Extremes of Intellectual Functioning and Creativity

DepEd Mandates Education for All:

o Republic Act 9155 (2001)
Schools shall have a single aim of providing the best possible basic education for all
learners translated into programs, projects and services developed, adapted and
offered to fit local needs.
o Deped Policies and Handbooks
1992 Magna Carta for Disabled Persons
1997 Policy and Guidelines for Special Education
1997 Handbook on Special Education (revised)
1999 Handbook on Inclusive Education
LD Basics:
o Learning disabilities (LD) are neurological disorders that can make it difficult to acquire
certain academic and social skills.
o Learning disabilities are not caused by economic disadvantage, environmental factors,
or cultural differences.
Different Exceptionalities:
o Attention Deficit Disorder - A hyperkinetic disorder that may or may not involve
hyperactivity
o Autism Spectrum Disorder (Children with Autism) - Collective terminology which
includes AUTISM and ASPERGER SYNDROME; Also known as PERVASIVE
DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDER
o Intellectual Disability (Mentally Retarded/Mentally Handicapped) - Children with skills
significantly lower than their peers of the same age
o Learning Disability (Learning Disabled) - average or above average intelligence with
developmental and academic skills considerably below expectation
DYSLEXIA characterized by reading difficulty particularly in areas of decoding
and phonological skills
DYSGRAPHIA characterized by difficulty in written expression
DYSCALCULIA characterized by difficulty in quantitative thinking and
calculations
DYSPHASIA - characterized by difficulty in oral language (expressive language)
Nonverbal learning disorders
o Physical and Multiple Disabilities (Orthopedically Handicapped/Cerebral Palsy)
o Sensory Impairment: Hearing (Hard of Hearing/Deaf)
o Sensory Impairment: Vision (Low Vision/Totally Blind)
o Social and Emotional Disabilities (Behavior Problems)
o Speech and Language Disabilities (Speech Defective) - A communication disability which
affects the whole system of communication, not just talking
School Symptoms of High Risk Students:
o History of adequate/high grades followed by a downward trend
o History of excessive absences and tardiness
o High achievement scores and high school abilities with a history of low academic
performance
Common Problems in Class:
o Overly active/doesnt sit still


o Calls out without raising hand/impatient
o Fails to start work; or completed work is sloppy
o Class clown/wants peer attention/noisy and disruptive
o Doesnt adhere to rules and doesnt accept consequences
o Easily frustrated/wants immediate gratification
o Daydreams/forgetful/easily distracted
o Fails to attend to details
o Seems tired
o Disorganized
o Loses things/messy desk
o Needs close supervision to stay on task
o May have learning problems
Common Problems with Peers:
o Easily frustrated
o Physically intrusive
o Insists on own way
o Misses social cues/insensitive
o Doesnt ignore provocation
o Cant see others viewpoint
o Wants to switch activities often
o Is rejected or ignored by peers
o Socially immature
Common Avoidance Behaviors:
o Forgets on a selective basis
o Forgets to write down assignments day after day
o Takes hours to complete homework
o Forgets homework very quickly
o Cannot seem to get started with homework
o Frequently brings home unfinished class work
o Consistently leaves long term assignments until the last minute
o Complains of headaches, stomach aches, and other physical problems before/after
school
o Exhibits spotlight behavior
When is it a serious problem?
o Frequency: How often do the symptoms occur?
o Duration: How long do the symptoms last?
o Intensity: How serious are the reactions at the time of the occurrence?
Adjustments in the Classroom:
o Make adjustments in presentation of learning
o Vary student tasks or expected output
o Make adjustments to class settings
o Timing considerations








A. Students with learning challenges: Implications for teaching

A.1. Mainstreaming and Full-Inclusion

Mainstreaming
o the practice of moving students with exceptionalities from segregated settings into regular
classroom
o the placement of students with disabilities from part-time to full-time in general education
classes
o a means for providing students with disabilities educational services in the general classroom to
the extent it is appropriate to meet their needs

Advantages of Mainstreaming

Benefits to students with disabilities: It is believed that educating children with disabilities alongside
their non-disabled peers, facilitates access to the general curriculum for children with disabilities.
Studies show that students with disabilities who are mainstreamed have:

o Higher academic achievement
o Higher self-esteem
o Better social skills and positive social traits

Benefits to non-disabled students: Many people believe that educating non-disabled students and
students with disabilities together creates an atmosphere of understanding and tolerance that better
prepares students of all abilities to function in the world beyond school.

