services,
receiving appropriate levels of challenge, and appropriately being placed in programs matched
with the highest level of rigor they can handle.
• Improve the screening process for “test-in” programs to recognize various manifestations
of giftedness.
• Continue revising global screening.
• Enhance training for staff so that they can better recognize and support students who
could benefit from greater rigor.
• Strengthen parent outreach and training.
• Promote institutional advocacy.
I. Improve accountability: The committee believes that full implementation of the GT policy
has been hindered by insufficient accountability. It recommends that MCPS monitor the
outcomes of the gifted services, collect and analyze data on the programs’ effectiveness in
achieving those outcomes, and use these data to improve service delivery. In addition, MCPS
should assign performance criteria used to evaluate key school-based staff responsible for service
delivery to the desired outcomes described in the policy.
II. Improvement and expansion of programs: The quality of gifted programs, especially those
at local schools, is uneven. The committee recommends that MCPS clearly define the
components of a fully developed program and hold staff accountable for implementation. That
accountability must be supported with professional development for those staff responsible for
identification and service delivery. Models of service delivery from Center Programs for the
Highly Gifted and magnet programs must be disseminated to local schools to strengthen their
programs. Services must address all aspects of giftedness found in the policy, including those
students receiving special education services. MCPS must meet the increasing need for
additional seats in programs for the highly able.
III. Systematic collection and analysis of data: In its commitment to using student, staff, and
system performance data to monitor and approve achievement, the committee recommends that
MCPS use a longitudinal approach in data collection. Relevant assessment results and key
services received should follow the students through their MCPS careers. Such an approach
must utilize the capabilities of the IMS and Data Warehouse as repositories of relevant data.
MCPS should make summary data regarding outcomes of service easily available to parents and
stakeholders, and make specific data regarding services available to parents and instructional
staff for both advocacy and support.
IV. Equal access: More must be done to ensure consistency among local schools in providing
access for all students to high-quality programs and services. Those services must be in place and
available to students in all schools as they require them. Such consistency will require additional
staff support such as the .5 positions currently in Title I schools. MCPS must strengthen parent
involvement and increase its capacity as well as that of staff and the broader community to
advocate for individual student access to programs and services.
Ferrell, Linda Director, School Performance Ferrell, Linda Director, Middle School Instruction
Summary
In recent years, MCPS has improved opportunities and outcomes with respect to gifted and
talented (GT) programs and services for all students at local schools. In many grades, larger
percentages of students in Grades 3—8 are demonstrating high-level mastery of MCPS rigorous
curriculum, and at the higher grades, mastery of AP course work. More African American and
Hispanic students are being invited to attend MCPS programs for the highly gifted.
Notwithstanding these successes, and the MCPS commitment to “raise the bar and close the
gap,” successes occur primarily in “raising the bar” while difficulties persist in “closing the gap.”
Disparities in opportunities and outcomes exist based on students’ race and ethnicity. Data
suggest that African American and Hispanic students have less access to gifted programs and
services than do White and Asian American students. (The MCPS data available to the Deputy
Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Gifted and Talented Education have too little
information regarding American Indians to determine whether this is true for this subgroup as
well.) These two groups also have lower GT identification rates in the Grade 2 “global” GT
screening process, and generally lower rates of application for and invitations to attend the
Center Programs for the Highly Gifted and the countywide “test in” middle school and high
school gifted programs.
Data also indicate that African American and Hispanic students have lower outcomes on
standardized tests that are intended to measure high levels of mastery of the grade-level
curriculum. The growth in the percentages of African American and Hispanic students receiving
“advanced” scores in the Maryland School Assessments (MSA) Reading and Math tests since
2003 has been uneven. The gap between the percentage of these students receiving advanced
scores and the percentage of White students doing so is closing for some grade levels, but
increasing for others.
African American and Hispanic students’ participation in International Baccalaureate (IB) and
Advanced Placement (AP) courses is rising, but still lags behind the participation of other
groups. Even more troublesome, the gaps between the percentages of African American and
Hispanic students on the one hand, and the percentage of White students on the other, taking one
or more AP examinations and the gaps in earning scores of 3 or higher on at least one AP
examination, are growing.
