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Rural Gifted
This document discusses challenges and opportunities for rural schools in meeting North Carolina's new AIG (academically or intellectually gifted) program standards. It notes that rural schools face issues like sparser populations, fewer resources, and less access to qualified teachers. It examines challenges and needs related to differentiated curriculum, professional development, comprehensive planning, and partnerships. Suggested strategies include collaborating with other districts, advocating for more support, exploring online resources, and thinking creatively about programming and staff development. Representatives are available to answer additional questions.
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Rural Gifted
- 1. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIESRural Schools and the New AIG Program Standards Emily Goglin, Lauren Miller, and Kristen R. Stephens, Ph.D . Duke University
- 2. Why Rural Mattersin NC 677,000 rural students Nearly half of our schools and our students are in rural areas North Carolina’s rural schools have below-average high school graduation rates North Carolina has the second highest number of students living in concentrated poverty Over 45,000 students In those counties, the high school graduation rate is only 51 % The Rural School & Community Trust, 2009 North Carolina has the largest rural student enrollment in the US
- 3. Challenges Sparse population= fewer resources Students may lack intellectual peers at their schools Lack of time, money, and access to professional development Less access to highly qualified, AIG certified teachers Lack of community support network
- 4.
- 5. Meeting the NewAIG Program Standards Developing Local Plans Received and read the new AIG program standards Determined a core leadership team Reflected on current AIG program and gathered feedback Completed LEA self-assessment tool (due with plan in July 2010 Developed local AIG plan for submission in July 2010
- 6. Meeting the NewAIG Program Standards: Your Most Pressing Challenges
- 7. 2b: Curriculum enrichment& acceleration 2e: Development of 21 st century content & skills 2h: Cultivating potential of K-3 students through the use of differentiated curriculum & instruction STANDARD 2: DIFFERENTIATED CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION Challenges
- 8. STANDARD 2: DIFFERENTIATEDCURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION Your Needs “ Time and resources for teaching regular classroom teachers how to use formative assessment and accelerate and challenge AIG students” In Your Words…
- 9. STANDARD 2: DIFFERENTIATEDCURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION Discussion How can your district access and disseminate the RESOURCES your teachers need to engage in differentiation and acceleration? How can your district build in TIME for professional development and collaboration? What PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT could your district use to enhance teachers’ understanding of differentiated curriculum and instruction?
- 10. STANDARD 2: DIFFERENTIATEDCURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION Our Ideas COLLABORATE - Form partnerships with other districts to share professional development opportunities and resources ADVOCATE – Tell the state you need more professional development and resources about differentiation and acceleration EXPLORE – Consider unique ways you can access resources via the Internet; the NCAGT website is a great place to start
- 11. 3c: Professional developmentrequirements for all personnel 3d: Matching up AIG students with qualified teachers 3g: Professional development related to planning for, implementation of, and refinement of best practices STANDARD 3: PERSONNEL & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Challenges
- 12. STANDARD 3: PERSONNEL& PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Your Needs In Your Words… “ As fewer teachers are financially able to…get their AIG certification, we are struggling with the number of certified AIG teachers in our system”
- 13. STANDARD 3: PERSONNEL& PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Discussion How can your district pool resources – including FUNDING and expertise – with neighboring districts? How can you use in-house “teacher-experts” to INCREASE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES? How can you think creatively about developing & enhancing STAFF DEVELOPMENT PLANS (for example, through the use of online resources)?
- 14. STANDARD 3: PERSONNEL& PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Our Ideas SHARE – Form regional professional development networks to pool financial and professional resources LEAD – As a teacher-expert in your school and/or district , share your knowledge and skills with colleagues EXPAND – Think creatively about supplementing staff development with online resources (for example, Webinars on Wednesdays, through NAGC)
- 15. 4a: Meeting academic,intellectual, social, & emotional needs of AIG students 4e: Communication between teachers & schools to ensure continuation of services 4f: Collaboration focused on differentiated programming & services 4g: Collaboration focused on social-emotional needs 4i: Serving underrepresented populations STANDARD 4: COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING WITHIN A TOTAL SCHOOL COMMUNITY Challenges
- 16. STANDARD 4: COMPREHENSIVEPLANNING WITHIN A TOTAL SCHOOL COMMUNITY Your Needs In Your Words… “ Specific programming for underserved populations suffers due to lack of personnel to implement program”
- 17. STANDARD 4: COMPREHENSIVEPLANNING WITHIN A TOTAL SCHOOL COMMUNITY Discussion How can we get MORE AIG-CERTIFIED TEACHERS in our schools? Where can we find EXAMPLES FROM OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS of comprehensive planning within a total school community? Where can we get FUNDING for staff, extra-curricular programming, professional development, and training on social-emotional and other needs of AIG students?