Disadvantages of Mainstreaming

Although mainstreaming in education has been shown to provide benefits, there are also disadvantages
to the system.

o Not for everyone
o Is it match?
o Costs

Inclusion
o refers to the full-time integration of students with disabilities in general education classrooms
and often in their neighbourhood schools
o a comprehensive approach to educating students with exceptionalities that advocates a total,
systematic, and coordinated web of services

Inclusion has three components:

1. Include students with special needs in a regular school campus.
2. Place students with special need in age-and grade-appropriate classrooms.
3. Provide special education support within the regular classroom.




Effective teaching practices for inclusion

Practice Description
Effective use of time High rates of on-task behaviour
Minimal losses of instructional time to transitions &
disruptions
Warm academic climate Supportive responses to all students particularly
those mainstreamed
Supportive responses when problems occur
Effective classroom
management
Structured & orderly classroom
Minimal use of punishment
Minimal loss of instructional time to manage
misbehaviour
High success rate Correct answers to most teachers questions
Success rate of 80% - 90% on seat work and
homework assignments
Effective feedback Feedback that is immediate
Feedback that includes no criticism

Disadvantages of Inclusion

The disadvantages include: Students may become lost in a large group setting, regular ed teachers may
not understand the students disability and become impatient and not be willing to work with them, and
a student may feel stupid for struggling when other kids are getting it. The disabled child can be
disruptive. The regular ed teacher may be talking over the disabled childs head leaving them bored and
the class bored if they have to keep slowing down to go back over information.

A.2. the Individualized Education Plan

What is an IEP?

An IEP or Individual Education Plan is a plan or programme designed for children with SEN to help them
to get the most out of their education. An IEP builds on the curriculum that a child with learning
difficulties or disabilities is following and sets out the strategies being used to meet that childs specific
needs.

It is an individually prescribed instructional plan devised by special education and classroom teachers,
other resource professionals and parents

It specifies the following:

- Assessment of the students performance
- Long and short term objectives
- Services or strategies to be used
- Schedule for implementing the plan
- Criteria to use in evaluating the plans success



What is the Purpose of an IEP?

The purpose of an IEP is to inform the teacher and others working with the child of specific targets for
the child and how these will be reached. The IEP allows schools and staff to plan for progression,
monitor the effectiveness of teaching, monitor the provision for additional support needs within the
school, collaborate with parents and other members of staff and help the child become more involved in
their own learning and work towards specific targets.

What are the Functions of an IEP?

1. It Provides support for the classroom teacher
2. It creates a link between the regular classroom & the resource team
3. It helps parents monitor their childs educational progress
4. It provides a program to meet the individual needs of the students

What is an IEP?

An IEP should contain "targets", "provisions" and "outcomes". It should note 3 or 4 short-term targets
set for or by the child, the teaching strategies to be used to achieve those targets, the provision that will
be put in place, say when the plan is to be reviewed and identify outcomes which show the childs
progress against his/her previous targets.

Targets set in the IEP should be "SMART", which stands for:

Specific,
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound

Reviewing an IEP?

The IEP is a working document and should be reviewed regularly (usually two or three times a year) to
ensure that it continues to meet the childs needs. When reviewing IEPs teachers need to consider both
the parents' and the childs views, the progress made by the pupil, the effectiveness of the IEP, any
specific issues that impact on the childs progress and any changes to targets or strategies. After
considering the childs current progress, new targets should be set to be achieved by the next IEP
review.




Overview or the IEP Process






Links for sample IEP online

http://www.sfcasa.org/wp/sfcasadocs/Ed_Advo_%20Docs/Special_Ed/Sample_IEP.pdf
http://www.sitemaker.umich.edu/special.education/files/sample-iep_high_school.pdf