Both the research and available MCPS data also suggest that lower levels of access to GT
programs and services, as well as lower standardized test scores are correlated, with
socioeconomic status (either measured by rates of participation in the Free and Reduced-price
Meals (FARMS) programs or by using more complex composite measures), and with learning
English as a second language, perhaps more strongly than correlations based on students’ race
and ethnicity.
In public education much attention has been paid to the “achievement gap.” This phrase refers to
the national phenomenon of disparities in educational outcomes among student subgroups,
especially in standardized test scores. The student subgroups compared are most often groupings
by gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, English language learners, students receiving
special education services, and students under Individualized Education Plans (IEP) because of
the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Research suggests the disparities in scores reflect differential levels of cognitive development
and that they are present when students enter public school and persist throughout public school.
Federal law (the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)) requires schools to make yearly progress
toward eliminating the gaps in mastery of grade-level material among certain subgroups, as
measured by scores on states’ standardized tests, and to eliminate it entirely by 2014. MCPS is
also committed to closing this gap, as it strives to ensure success for every child and to provide a
rigorous instructional program. The MCPS approach is sometimes referred to as “raise the bar
and close the gap.” MSA data for 2005 illustrate MCPS success in achieving these goals and its
progress toward meeting the NCLB requirements as well. These data also suggest, however, that
disparities persist and in some cases are growing.
For more than 25 years, research has suggested disparities in GT identification rates, and thus
access to GT programs and services when these activities are examined for many of the student
subgroups described above. Federal, state, and local school statutes and policies often
emphasize, in the area of gifted policy, that giftedness is not limited to certain student subgroups
and that school systems should strive to reduce GT disparities as well. The Maryland Bridge to
Excellence law, for example, states that “gifted and talented students are to be found in youth
from all cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor.” Policy
IOA: Gifted and Talented Education, similarly states that giftedness is “present in children and
youth from all cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor.”
Policy IOA goes on to require special efforts with respect to “underachieving and traditionally
underrepresented students,” including GT/LD students.
The committee examined MCPS data regarding achievement in local schools, countywide “test-
in” magnet programs, and in other settings where enriched and accelerated instruction occurs to
explore whether all children have equal access to GT programs and services and are achieving
the outcomes intended under Policy IOA. We examined Grade 2 GT identification, invitations to
attend the highly rigorous Center Programs for the Highly Gifted, and the countywide “test-in”
middle school and high school magnet programs. We also examined Maryland School
Assessment (MSA) scores at the Advanced level as well as enrollment and successful test taking
in AP courses, and enrollment in IB programs. Progress is occurring, but disparities persist and
in some cases are growing.
Because of the limitations of the available data, this paper primarily examines data disaggregated
by race and ethnicity. National research, published as well as incomplete (and sometimes
preliminary), MCPS data, and anecdotal evidence suggest that other identifiable groups such as
As an editorial matter, we have avoided using the term “underserved,” or an alternative term
such as “underrepresented,” to describe African American and Hispanic students1 whose lower
GT identification rates, lower rates of invitation to centers and test-in magnet programs, lower
rates of MSA achievement at the advanced level, and lower rates of enrollment and success in
AP courses suggest that they may not have full access to GT programs and services. It is worth
noting again that other subgroups may also fall into this category. These disparities in gifted
identification, access, and outcomes represent a GT dimension to the concept of “achievement
gap,” but one that MCPS’ “raise the gap and close the gap” approach also has had some success
in attempting to address.
MCPS has commenced a number of initiatives to ensure that all students who are gifted are
identified in the early grades. As required under Policy IOA, MCPS uses multiple indicators of
academic and leadership potential. MCPS has added staff to Title I schools (“.5 positions”) to
assist teachers, paraeducators, and other school staff in recognizing giftedness. MCPS has
expanded the Program of Assessment, Diagnosis, and Instruction (PADI). PADI uses the
concept of “identification through instruction” and nurtures critical and creative thinking skills in
Grade K–2 students in diverse populations. For five years MCPS has worked to strengthen skills
of all students in the primary grades through expanding all-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes,
and its reading initiative as well as changes intended to improve the curriculum.
Line 2 shows that the number of students in each group identified as GT in 2005 declined
compared with the number identified in 2002, for every group except Asian American students.
Lines 5a and 5b reflect declines in 2005 percentage GT identification rates for all subgroups
compared with 2002 and 2004, respectively, with the largest declines for Hispanic students and
the smallest for White students. (Line 5b is included to illustrate the sharp and disparate drop in
identification rates, which occurred in 2005 after MCPS made changes to the global screening
process.)