- 18. STANDARD 4: COMPREHENSIVEPLANNING WITHIN A TOTAL SCHOOL COMMUNITY Our Ideas THINK outside of the box – consider encouraging regular education teachers or even counselors to seek AIG licensure; they can then share their knowledge with colleagues at their school COLLABORATE – seek out districts similar to yours; ask them how they are addressing this standard POOL your resources – gather several neighboring districts to co-sponsor a regional academic competition
- 19. STANDARD 5: PARTNERSHIPS Challenges 5c: Involving stakeholders 5e: Intentionally involving parents, families, & the community 5f: Forming partnerships with parents, families, local businesses and other community members
- 20. STANDARD 5: PARTNERSHIPS Your Needs In Your Words… “ Local support for parents to donate time from their job(s) to support the school system”
- 21. STANDARD 5: PARTNERSHIPSDiscussion How can you communicate with other schools and/or districts to get new IDEAS AND SUGGESTIONS? What individuals in your community could provide INTERPRETATION AND TRANSLATION SERVICES? What pre-existing connections (with families, businesses, etc.) can you take advantage of to access different AREAS OF EXPERTISE?
- 22. STANDARD 5: PARTNERSHIPS Our Ideas COMMUNICATE - Alert families and community members to your needs and ways they can help NETWORK – connect with other schools and districts to find out how others are addressing this standard TAKE ADVANTAGE of unique community resources – what local businesses and institutions could share expertise and provide stimulating experiences for AIG students?
- 23. Questions Feel freeto ask questions regarding the standards or ideas that we have discussed, or any standards that we have not covered.
- 24. Contact Information EmilyGoglin [email_address] Lauren Miller [email_address] Kristen Stephens [email_address]
Editor's Notes
- #3 Our project began when we saw the latest issue of “Rural Matters.” We were surprised by much of this data, as most people don’t typically consider NC very rural. In fact, statistics show…
- #4 After reviewing the data about NC’s ruralness, we did some research on rural gifted programming. In general, rural school systems face several basic challenges in serving their gifted population.
- #5 Our work is also motivated by the new AIG program standards, which, as many of you know, were released by the state in July 2009. The 6 standards address identification, curriculum and instruction, professional development, comprehensive programming, community partnerships, and accountability. For each standard, the state has indentified several practices, which outline, in detail, what districts need to consider and address when developing updated local AIG plans. I’m sure that you’re all aware that these plans are due this summer. We are interested in helping rural districts in NC respond to these standards and so we developed a survey to get more information about specific challenges that rural districts are facing, as they write new local plans.
- #6 The state has outlined a 5-step planning process that districts should follow as they write new local plans. Our first task was to uncover where most districts are in the planning process. Step 1: 100% Step 2: 91% Step 3: 89% Step 4: 77% Step 5: 54%
- #7 Our survey asked districts to identify the standards that they felt would present the most challenges. Standards 3 & 4 are clearly the most problematic for our rural respondents. Nearly 2/3rds of respondents from rural districts indicated that both of these standards, which address Comprehensive Programming and Professional Development, would be difficult to meet. Additionally, respondents felt they might have trouble addressing Standards 2 & 5, which focus on Differentiated Curriculum & Instruction and Community Partnerships. For the remainder of our time, we are going to focus on these 4 targeted standards. Based on our preliminary survey data, we will identify specific challenges and needs for each standard. We are also going to allow time for discussion in small groups so you can begin to brainstorm ideas and strategies. Our hope is that these discussions will kick-start more extensive conversation and collaboration focused on AIG programming in our state. We will also present a few ideas that we hope will address your challenges and needs.
- #8 So far, most people have chosen practice 2b, followed by 2e and 2h.
- #9 You mentioned that regular education and AIG teachers need resources they can use to enhance their instruction. Teachers also need time to collaborate and make collective plans for their AIG learners. Professional development about differentiation could help teachers in this process.
- #10 Turn to your group and take 5 minutes to discuss these questions. How can your districts tackle these challenges?
- #12 Standard 3 addresses personnel & professional development, a topic that is one of your most pressing concerns. More specifically, respondents have indicated so far that practices C and D are present the biggest challenges. Practice g is also an area of concern.
- #13 Respondents shared that funding is the biggest hurdle to providing and accessing high-quality professional development as well as supporting more AIG-certified teachers. Respondents felt that they need more professional development opportunities, for AIG teachers and general education teachers.
- #14 Turn to your group and take 5 minutes to discuss these questions. How can your districts tackle these challenges?
- #15 Webinars on Wednesdays: Topics include classroom strategies, critical issues/policy, and expert perspectives registration fee: $39 member/$59 nonmember per session - discounted rates for purchasing 3 or more at once – some webinars are free to NAGC members. Archived presentations are also available. www.nagc.org
- #16 Many of you expressed that standard 4 poses a significant challenge as you develop your local plans. Specifically, you chose these five practices pretty equally.
- #17 In general, you expressed that you simply need more AIG teachers to teach your students. You wish you had examples of intentional programming for underrepresented groups. You mentioned that secondary programming is particularly challenging. Several folks expressed that funding is needed for extra curricular programming, professional development, and training on social-emotional eneds.
- #18 Turn to your group and take 5 minutes to discuss these questions. How can your districts tackle these challenges?
- #20 Meeting Standard 5, which addresses family and community partnerships, is a challenge for about a quarter of rural survey respondents. Specifically, respondents are concerned about the best ways to get families and community members involved and then maintain these partnerships.
- #21 Respondents need ideas and examples from other districts on where to begin. Reaching out to non-English-speaking families through interpretation and translating services is an expressed need. Additionally, respondents need more information from parents & families about what resources and expertise they can offer.
- #22 Turn to your group and take 5 minutes to discuss these questions. How can your districts tackle these challenges?