B. Giftedness and Creativity: Implications for teaching

o Gifted & Talented Students
Above average ability: at the upper end of the ability continuum who need
supplemental help to realize their full potential
High levels of motivation and task commitment: the category has been enlarged
to include both students who do well on IQ tests (typically 130 and above)
High levels of creativity: those who demonstrate above-average talents in such
diverse areas as math, creative writing, and music.
o Characteristics of Gifted Students:
Likes to work alone
Is imaginative, enjoys pretending
Is highly verbal and flexible in thinking
Is persistent, stays with a task
Goes beyond assignments
Is often based with routine tasks
Is sometimes impulsive, with little interest in details
o Important Terms
High intelligence: a composite of human traits, including a capacity for insight
into complex relationships, an ability to think abstractly and solve problems, and
the capacity to develop more capacity.
High IQ: high = 1.5-2 standard deviations above the mean; normally above 130.
Gifted: a term used to describe children who exhibit evidence of having high
levels of intelligence.
Creativity: a form of intelligence that results in advanced divergent thought,
unique products, high levels of intuition, or being able to solve complex
problems.
Convergent thinking: taking apparently unrelated information and moving it
toward a common conclusion; requires memory, classification and reasoning
abilities.
Divergent thinking: extending information in different directions from a
common point; critical for creative behavior.
Evaluative thinking: thinking skills used to make decisions, and allow for
comparisons and contrasts between and among items and concepts.
Talented: a term that refers to people who have superior skills or abilities in just
one or a few areas.
o Creativity - the ability to identify or prepare original and divergent solutions to
problems.
Creativity and IQ are related but not identical.
Uses 3 kinds of intelligence:
1. Synthetic intelligence
2. Analytic intelligence
3. Practical intelligence


Central Component of Creativity
Divergent thinking - the ability to generate a variety of original answers
to questions or problems.
Three dimensions:
1. Fluency the ability to produce many ideas relevant to a
problem
2. Flexibility being able to break from an established set to
generate new perspectives
3. Originality- the facility for generating new and different ideas

o Misconceptions vs. Facts:

Misconception Fact
Gifted students are physically weak, socially
inept, narrow in interests, and prone to
emotional instability.
In general, these students are quite the
opposite.
Gifted students do everything well. Some students show exceptional abilities in
a broad range of areas; others show highly
specialized activities.
Giftedness is a stable trait, always
consistently evident in all periods of a
persons life.
Some students show indications of special
abilities early on, whereas others will not
demonstrate their unique and special
abilities until later in life.
Gifted students will excel without special
education, needing only the incentives and
instruction that are appropriate for all
students.
Most students with exceptional abilities will
need a differentiated program to meet their
needs.
A differentiated curriculum for the gifted
means anything that is different from what
is provided for all learners.
A differentiated curriculum implies a
coherently planned scope and sequence of
instruction that matches the needs of
students and that typically does differ from
the regular education curriculum.
All experiences provided for gifted learners
must be creative and focused on process.
Core content areas are important areas of
instructional focus.
One curriculum package will provide what is
needed for the entire gifted population.
Students need a variety of materials,
resources, and courses.
Acceleration can be harmful because it
pushes children socially and leaves gaps in
their knowledge.
This approach to meeting the needs of
students with exceptional abilities is the
intervention technique best supported by
research.








o Basic Concepts and Implications:
Prevalence: normally 3 to 5% of the school population is gifted.
Definitional perspectives: students need services and activities that differ
from those typically provided, if these students are to reach their potentials.
Origins of giftedness: homes in which there is much stimulation and
opportunity to explore and interact with the environment, accompanied by high
expectations, tend to produce children more likely to be successful
scholastically and socially.
Identification and assessment: portfolio assessment (actual student products),
formal tests, informal assessments, interviews with teachers, parents, and
peers.
Characteristics: expenditure of minimum effort while still earning high grades.
Classroom behaviors checklist.
o Realities of the General Education Classroom:
Their individual needs may not be met at all.
When involved in group activities, they may end up doing all of the work.
They are often subjected to more stringent grading criteria.
They are given more of the same type of work for finishing assignments early or
assigned more of the same type of tasks at the outset.
They are overused as co-teachers to help students who need more assistance.
They are required to spend much time being presented content or concepts that
they already know, doing repetitive drill work, and receiving instruction on new
material at too slow a pace.
o Differentiated Programming:
Content of what students learn
Processes used in learning situations
Final products that students develop
o Programs for the Gifted: More and Faster or Deeper and Different?
1. Acceleration: keeps the curriculum the same but allows students to move
through it more quickly.
2. Enrichment: provides richer and varied content through strategies that
supplement usual grade-level work.
3. Social grouping: gifted students of proximate ability levels or interests are
grouped together for at least part of the instructional day.


Options in enrichment and acceleration programs
Enrichment Options Acceleration Options
1. Independent study and independent projects. 1. Early admission to kindergarten and first grade
2. Learning centers 2. Grade skipping
3. Field trips 3. Subject skipping
4. Saturday programs 4. Credit by exam
5. Summer programs 5. College courses in high school
6. Mentors and mentorship 6. Correspondence courses
7. Simulations and games 7. Early admission to college
8. Small-group investigations
9. Academic competitions