(Although not reflected in these data, MCPS directed that schools increase rescreening in
Grades 3 and 4 to identify students who may have been missed in the initial Grade 2 screening.)
1
As noted above, MCPS also has official data in many of these areas for students receiving special services and the
state of Maryland has published MSA data for these subgroups that are available as well. In addition, in the interest
of clarity, generally data are shown only for the earliest and most recent years for which data are available. In the
interest of length, generally only data disaggregated by race and ethnicity are included in this document; however,
all the available data suggest that these students suffer from the same difficulties.
Line 5a shows that GT identification rates for African American and Hispanic students still lag
overall GT identification rates and identification rates for other student subgroups. Line 5d
shows that the gaps in GT identification rates for African American and Hispanic students
compared with White students are increasing.
Centers data illustrate two phenomena that lead to disparities in access to the centers programs:
disparities in application rates among student subgroups and disparities in the percentages of
students invited among student subgroups.
The application rate phenomenon also has two components. African American and Hispanic
students each constitute slightly more than 20 percent of Grade 3 MCPS students; however, they
constitute a much smaller percentage of the applicant pool for the Center Programs for the
Highly Gifted. White and Asian American students apply for the centers in a higher proportion
than their proportion of the overall MCPS student population. Possible causes for the disparities
in applicant rates include carryover effects from the disparate gifted identification rates;
differences in the effectiveness of outreach efforts; transportation issues that may be more acute
for some groups; continued institutional gatekeepers; and disparate levels of rigorous instruction
and positive outcomes in the primary grades.
The second component is the disparity in the percentages of students invited, although here
progress has occurred. Table 2a, line 5 reflects increases in centers invitation rates for all
subgroups. Line 5a shows that African American and Hispanic students achieved the largest
gains. Although Line 3 shows that centers invitation rates for African American and Hispanic
students still lag overall behind center invitation rates and invitation rates for other student
subgroups, line 5b shows that the gap is closing, albeit more slowly than the increases in line 5a
might suggest.
The combined effect of disparities in application and invitation rates is that relatively few
African American and Hispanic students are receiving the higher level of rigor that the centers
provide.2
2 Several interesting data points are present for White students. Lines 1 and 2 show that the number of White
students who apply and the number invited have increased. Lines 3 and 4 show that White students’ percentage of
the applicant pool and the percentage of White students invited have both declined. Put another way, the increases
for White students in lines 1 and 2 are less than the increases for other groups, resulting in the drop in lines 3 and 4.
Moreover, the sharp drop in 2005 global screening GT identification rates for African American
and Hispanic students does not portend well for the 2006 application and selection processes.
As with the centers, the test-in middle school magnets programs have disparities in application
rates and disparities in the percentages of students invited among student subgroups.
Table 3a, line 3 shows a significant increase in the percentage of African American students in
the applicant pool during 2001–2005; however, the percentage of Hispanic students in the
applicant pool has dropped. Much of the increase in the number of African American student
applications occurred when the programs at the Roberto Clemente Middle School opened in
2003, when 206 students applied. Similar increases occurred for White and Asian American
students in 2003, when 760 White and 560 Asian American students applied. Since 2003 the
number of White students applying for the Math/Science/Computer Science magnets and the
number of African American students applying for the Humanities and Communications
magnets has dropped.
The numbers of Hispanic and White students applying for humanities and communications
middle school magnet programs, line 1, tables 3a, and 3c, have increased since 2002, the
percentage increases were smaller than the percentage increases in overall applications. This
phenomenon caused the percentages of these students in the applicant pools, line 3, tables 3a and
3c, to fall. The same effect occurred for White students apply to the Math/Science/Computer
Science magnet programs.
Moreover, the percentage of Asian American students invited, line 5a, tables 3a–3c, has dropped.
The percentages of Hispanic and White students invited to the Humanities and Communications
magnets, line 5a, table 3c, have also dropped.
Line 5b, tables 3a–3c, show the gap between percentages of African American students in the
applicant pool invited to middle school magnet programs and White students in the applicant
pool invited, has declined substantially, while the percentage of Hispanic students invited to
attend these magnets also has improved. Much of this improvement occurred this year, after
protests by a group of parents of African American students regarding the middle school magnet
selection process.
