Data Analysis Chapter on "Meeting the Needs of the Gifted and Talented in a Mainstream Classroom Setting"

Quoted Instructions for "Meeting the Needs of the Gifted and Talented in a Mainstream Classroom Setting" Assignment:

Please use the following Data results:

Qualitative Research Results

School A---- Total middle school population: 282 students 178 females 104 males

Teachers: 11 teachers: 3 Mathematics, 3 Science/Social Studies, 2 Language Arts Literacy, 3 Self-contained Bilingual (teach all subjects)

All teachers are highly qualified

Students: Gifted and talented population: 72 38 females and 34 males

There were three focus groups conducted: One in late September, Second in mid October , and Third in early November

There were also two walk-throughs conducted by the researcher: one in mid October and a second one in mid November

Focus Group Discussions:

Gifted and Talented: Staff defined gifted and talented as those students who demonstrated exceptional natural talent, intellect, and maturity

Subsidiary Questions:

1)As a school, are you required to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of the gifted and talented?

a.Yes, as a school teachers are required to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of the gifted and talented.

2)Have you ever been provided with professional development to meet the needs of the gifted and talented?

a.No. No teacher was ever offered professional development. The school/ administration never provided professional development during staff development days. Teachers are told to identify the gifted and talented and to engage them in higher learning, but staff members have never been in-serviced on teaching gifted and talented.

3)What is the district*****s policy on gifted and talented?

a.No staff member was able to respond to this question. No one knew that the district had a gifted and talented supervisor or even a program.

4)How do you identify a student as gifted and talented?

a.Using standardized testing results: NJASK*****those who scored Advanced Proficient; this is the only measure that teacher*****s use of identifying a student as gifted and talented

5)How do you develop an instructional plan that is challenging, enlightening, and intriguing to gifted and talented students?

a.Group students together and give them more challenging work

b.Assign work (ex: reading novels, open-ended questions, math problems, etc*****¦) that is above level

Focus Group results:

*****¢Teachers have no knowledge of a gifted and talented program in the district.

*****¢Teachers are very unclear how to identify a student as gifted and talented; their only means of measure is NJASK results.

*****¢No teacher has ever been provided with professional development to meet the needs of the gifted and talented

*****¢Teachers have been provided with professional development on differentiated instruction but it was mostly geared to meet the needs of the Special Needs

*****¢Teachers claim to differentiate instruction

*****¢Teachers believe that they do challenge the G&T by grouping them together and giving them more challenging work

*****¢Teachers also felt it is too much pressure to meet the needs of the special needs and the gifted and talented all in one lesson---they find it time consuming

Walk-through results:

After examining each class the following has been observed by the researcher:

*****¢There is no indication of gifted and talented in each class---students are seated heterogeneously ranging in academic ability

*****¢When working in groups, all students are given the same amount of work---gifted and talented are not given more challenging work----those that complete the work early often disrupt the class while the teacher is trying to assist others (probably because they are bored)

*****¢When working independently, teacher instruction is the same and is often watered down so everyone can understand----again same amount of work is given---no challenging work is provided

*****¢Teachers seem to focus more on the special needs even when the inclusion teacher is present

*****¢Teachers do not differentiate instruction: all students are given the same work on the same level*****work is often *****easy***** so the low achievers can feel successful

Research Question:

Does teacher instruction challenge the needs of the gifted and talented in a mainstream classroom?

No, teacher instruction does not challenge the needs of the gifted and talented in a mainstream setting