Goals for today: Social emotional support in Florida schools - PDF document

3/8/2016 March Gifted Coordinators Meeting Gifted Assessment Kathleen Casper, Gifted Education Specialist Bureau of Standards and Instructional Support March 8, 2016 Goals for today: • Social emotional support in Florida schools • Introducing guest speaker, Tiombe Kendrick-Dunn • Gifted assessment from the perspective of a school psychologist, by Tiombe Kendrick-Dunn Gifted students and gifted coordinator, Eileen Lerner from FSUS in Leon County, meeting with speaker/author Pieter Kohnstam, who grew up with Anne Frank and spoke at their school. 1

3/8/2016 Examples of amazing social emotional support in Florida schools Escambia Sarasota Sarasota 2

3/8/2016 Escambia Santa Rosa Pasco Marion Brevard Miami-Dade Broward 3

3/8/2016 Monroe St. Johns Palm Beach Seminole Introducing guest speaker Tiombe Kendrick-Dunn Tiombe Kendrick-Dunn, SSP, NCSP, is a nationally certified school psychologist and is licensed to practice school psychology in the state of Florida. She has been employed with the Miami-Dade County Public School District as a school psychologist since 2005. She is also a clinical supervisor for Barry University’s School Psychology Program. Ms. Kendrick-Dunn is the past president of Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG) and is active with many gifted organizations and parent groups. She has a very strong passion for addressing the needs of gifted students from culturally and linguistically diverse populations. In 2006, Ms. Kendrick-Dunn was a member of Miami-Dade Public Schools Gifted Task Force Committee and was also awarded the Mary Frasier Scholarship sponsored by the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC). In 2007, she was both appointed to the NAGC Diversity/Equity Committee and was awarded a grant by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Children Fund Inc. to establish a resource center specifically designed for gifted students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Ms. Kendrick-Dunn completed her undergraduate work at Miami Dade College and Florida State University and her graduate work at Barry University. Ms. Kendrick-Dunn has presented at numerous professional conventions on the topic of gifted children. 4

3/8/2016 Gifted Assessment From the Perspective of a School Psychologist Tiombe Bisa Kendrick-Dunn, SSP, NCSP Florida Department of Education Webinar March 8, 2016 S Objectives S Increase awareness of the various needs of gifted children and how to provide comprehensive assessments to assist with determining these needs S Increase awareness of the various methods utilized by psychologists to assess gifted children S Examine challenges psychologists may face when assessing gifted children from diverse backgrounds 5

3/8/2016 Gifted Students are Underserved S Societal anti-intellectualism S Giftedness is a complex construct S Lack of awareness and understanding of giftedness in children and youth S Lack of appropriate training of mental health care providers S Lack of training pertaining to the assessment of the gifted MYSTERY?????????? S Many parents and educators seek assistance for “complex children” and often make the following statements……….. S “Not working to their potential” S “Bored in school” S “Sensitive”, “Meltdown” S The school says one thing but my clinical judgment says another 6

3/8/2016 Ongoing Concerns S Addressing the academic and social-emotional needs of gifted students is an area of concern for many researchers, educators, parents, and select mental health practitioners S Psychological evaluations are often requested by parents and educators to assist with future academic planning of potentially gifted students, but often lack assessment of their social and emotional development and subsequent needs (including needs of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds) Ongoing Concerns S Clinical psychologists often work in private clinical settings while school psychologists often work in educational settings S Although many gifted children are formally assessed by school and clinical psychologists, a vast number of these professionals fail to conduct comprehensive evaluations of gifted children, often only taking a measure of intellectual ability (IQ test) 7

3/8/2016 Concerning Research S Robertson, S, Pfeiffer S, and Taylor, N (2011) determined the following: S 66% of school psychologists never or rarely evaluated gifted students S 46% of school psychologists never or rarely consulted with classroom teachers about the needs of gifted students 95% of school psychologists received little or no training in S screening/assessment for giftedness in graduate school Concerning Research S More than 6% of the student population in the USA were classified as gifted S 3.6% to 4.9% of the student population is classified as SLD S Students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds continue to be underserved and underrepresented in gifted programs on a national level 8

3/8/2016 The Gifted: Historically Low Priority  1972 Marland Report . Poor and minorities underserved  1983 A Nation at Risk – no systemic change  1993 National Excellence  A Nation Deceived volumes 1 and 2 -- The gifted have mastered 35-50% of curriculum at start of school year. – Only 2 cents of every $100 spent on K-12 education support the gifted. The Gifted: Historically Low Priority  No Child Left Behind 2001 -- All students achieve at minimum standards. States free to choose standardized tests- Teachers “teach to the test” to avoid punitive measures – No incentives for high achieving students to excel 9

3/8/2016 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) 2015 S The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the name of the 2015 legislation that revised and reauthorized the federal K- 12 education law known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). Prior to passage of ESSA, the law was referred to by the moniker No Child Left Behind. S For the first time, Gifted and Talented students are addressed and states are required to report data and perform particular tasks related to Gifted and Talented Students Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) S ESSA/ESEA is the source of most federal K-12 education initiatives, such as Title I schools accountability for student achievement, programs for English language learners, math- science partnerships, and Title II professional development. S Approximately $21 billion in federal funds under ESEA is distributed to the states and school districts each year through complex formulas based on student population and poverty and through individual grant programs. 10

3/8/2016 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) 2015 States must include student When applying for Title II funds, S S achievement data at each states must know show how they achievement level that is plan to improve skills of teachers & disaggregated by student subgroup school leaders in identifying gifted (e.g., low-income, race, English students and meeting their learners, gender, and students with instructional needs disabilities) including achievement at advanced levels S Districts that receive Title II professional development funds must Districts (“local education agencies” S use the money to address the in ESSA) must collect, disaggregate, learning needs of all students. ESSA and report their student achievement specifically says that “all students data at each achievement level, as the includes gifted and talented students. states are required to do. Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) 2015 S The Javits program, which has been operating since 1988, was retained in ESSA. The program focuses grant funds on identifying and serving students who are traditionally underrepresented in gifted and talented programs, particularly minority, economically disadvantaged, English language learners, and children with disabilities in order to help reduce gaps in achievement and to encourage the establishment of equal educational opportunities for all students. In addition, the Javits program funds a national research center on gifted education and when funding permits, also funds grants to states to improve the ability of elementary and secondary schools to meet the special educational needs of gifted and talented students. As with other grant programs, Congress must provide funding for the Javits program each year. 11

3/8/2016 Hallmark Characteristics S Asynchrony S High Intellectual Ability S Intensity Intellectual Characteristics of Gifted People Exceptional reasoning ability S Intellectual curiosity S S Rapid learning rate Facility with abstraction S complex thought processes S Vivid imagination S S Early moral concern Passion for learning S 12

3/8/2016 Personality Characteristics of Gifted People Insightfulness S S Need to understand Need for mental stimulation S Perfectionism S S Need for precision and/or logic Excellent sense of humor S Sensitivity/empathy S Intensity Intensity  Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration and Over Excitabilities  The higher the intellectual ability, the more unique traits are likely to influence behaviors  Gifted children perceive, think, feel and learn differently 13