MSA Reading
The good news is that the percentage of students achieving advanced scores is increasing, and
increasing for all almost all grades for all groups. The percentage increases are also significant.
For example, in the Grade 3 Reading, the percentage of Asian American students achieving
Advanced increased by 70 percent from 2003 to 2005; for African American students the
increase was 12 percent; for Hispanic students, the increase was 116 percent; and for White
students, the increase was 56 percent.
The challenge is the intractability of the achievement gap at the advanced level. When MCPS
released the 2005 MSA scores, it included graphs showing changes from 2003 to 2005 in the
achievement gap in Grade 3 Reading scores. Looking at the gap between African American and
White students’ scores “at or above proficient,” the percentage point gap decreased 30 percent.
Comparing Hispanic and White students’ scores, the gap decreased 36 percent. Looking solely
at advanced scores, the gap between Grade 3 African American and White students increased 42
percent, while the gap between Grade 3 Hispanic and White students increased 45 percent.
Again, looking at Grade 3 students, this gap has actually increased for both African American
and Hispanic students each year the MSA has been administered. For Grade 5 African
American and Hispanic students, the 2005 gaps are greater than those that existed in 2003. It is
important to note that generally modest reductions in these advanced achievement gaps occurred
for both groups in Grades 4, 5, and 6; results were mixed for Grades 7 and 8.
Asian American African American White Hispanic White - Afr. Amer. White - Hispanic
2003 2004 2005 2003 2004 2005 2003 2004 2005 2003 2004 2005 2003 2004 2005 2003 2004 2005
3 18.1 24.8 30.7 4.2 6.3 8.9 21.8 26.6 33.9 3.1 4.6 6.7 17.6 20.3 25.0 18.7 22.0 27.2
4 30.6 28.6 8.3 9.4 34.5 34.6 6.9 8.4 26.2 25.2 27.6 26.2
5 48.4 51.8 53.8 17.1 18.7 18.5 53.9 56.5 55.7 14.2 15.7 15.8 36.8 37.8 37.2 39.7 40.8 39.9
6 58.0 52.6 21.9 18.9 61.6 54.3 19.3 15.6 39.7 35.4 42.3 38.7
7 49.1 51.0 15.5 18.6 55.7 57.6 15.5 15.9 40.2 39.0 40.2 41.7
8 43.4 39.8 44.5 17.2 12.6 12.8 54.7 46.3 46.9 12.4 9.9 11.6 37.5 33.7 34.1 42.3 36.4 35.3
As an approximation of the human face of the gap, only 192 African American and 137
Hispanic Grade 3 students achieved advanced reading scores in 2005. If the same percentage of
African American and Hispanic Grade 3 students had achieved advanced in 2005 as the
3
In 2003, the MSAs were only given to Grades 3, 5, and 8 students. In 2004, Grades 4, 6, and 7 students were
tested for the first time.
MSA Math
While the year-to-year percentages of advanced math scores also are generally increasing, for
several subgroups the percentages fall as the grade increases. The math data also illustrate the
wrong way to close the achievement gap. The 2005 gaps noted on the right side of Table 4b
generally fall as the grade increases. However, these falls are artifacts caused by the fact that
scores for White students are falling more rapidly than those of African American and Hispanic
students. On the other hand, the drop from 2004 to 2005 in the gap for Grade 4 Hispanic
students was accompanied by rising percentages of advanced scores for both Hispanic and White
students.
