Gifted Program Description
McDuffie County School District’s Gifted Services Description
The McDuffie County School District recognizes the need to provide developmentally appropriate and challenging educational services for gifted K-12 students who have potential for exceptional achievement and is committed to meeting the special needs of these students by providing a variety of service options and educational opportunities. Gifted students exist within each ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic group and require differentiated instruction to achieve at levels that are commensurate with their advanced abilities.
Questioning the universe, examining and synthesizing tangents (QUEST), the academic instructional service agent for identified gifted students, provides, enhances, and extends the regular educational curriculum. McDuffie students may access gifted referral procedures without discrimination with regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, disabilities, or economic background. McDuffie students must qualify within Georgia State Department of Education guidelines for gifted service eligibility and placement using assessment tools that meet the state’s standards of validity and reliability.
Questioning the universe, examining and synthesizing tangents (QUEST), the academic instructional service agent for identified gifted students, provides, enhances, and extends the regular educational curriculum. McDuffie students may access gifted referral procedures without discrimination with regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, disabilities, or economic background. McDuffie students must qualify within Georgia State Department of Education guidelines for gifted service eligibility and placement using assessment tools that meet the state’s standards of validity and reliability.
Instructional Goals
The aim of QUEST is to assist eligible gifted students in reaching their potential through a challenging curriculum and differentiated instruction based on elaborate, complex, and in-depth studies of major themes, ideas, and problems. The instructional goals of QUEST are as follows:
- To meet individual needs of gifted students
- To enhance curricula and provide educational learning experiences that meet the needs of gifted learners
- To nurture critical and creative thinking and problem solving opportunities
- To encourage citizenship and leadership development
- To provide students with self-directed learning opportunities
- To provide students with learning experiences that involve planning, interpreting, finding, evaluating, and using information and technology
- To foster student communication of information, ideas, and solutions clearly and accurately.
McDuffie County Schools use a variety of search methods to identify potential students who demonstrate need for gifted services as defined by state rules and regulations. A student may be automatically recommended by existing test scores or recommend himself or herself or be recommended by parents, peers, teachers, counselors, or administrators for referral to the gifted education program.
Gifted Services and Instructional Delivery Models
Gifted students are provided differentiated instruction to meet educational, social, and emotional needs. The aim is to help these students extend their learning, develop individual potential, enhance their self-concept, and become independent life-long learners. Identified students who are admitted for gifted services are served for a minimum of five instructional segments per week by teachers who are certified or endorsed in gifted education and/or in specific content area for Advanced Placement classes. Once parental permission is given, a student is expected to be present for gifted services.
Elementary (K-5):
At the elementary level, curriculum is enhanced and extended by a gifted specialist in each of the district’s four elementary schools through resource, cluster, and/or collaboration. Specialists follow a curriculum that focuses on creativity, problem solving, vocabulary, communication, and technology, and students participate in local competitions and field trips to further support their learning experiences. Materials and equipment are selected to meet sequential and developmental needs of elementary gifted students. Specific descriptions of instructional delivery models for gifted services are as follows:
At the elementary level, curriculum is enhanced and extended by a gifted specialist in each of the district’s four elementary schools through resource, cluster, and/or collaboration. Specialists follow a curriculum that focuses on creativity, problem solving, vocabulary, communication, and technology, and students participate in local competitions and field trips to further support their learning experiences. Materials and equipment are selected to meet sequential and developmental needs of elementary gifted students. Specific descriptions of instructional delivery models for gifted services are as follows:
- Resource Model: (All elementary schools: Maxwell, Thomson, Norris, and Dearing)
A gifted certified specialist serves elementary students during one or more days each week for a total of 4.5-5 contact hours or at least 270 minutes in grades K-3, and at least 300 minutes in grades 4-5. The five year rotating and spiraling elementary gifted curriculum is based on interdisciplinary thematic units that focus primarily on science and social studies topics, while integrating language arts, foreign language, fine arts, and technology. In addition, creativity and problem solving are systematically taught and addressed within this curriculum. QUEST teachers enrich and accelerate the Georgia Standards of Excellence through this framework and evaluate gifted students on a trimester schedule.
- Cluster Grouping:(All elementary schools)
In most cases, elementary gifted students are clustered into regular education classrooms with a gifted certified or endorsed teacher in which no more than ½ of the students in the class are gifted. Each gifted student receives one, forty minute segment, five days a week from the teacher who is responsible for providing differentiated instruction.
- Collaboration:(All elementary schools)
Most elementary gifted students receive no more than two segments of documented modifications. This is evident by differentiated lesson plans, planning time log between gifted specialist and classroom teacher, and individual student contracts. Each gifted specialist will contract with no more than eight gifted students. In addition, gifted students use technology to further enhance classroom activities and experiences.
Middle School (6-8):
At the middle level, gifted students receive accelerated instruction and services in advanced content and cluster with particular consideration to student’s individual interests.
- Advanced Content/Cluster: (Thomson-McDuffie Middle School)
Middle school gifted students are placed on a team with academic instructors who are gifted-endorsed and teaching in content areas and, in some cases, in connections classes, in which they are highly qualified. These instructors differentiate instruction and curriculum to meet the needs of gifted students.
- Cluster Grouping: (Thomson-McDuffie Middle School)
Middle school gifted students are grouped onto one teaching team with gifted endorsed teachers in the areas of language arts, science, social studies, and math. Eighth grade gifted students are grouped with gifted endorsed teachers onto one teaching team of advanced classes in language arts, math, social studies, and science.
- Enrichment Classes: (Thomson-McDuffie Middle School)
Middle school gifted students are offered gifted resource classes as requested by students and as special needs warrant. The gifted resource class is taught by a gifted endorsed teacher who utilizes differentiated instruction to extend, refine, and investigate in detail curriculum-based topics of interests which were predetermined by student interest.
High School (9-12):
At the secondary level, Advanced Placement, honors courses, gifted resource classes, and dual enrollment provide accelerated learning experiences for gifted students.
At the secondary level, Advanced Placement, honors courses, gifted resource classes, and dual enrollment provide accelerated learning experiences for gifted students.
- Gifted Honors Courses: (Thomson High School)
Gifted Honors English courses are offered to all eligible students. It is expected that, at a minimum, gifted students take Gifted Honors English in order to maintain eligibility for gifted services at Thomson High. Gifted English classes are taught with differentiated instructional techniques documented in teacher lesson plans, which are designed in collaboration with a gifted-endorsed teacher, who will plan with student and teacher. Periodically, student contracts are substituted for other class assignments and are incorporated into the course grade.
- Gifted Resource Class: (Thomson High School)
High school students are offered gifted resource classes as requested by students and as special needs warrant. The gifted resource class is taught by a gifted-endorsed teacher who utilizes differentiated instruction to extend, refine, and investigate in detail curriculum-based topics of interests which were predetermined by a student interest inventory. A separate grade and one unit are awarded for this course.
- Advanced Placement Courses: (Thomson High School)
As required by the College Board, access to AP courses is provided to all students and strongly encouraged for gifted students. Gifted students in AP receive differentiated instruction by a qualified AP instructor who has also completed required training and holds gifted endorsement. Students’ semester averages are weighted at 1.05 times the recorded grade to reflect the equivalent of a collegiate curriculum.
- Dual Enrollment: (Thomson High School)
Gifted students may enroll in the dual enrollment program with post-secondary institutions. Course grades for dual enrollment are weighted at 1.05 times the recorded grade to reflect the collegiate expectations. Credit is awarded at both the secondary and post-secondary levels.
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