Common Core- Not Enough for the Gifted

The National Association for Gifted Children has stated that the Common Core standards are not enough for gifted students.
In other words~ the Common Core provides students with the basic skills and thought process to be ready for college and the workplace~ but the standards were not specifically designed to challenge and provide differentiation for gifted children. I wholeheartedly agree.

Common Core should be a starting point for teachers working with gifted kidsnot the end all. We still must do something different with these students to meet their needs.

The question then becomes~ what do we do?

It all comes back to best practices in gifted education. Regardless of the standards and content~ there are certain approaches~ based on years of research~ which work best. Its pretty much common sense: we must do something different~ so lets use the things we know work best.

I thought the best way to illustrate this would be to take a Common Core strand~ then put the gifted best practice strategies to work.
Lets look at English Language Arts. Literacy. W.3.7.~ 4.7~ 5.7. Conduct short research projects (that use several resources) to build knowledge about a topic. How do you differentiate for a gifted child when teaching this skill?

First~ we could add depth and complexity by making the project longer in duration and scope. Where do we find the time? Perhaps we could use assessments to determine if a student was already proficient in certain language arts standards (best practice) and use the time gained to allow the students to dive deeper into the topic.

Next~ we could provide more rigor but requiring the students to seek out additional resources. Why not have the student conduct an actual interview with an expert on the topic~ thus addressing Common Core speaking and listening standards as well.

Third~ using Dr. Joseph Renzullis Schoolwide Enrichment Model~ allow students to choose their own method of expressing what they have learned from their project. In other words~ dont just require them to write a research paper~ but instead~ allow them to choose a product that they would enjoy creating based on their individual strengths.

Furthermore~ the student could be required to present the project to an authentic audience~ which could give him feedback and a purpose for researching the topic in the first place.

In line with the NAGC advocates~ the projects should go across content areas and subjects~ allow students to research topics that relate to their learning strengths. During reading and writing instruction~ a student might study bridge designs or researching cells~ for example.

When it comes to teaching the Common Core~ we make adjustments for students based on their ability; much emphasis has been placed on differentiating instruction for students in the lower quartile~ and for good reason. However~ we must make those same adjustments for gifted and high-performing students~ not matter what standards we are asked to teach. It all comes down to using what works best with gifted children~ which stems from effectively educating teachers about working with the giftedthe topic of my next blog.

Wishing you success~
Steve