The Tomahawk School District recognizes that high potential students have unique educational needs which require specific attention. Students with high-performance capabilities are provided with opportunities to develop their talents. The Tomahawk School district, along with districts across the state of WI and nation are implementing RtI as it pertains to gifted education programming. Statute 121.02(1)(t) states “Each school board shall provide access to an appropriate program for students identified as gifted and talented.” Statute 118.35 and Rule 8.01(2)(t)2 describe the five areas of giftedness (general intellectual, specific academic, leadership, creativity, and visual/ performing arts) and the need to use multiple measures and culturally- responsive practices in identification and programming for gifted students.
According a WASCD publication entitled Challenging Excellence Gaps Through Personalized Learning: Meeting Needs, Assessing Growth, efforts nationally to meet the needs of gifted and talented students have been shifting from pull- out or self- contained “programs” for identified students to broader attempts to identify the needs of students and provide for them in the regular classroom when possible. The emphasis is on identifying needs (what does this student need in order to meet their potential?) rather than identifying students (is this student gifted or not?). Differentiation of instruction is an important component of this effort, and gifted education fits into the RtI framework. The Wisconsin RtI Center has developed a research-supported database of “additional challenges,” practices and materials in math and language arts for advanced learners.
In Tomahawk, we are developing whole grade programming and some individual class structures that allow for personalized learning as another method of meeting students needs with more targeted and sometimes self-selected differentiation. We have math and reading specialists as well as teacher teams looking at data and discussing student programming on a regular basis across all levels. Through continued planning and professional development, we will continue to strive to meet students needs through continual analysis of programming, enrichment opportunities, and flexible grouping as options for our students who have demonstrated their needs across multiple measures. We also believe with the implementation of Academic & Career Planning (ACP) students will be better informed of their talents, interests, and future goals much earlier than in the past which will also contribute to better overall student planning.
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