Gifted Education Curriculum Objectives and Goals

PV Schools gifted education curriculum complies with District curriculum guides and with state standards mandated by the Arizona State Board of Education. Gifted Education Services staff use the following guidelines for instruction of gifted students.

Academic Objectives Targeted in the Gifted Programs:

• Promote critical thinking and reasoning abilities
• Develop and expand thinking skills
• Utilize differentiated strategies for learning
• Build / extend cognitive language skills
• Facilitate opportunities for learning

Mathematics

Gifted students require a mathematics curriculum that not only challenges their current abilities but also pushes them into new realms of understanding. This type of differentiation is best provided through an acceleration model that allows students to demonstrate mastery of grade level standards and move through the curriculum receiving instruction at their challenge levels.

Through the Content Replacement / enrichment model provided at each elementary school, gifted students in Grades 4-6 are provided the opportunity to engage with challenging curriculum that is one or more years beyond their current grade, as needed.

Students in Grades K-4 are provided this challenge through the Schoolwide Cluster Grouping Model.  This setting allows the gifted cluster teachers to pretest mastery of grade level mathematics standards and instruct students at the level appropriate to their learning needs.

Language Arts

Language is not just the expression; it is the essence of understanding.

The Gifted Literature curriculum consists of four key components:

1. Literary comprehension and analysis studied through the lens of literary elements and devices
2. Strong, advanced vocabulary development through the study of Latin and Greek stems
3. Grammar study to enhance the understanding of language in written context
4. Study of Poetics

These four components allow gifted students to extend their understanding of language beyond the literal and inferential into the realm of evaluative analysis. Students in grades 4-6 are given the opportunity to expand and enhance their understanding through either a content replacement or content enrichment. Students in grades K-4 are presented with challenging vocabulary and text through the Schoolwide Cluster Grouping Model.

Gifted Education curriculum objectives:

• Creative and Productive Thinking
  Students will study techniques that help in the search for innovative solutions. They will develop unique and refined conceptualized ideas.

• Problem Solving
  Students will learn strategies for rational decision making and apply them to problems and issues in today’s world.

• Thinking Skills
  Students will make connections between present knowledge and new information derived from varied materials, media, and environments. They will identify premises, analyze relationships, and validate conclusions.

• Communication
  Students will use communication to construct knowledge through a variety

• Research
  Students will make effective decisions about the identification, implementation, and presentation of ideas.

• Personal Development
  Students will recognize their strengths, needs, and individuality, and develop skills to achieve their potential while making meaningful contributions to society.

Gifted students receive instruction that is differentiated in content, process, product, learning environment and assessment.

Areas of Differentiated Instruction include:

• Content — Complex, abstract ideas presented in a variety of disciplines, including interdisciplinary curriculum
• Process — Higher-level thinking through Bloomís Taxonomy and the Multiple Intelligences
• Products — Alternative methods of demonstrating mastery with a range of complexity
• Learning Environment — Student-centered, flexible grouping based on readiness, interests and abilities
• Assessments — Pre-assessment and testing out-of-grade level curriculum