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Recently learned that our neighborhood school has a Comprehensive Gifted Program, in which the children are identified as gifted through their school performance. They do not have to take a test. Has anyone here had experience with one of these programs? Gives me some relief that the SEES are not the end-all be-all in case kiddo is having a bad day when it’s time for the test.
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That name ” gifted” is overused and usually used wrongly its more so a marketing tool. Most of the children in those programs are very bright but a large pct are NOT what is to really be called “gifted” . It would be interesting on how and what criteria they used to make that determination.
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Agree, it’s not a formal program, but I think it is a way of offering some differentiated instruction in a neighborhood school. I think it’s worth asking about and exploring though – finding out what the curriculum entails and if they have separate stats on the outcomes, teacher retention, etc…
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Agreed. What does it matter anyway. Most schools offer similar instructions. One of my children has completed this process while the other one is on the way. One of them in classical school and the other in a magnum/neighborhood school. There is very little difference I can tell from the programs except the classic school teaches Latin, which doesn’t appear to be very useful.
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It is a formal program that CPS uses within some high-performing neighborhood schools to differentiate learning a half year to one year in advance for students identified as “gifted”. SEES/SEHS is not the end-all-be-all of gifted education in Chicago. Let’s give CPS some credit as they are the experts in the field of education and they see the need for differentiated learning for students and parents who can’t do the extra commute. Depending on the school’s program, it can start anywhere from K-3rd grade. The kids are identified by the use of certain tests like the Chicago Abilities Test (CAT), NWEA Reading and Mathematics, iReady, and/or even teacher recommendations. Some neighborhood schools may offer this program but not label it as such because of the negative consequences of isolation for those gifted and not as gifted. The point being is that parents need to get involved in their neighborhood schools and stop the hunger games of SEES/SEHS.
Comprehensive Gifted Program teachers will provide daily enrichment activities that differ in pacing and depth from a regular classroom. A curriculum framework for gifted learners, developed by SEES with Dr. Joyce Van Tassel-Baska, was provided to all SEES schools for program support. The curriculum and instruction of CPS gifted programs is outlined in two blueprints. The curriculum blueprint outlines the differentiated curriculum through rates of learning, depth of content, complexity of thinking processes, and difficulty of products. The instructional blueprint outlines the instructional model of Differentiation. Provisions made in content, process, product to ensure acceleration is included, as well as the description of the learning environment through community.
Instructional strategies that are to be evident in gifted classrooms is real-world problem-solving with real-world application, creativity and innovation, critical thinking through the lens of Richard Paul’s Reasoning web, empathetic views on global awareness, and the study of human value systems in ethical reasoning and ethical drifts.
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Wow, thanks for this. The information you have outlined on curriculum is really helpful to me as a SEES parent. I’ve tried to find this on the main CPS site but could not find it outlined. In the event you have any relevant links, would welcome them!
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I’m going to assume it follows this book. You can find cheaper versions on eBay.
https://www.pearson.com/en-us/subject-catalog/p/comprehensive-curriculum-for-gifted-learners/P200000001986/9780205388653Look Parents…Some CPS administrator didn’t just create the SEES/SEHS programs, throw their hands up, and say “To hell with the rest of them”. And shouldn’t the goal just be to differentiate learning for all students anyway?
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