Course Proposal Checklist

(Revised 2.28.01)

 

Course Complete Title:  Identifying and Providing for Underserved Gifted Students

 

               q          New course

 

 

Course Abbreviated Title:  Underserved Gifted

 

            Average Weekly Contact Hours:                     Total      2 hours, 40 minutes  

 

            Discussion      1 hour                          Field Experience                                  Lab/Studio                              

 

            Lecture 20 minutes                   Independent Study                              Student Teaching                     

 

            Web-based course                               Viewing videotaped interviews 1 hour, 20 minutes                       

 

 

Course Description:

 

This course provides in-depth understanding of the needs of atypical gifted/talented students, along with specific strategies that can be applied in identifying and providing educational services for gifted students who are commonly underrepresented and underserved in schools today.  Included are those in the following populations:

 

•   Economically disadvantaged                                               •   Racially, culturally, & linguistically diverse                                                           

 

•   Creatively gifted                                                                  •   Low-incidence/highly gifted                                                                                  

 

•   Underachievers                                                                   •   Gifted girls 

 

•   Visual-spatial learners                                                         •   Rural/isolated gifted           

 

•   Those with other special needs

 

The course will focus on recent videotaped interviews with leaders in the field of gifted education who are concerned with underserved gifted students.  Prerequisite:  SPED/GIFT 450 or its equivalent.

 

 

Rationale:

            The purpose of this course is to develop graduate students' understanding of how to identify and provide appropriate educational services for "atypical" gifted students –those who are commonly under-represented in gifted programs and, even if identified, are often underserved.  The course is a clear manifestation of our program's mission statement as quoted below, especially in terms of those sections found herein in bold-face type and underlined.  The course is most directly related to Goal 3 of our Master of Arts degree program in Gifted Education at Northeastern, as well as being a significant expansion on what the program currently offers in relationship to Goals 1, 2, 4, and 5. 

            "The mission of the graduate program in gifted education is to provide our students with professional development opportunities leading to their acquisition of knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary for effective performance in teaching, research, supervising, and school service or administrative roles.  We are committed to providing an environment which fosters a climate of excellence, leadership, and mutual respect.  We also emphasize communication, coordination, and collaboration among faculty, students, university personnel, professional organizations and with the community at large.  We recognize and develop our students' unique individual differences of distinct cultural and ethnic groups as well as the relationships between them."

            The mission of our program continues by stating "The teacher of gifted students is a reflective and responsive professional who facilitates cognitive, affective, and social growth by respecting, appreciating and providing for cultural and individual differences within their environment, including school, home, and community.  This is accomplished by:

1.         Providing every student with a free and appropriate public education;

2.         Enhancing each student's sense of self-worth;

3.         Persuading students to interact with individuals from varied cultural and ethnic backgrounds;

4.         Equipping students with an academic foundation appropriate to their present and future needs;

5.         Developing students' critical thinking problem solving, decision making, and creative thinking skills.

            The Master of Arts in Gifted Education has 14 specific student outcomes.  These are listed below.  Those that relate directly to the content of this course are shown in bold-face type and underlined. 

            "Students completing this degree will be able to:

1.         Demonstrate knowledge of different types of giftedness and identify students whose talents and abilities are significantly different from the norm;

2.         Identify gifted and talented individuals among those who have physical disabilities, sensory disabilities, behavior disorders, or learning disabilities;

3.         Explain and use current information, theory, and research results relating to the education of gifted and talented students;

4.         Master and use research methodology including the development of annotated bibliographies, research protocols, and research reports;

5.         Explore and evaluate a wide variety of resources, including curriculum materials, teaching strategies, program designs, and organizational plans;

6.         Compile, adapt, and crate instructional materials suitable for gifted and talented students;

7.         Design and implement a comprehensive educational program for gifted and talented students;

8.         Establish a continuous evaluation procedure with relevant criteria and pertinent instruments for a gifted program including methods and standards for identifying, recruiting, and retaining qualified students;

9.         Teach successfully a group of gifted and talented students in a practicum setting employing appropriate lessons, curriculum, and materials;

10.       Describe practical methods for adjusting the environment of the regular classroom for the needs of gifted and talented students;

11.       Employ suitable strategies and techniques for meeting the social and emotional needs of gifted students;

12.       Exhibit an understanding of life-span issues for gifted and talented individuals, including career development, career counseling, vocational planning, and college selection;

13.       Discuss problematic issues concerning parenting highly able children and recount functional techniques for parenting gifted and talented children;

14.       Demonstrate an awareness of state and federal legislation affecting gifted and talented children and their education, including PA 85-880, an understanding of effective strategies for advocacy, and of federal, state, and local agencies and organizations that deal with advocacy."

             The course is based on my sabbatical research regarding current thinking in the field of gifted education.  My research consisted of doing in-depth video-taped interviews with selected professionals with recognized expertise in relationship to one or more sub-groups of the gifted population – specifically, those who are "atypical" and who are generally underserved in our nation's schools today.  My synthesis of the resulting data and summarization of the insights that these leaders in the field have gained as a result of their efforts on behalf of underserved gifted students has been incorporated into this course content, which will allow our graduate students to view my recently videotaped interviews and to discuss the issues, concerns, and approaches that these leaders in the field have found to be most significant.   "Atypical" gifted students include those who are economically disadvantaged; those from racially, culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; creatively gifted; low incidence/highly gifted; underachievers; gifted girls; visual-spatial learners; rural/isolated gifted; and those who have other exceptional educational needs in addition to their giftedness.

            As an urban university seriously dedicated to issues of diversity, Northeastern's Master of Arts in Gifted Education has a responsibility to our graduate students to help them address the needs of those students who reflect diversity within the gifted population.  If we are to prepare our graduate students adequately to respond appropriately to the needs of all gifted/talented students, regardless of the ways in which they differ from the norm, we need to give them opportunities in our coursework to acquire the knowledge and develop the skills.  This course is designed to do just that and to do so through opportunities to engage thoughtfully with the ideas of some of the finest minds in the field of gifted education by hearing their words directly, as captured during recent interviews.  The course is being proposed as a "title-varies" offering available as an elective for students in the Master of Arts program in Gifted Education, along with any other graduate students who are concerned with how to identify and provide for atypical gifted students.  Basic understanding of giftedness is a prerequisite for this course, such as that obtained through completion of SPED/GIFT 450 or its equivalent.

            A copy of my approved Sabbatical Leave Proposal is attached, which will provide further details about the research that I conducted which led to the creation of this course.  It also includes a list of questions that were used in the videotaped interviews, giving an indication of the kinds of issues that the course will focus on regarding underserved gifted students.

 

 

 

 

 

Use of Assessment for Improvement in Instruction and Student Learning:

            The results of each of the assessment tools used in this course will be used for improvement in instruction and student learning by analyzing students' performance on exams, their oral presentations, and their projects. Each of the rubrics used for self, peer, and instructor evaluation to give students feedback will serve a dual purpose of allowing students to improve their performance in relationship to the course outcomes as well as for improvements in the course itself.  The ratings on each item on each of the rubrics will be tabulated and the data analyzed to determine specific areas of strength and weakness.  Analysis of the data from the mid-term exam will provide for improvements in instruction and student learning in the middle of the term, while the course is still in progress.  Data from the oral interviews also will allow for adjustments to be made before the term is over.  Data from students' projects and their final exam will be used to improve instruction and student learning whenever the course is offered again in the future.