2003 2004 2005 2003 2004 2005 2003 2004 2005 2003 2004 2005 2003 2004 2005 2003 2004 2005
3 38.0 45.2 55.6 8.6 11.9 15.7 37.9 42.3 52.8 8.3 12.1 14.8 29.3 30.4 37.1 29.6 30.2 38.0
4 53.5 57.6 14.1 15.3 51.8 52.9 14.2 17.7 37.7 37.6 37.6 35.2
5 35.0 40.3 50.5 3.6 6.1 9.8 27.5 33.9 43.2 5.0 7.1 10.7 23.9 27.8 33.4 22.5 26.8 32.5
6 39.4 43.0 3.9 5.7 28.1 32.3 5.4 6.4 24.2 26.6 22.7 25.9
7 37.7 43.8 3.2 4.5 27.3 33.3 3.9 5.7 24.1 28.8 23.4 27.6
8 43.9 48.7 54.0 6.0 6.2 8.7 38.1 38.8 41.1 7.6 7.4 8.7 32.1 32.6 32.4 30.5 31.4 32.4
Class of ====> 2005 2009 2005 2009 2005 2009 2005 2009 2005 2009
Class of ====> 2005 2009 2005 2009 2005 2009 2005 2009 2005 2009
1 No. of students applied 301 322 81 81 23 39 410 270 819 714
2 No. of students invited 53 79 4 7 1 4 98 67 157 158
3 % applied of total applied 36.8 45.1 9.9 11.3 2.8 5.5 50.1 37.8 -6.7
4 % invited of total invited 33.8 50.0 2.5 4.4 0.6 2.5 62.4 42.4 -11.6
5 % of racial or ethnic group invited 17.6 24.5 4.9 8.6 4.3 10.3 23.9 24.8 19.2% 22.1
5a 2005–2009 % change 39.3 75.0 135.9 3.8 15.4
5b Gap (compared with White students) 6.3 0.3 19.0 16.2 19.6 14.6
High School AP Courses: Race and Ethnicity
MCPS data regarding AP courses show that African American and Hispanic students’ access to
and success in these courses is improving. The gap is growing between the percentage of
African American and Hispanic students taking at least one AP examination and White students
doing so. Also growing is the gap between the percentage of African American and Hispanic
students scoring 3 or higher in at least one exam and White students doing so. The negative
numbers for Asian American students mean that they are outperforming White students in both
of these categories. (Table 6)
Percentage scoring 3 or higher on at least one exam: 38.7 8.1 15.5 37.0
2000
Percentage scoring 3 or higher on at least one exam: 52.7 14.6 23.4 49.8
2004
2000 Gap (compared with White students) -1.7 28.9 21.5
2004 Gap (compared with White students) -2.9 35.2 26.4
It is clear that much work remains to be done. In addition to the gaps shown in Table 6, success
rates vary dramatically by school. In 2004, for schools with five or more students in the
demographic cohort, only 5.1 percent of Watkins Mill High School African American students
received a score of 3 or better in their high school career, while at Walter Johnson and
Springbrook, this percentage was 24.1. In 2004, for schools with five or more students in the
demographic cohort, only 15.0 percent of Watkins Mills High School Hispanic students received
a score of 3 or better in their high school career, while at Churchill, this percentage was 73.1.
4
Note: corrections made to conform to online version of Table 10 of Report (page 17)
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/departments/sharedaccountability/pdf/performance/AP%20Report0305.pdf
0
.
PYP 90 19.0 118 24.9 43 9.1 222 46.8 1 2 474 96 39 52
0
.
MYP 410 17.3 321 13.5 398 16.8 1242 52.4 1 0 2372 454 195 277
0
.
DP 55 10.2 138 25.7 32 5.9 312 58.0 1 2 538 13 9 34
Data elsewhere in that update show little progress since 2002 in improving access for African
American and Hispanic students to IB diplomas at Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Richard
Montgomery, and Springbrook high schools. In most cases, any increase in access averaged one
student or less per year over the four-year period.
Introduction
Research consistently indicates that most educators are ill-prepared to work with culturally,
ethnically, and linguistically diverse students. As a result, teachers interpret the cultural
differences in communication, learning, and behavioral styles of diverse students from a deficit
perspective. This deficit perspective limits teacher recognition of students’ gifts and talents and
students’ access to rigorous instructional programming (Ford, 2002; Shade, 1999; Gay, 2000).
In addition, many teachers lack adequate training in gifted education. The lack of training and
sensitivity to the characteristics and needs of gifted students hinders teacher ability to identify
students for Gifted and Talented (GT) programs as well as their ability to work effectively with
students to develop their potential (Ford, 2002). These findings point to the need to provide
training and professional experiences that address these dual goals of cultural competence and
gifted education.
James Banks, professor of education at the University of Washington, Seattle, has delineated the
specific professional development outcomes that must be addressed if educators are to modify
educational programming so that students from diverse ethnic, racial, cultural, and language
groups will have equitable opportunities to learn in their classrooms. According to Banks:
• Teachers must understand the ways that race, ethnicity, culture, language, and social class
interact in complex ways to influence student behavior.
