1. Gifted and Talented Academy
Session 5
June 14, 2012
Wireless password: education

2. Agenda Day 5 Welcome/Warm Up Lessons Learned
Staffing Patterns/GT Schedules
Advocacy
Work Time
Closure

3. GT Academy II October 18 November 29 February 12 April 9
Location: Ames AEA Office

4. Wherever you go, go with all your heart.
--Confucius

5. Welcome Back! Where we’ve been Mission/philosophy Target population
Identification
Program goals
Comprehensive programming
Collaboration
PEPs

6. Objectives
To deepen understanding of the components of comprehensive gifted and talented programming
To examine system-level factors affecting comprehensive programming
Advocacy & Leadership
To identify areas of professional growth necessary to effectively implement programming
In-service Design

7. Warm Up Individually In your team/at your table
Identify three ways you’ve grown in your thinking about g/t programming since September (1/sticky note)
In your team/at your table
Share ideas (3-5 minutes)
Pair up w/someone not at your table
Share 1 idea
Repeat twice
Return to table
Share one thing you heard

8. Lessons Learned Form mixed-district groups of five Number off by 5’s
Jigsaw “Lessons Learned” article
Discuss connections to Academy learning
Large group share

9. Barriers or Bridges Two lunch bags Bag 1 Nest w/bag 2 Build wall
One side – barrier to accomplishing the recommendations from “Lessons Learned”
Other side – bridge to accomplishing
Nest w/bag 2
Build wall
What two barriers can you identify with?
What bridges do you need to build?
Discuss with your team “What’s our plan?”

10. Staffing Patterns/Schedules
What are the total FTEs for gifted and talented in your district?
How are they distributed K-12?
Who develops the schedule?
What programming components have been identified?
How is the teacher’s time allotted to implement those components effectively?
What needs to change?
Make connections to funding, inservice design, and advocacy.

11. Job Descriptions Do you have a job description?
If so, in what ways does it accurately reflect what you do?
What guidance should/would the written g/t plan provide and vice versa?

12. GT Teacher/Administrator Agreement
What is the value in an agreement?
How does it align with programming and with job description?
What do school counselor agreements look like?
Do you need an agreement with administrators?
Time to discuss

13. Advocacy: What is it? Why is it necessary?
On what levels does it occur?
What resources are available?
Where do we need to focus our advocacy efforts?
Do we need a plan?

14. --NAGC, 2000 as cited in Purcell & Eckert, 2006
Advocacy: What is It?
“…the act of arguing in favor of something – an idea, cause, or policy”
--NAGC, 2000 as cited in Purcell & Eckert, 2006
…getting decision makers at the school, school district, state, and national levels to support strategies, services, and policies to initiate, implement, and support gifted education.
--Purcell & Eckert, 2006

15. Why Advocate? Raise awareness Show positive impact Influence change
--Purcell & Eckert, p. 240
Review Guiding Principles – p. 241

16. Levels of Advocacy
National
State
District
School

17. Levels of Advocacy
Find a partner and discuss… …how you have been involved in gifted advocacy at any of these levels. …the extent to which advocacy is or should be part of your job. …the effectiveness of your individual and collective advocacy efforts. …ways to increase the effectiveness of your efforts.

18. Advocacy Resources http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=36
Purcell & Eckert, Chapter 18 (p )

19. Advocacy Plan Traits Clarity – the plan has a clear message
Inclusiveness – the plan involves interested parties
Support Information – the plan includes support information
Specificity – the plan provides specifics for implementation
--Purcell & Eckert, p. 242

20. Advocacy Focus Barriers and Bridges
Think back to the barriers and bridges you identified.
Discuss the ways in which advocacy could make a difference.
Do you need to develop an advocacy plan? (See p. 243, Purcell & Eckert)

21. Work Time
Work with your team to further develop and/or refine your written gifted and talented plan.
A copy of your new/revised written gifted and talented plan is due June 30.

22. Required Sections Vision/mission/beliefs
Identification (include target population)
Program Goals
Differentiated Program
Staff Qualification/Allocation
In-service Design
Program Evaluation (optional)