• Teachers must uncover and identify their personal attitudes toward different racial,
ethnic, language, and social groups.
• Teachers must uncover and identify their behaviors related to diverse racial, ethnic,
language, and social class groups.
• Teachers must acquire knowledge about the history and cultures of diverse ethnic, racial,
and cultural groups.
Gifted Education
In gifted education, the professional’s learning curve is steep. Students, parents, and
administrators expect a challenging instructional program, regardless of whether a teacher has
been teaching 3 months or 30 years. A first-year teacher is expected to be in command of all
aspects of teaching that a veteran teacher is, including engaging students who are easy to
overlook, such as minority GT students. Conversely, a veteran teacher is expected to be
responsive to the new cultures entering her classroom and maintain high academic standards. In
other words, both novice and veteran are held accountable for high student academic
achievement for all groups. Training to build cultural competence should not be narrowly linked
to higher academic achievement but rather to recognizing the intellect of all students.
A school system that is proactive about teacher expectations rather than reactive to problems is
one that will maintain a high-performing workforce. A new expectation can be described as
follows:
• Changing instruction to match assessment
• New colleagues and administrators
• New instructional standards or curriculum
• Adapting instruction with an unfamiliar student population
This document will focus on teacher training that promotes the success of GT students,
specifically the expectation of engaging African American and Hispanic students, low-income
students, English language learner, and students with disabilities who do not fit traditional
images of precociousness.
Professional Development
Building the cultural competence of staff in a school system as large and culturally diverse as the
Montgomery County Public Schools is a complex task. Several questions must be considered
before an efficient and effective professional development program can be implemented. These
questions include the following:
• What specific knowledge, understanding, and skills do educators need to ensure that the
strengths, gifts, and talents of culturally diverse students are recognized?
• What audiences should participate in professional development?
• What is the timeline for delivering professional development?
• What are the most efficient delivery methods for professional development?
• What measures should be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the professional
development?
• How will available resources be deployed to design, deliver, and evaluate professional
development?
• What additional resources are required?
• Build scaffolding and enrichment options into curriculum for students who can handle
more. For example, the use of resources like Jacob’s Ladder allow students below grade
level to quickly and systematically build reading comprehension skills to move into
grade-level instruction and beyond. Carefully selected texts may be required to begin
moving students beyond grade-level indicators. The strategies developed and
disseminated by the Division of Accelerated and Enriched Instruction should be
incorporated into every staff development activity and supported by the staff
development teacher, reading specialist, math coach, resource teacher, and
interdisciplinary resource teacher.
The committee believes that it is essential that MCPS review and revamp its GT data collection
activity in order to implement many of the committee’s other recommendations to strengthen
MCPS GT programs and services. As a critical first step, we recommend that MCPS conduct an
inventory of what GT-related data it collects, where these data reside, and whether the data are
collected in paper or electronic format. It is likely that some of what is collected would be
extremely useful, if more easily available, while other data currently collected may be too
burdensome to merit collection, duplicative, or unnecessary. These data should be collected, if at
all, in the appropriate electronic systems that will permit implementation of the other data
recommendations. Finally, it is likely that there are gaps in the data that are collected and these
gaps should be remedied.
Data-driven program evaluation efforts can help MCPS identify which student characteristics are
the best predictors for success in these programs as well as identify whether additional efforts are
needed to encourage student with these characteristics in underserved populations to apply.
Knowing these characteristics will also assist teachers in making instructional decisions that will
prepare students in underserved populations to succeed in the rigor that the centers and magnets
provide and assist parents in more effectively evaluating the centers/magnet option.
Introduction
Parental outreach by schools is integral to connecting schools and parents. As this relationship
forms and is fostered, an improvement in communication, access, and most important, parental
involvement will be evident. Parental involvement not only helps to empower parents to become
avid advocates for their children, but also influences children’s developmental and educational
outcomes through such mechanisms as modeling and reinforcement and instruction, as mediated
by the parent’s use of developmentally appropriate activities and the fit between parental
activities and the school’s expectations (Hoover-Dempsy and Sandler, 1995). The barriers to
parental involvement in schools include, but are not limited to, income, ethnicity, language,
alienation from schools, and attitudes of teachers. A high priority should be placed on removing
barriers and designing activities to stimulate and maintain parental involvement. Epstein
suggests designing parental outreach efforts around the following themes: (1) basic obligations
of families to provide for the safety and health of their children; (2) basic obligation of schools to
communicate with families about school programs and the individual progress of their children;
(3) parental involvement at school; (4) parental involvement in learning activities at home; (5)
parental involvement in decision making at school, and (6) collaboration and exchange with
community organizations (Eccles and Harold, 1993). These provide the basis for the following
recommendations:
• Distribute literature about rigorous curriculum, GT, and Magnet opportunities within
MCPS at kindergarten roundup and other similar gatherings (i.e., Aim High; Parent’s
Guide to Kindergarten; A Resource Guide to Services, Support, and Advocacy Groups in
GT Education, etc.). Provide opportunities to discuss or respond to questions during
meetings or link interested parents with appropriate personnel.
• Staff members will be available to speak with parents about GT curriculum and other
opportunities for exposure to rigor available within the school and throughout the county
at Back to School Night.
• Hold annual informational meetings for all elementary school parents about GT
instruction, identification, and the Highly Gifted Centers.
• Hold special informational meetings for Grade 5 parents in addition to the annual
informational meeting for all parents. This meeting would also be hosted by elementary
schools and would further address middle school accelerated learning opportunities,
including accessing Honors classes and other issues that are germane to Grade 5 students
(i.e., family life education, middle school experience, etc.).
• Meetings targeting Grade 8 students regarding high school magnets and other accelerated
learning opportunities, should be conducted during the first semester of each school year
by Accelerated and Enriched Instruction (AEI) staff.
• Information about Honors, AP, and other accelerated programs offered at the home
school and how parents can access them for their children should be provided during
regularly scheduled Grade 9 parent meetings.
• Opportunities for parents and prospective students to hear testimonials from students
currently enrolled in accelerated programs (i.e., Honors, AP, academies, IB, and magnet
programs) should be presented.
• Working in collaboration with other departments in MCPS and the county, the AEI will
create workshops to train parents as education promoters in their communities.
Education promoters will work with parents at every level to explain resources within
MCPS that encourage participation in accelerated academic programs. Some of the
activities education promoters will perform are listed below:
o Assist with magnet school application preparation
o Assist parents in understanding their role in the parent-teacher conference.
o Assist parents in filling out the course selection for middle and high school.
o Work with parents on activities they can implement at home to support a rigorous
program.
MCPS should explore ways in which to compensate these promoters (i.e., stipend, gift
card, etc.). The role of education promoters could be expanded to broader issues related
to navigating the school system.
• Principals will share best practices for parent outreach at their various meetings.
• Transportation and childcare should be provided when needed.
Institutional Advocacy
• Pooling the 0.5 GT positions into a team of full-timers, who can best focus their efforts
on a coordinated objective of supporting GT initiatives, which include serving as
advocates for students.
• Expanding the number of school counselors, so that they can truly fulfill their—already
written—advocacy mandate.
Implementation Strategy A: Strengthen the model for the delivery of GT services at the
local school level
IIA1. Define components of an effective GT program
IIA2. Allocate a part-time GT specialist in every elementary school
IIA3. Enhance the role of the 0.2 GT coordinator
Implementation Strategy B: Expand existing programs to meet the growing needs of the
county
IIB1. Expand seats in Center Programs for the Highly Gifted and middle and high
school magnets
IIB2. Fund an upcounty magnet high school
IIB3. Expand programming and services for GT/LD students
IIB4. Expand programming for students with nontraditional forms of giftedness
Implementation Strategy C: Enhance staff development and support activities for key
local school staff involved in GT service delivery
IIC1. Expand gifted education training for instructional staff
IIC2. Reinstate specialized GT in-service classes
IIC3. Train and support staff development teachers
IIC4. Train and support GT liaisons and 0.2 GT coordinators
IIC5. Develop GT training for guidance counselors
IIC6. Train and support principals and supervisory staff
IIC7. Expand use of communication technologies to deliver student data to teachers
IIC8. Expand the AEI Website
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Recommendation Three: Implement systematic collection and analysis of data
Implementation Strategy A: Collect longitudinal data and use the ability of systems
such as the IMS and Data Warehouse to ensure retention of student assessment data
Implementation Strategy C: Enhance training for staff so that they can better recognize
and support students who could benefit from greater rigor
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