More Advanced Instruction for Gifted Students Goal of New Program

Plainfield gifted elementary students will be offered more advanced instructional time next school year in a new initiative that is designed to save money.

Previously, gifted third- and fourth-grade students received nearly three hours a week for both accelerated language arts and math, and fifth-grade students received 60 minutes of advanced math per day and 90 minutes of advanced language arts per week.

In the new program, starting in the fall, most third- through fifth-grade gifted students will receive 60 minutes a day in advanced math and nearly three hours per day in advanced language arts.

The new program can vary from school to school, said Joan Woolwine, the district’s director of elementary curriculum and instruction. Each building principal can use his or her discretion to best implement the new gifted teaching within each of the 17 elementary schools, Woolwine said.

Some students may change classrooms for a portion of the day to receive the advanced instruction, she said.

While building principals will tailor the implementation of the program to their students’ needs, all students who qualify for gifted teaching will receive the same accelerated curriculum, resources and assessments.

Those students, who can qualify for either advanced language arts or advanced math or who qualify for both subjects, will work at an accelerated pace and learn critical thinking, problem solving, communication and independent study skills.

The students are identified as gifted through test scores and teacher recommendations and can work a grade level higher than what is expected of them, Woolwine said.

The accelerated model for math was piloted this past school year at Charles Reed, Eagle Pointe and Lincoln Elementary schools, and Woolwine said parents reacted positively to the program.

“Not one parent complained,” she said. “It went very well.”

The new gifted initiatives were necessary this year as a way to reduce costs. The position of differentiation specialist was reduced this year and eliminated next year in a cost-cutting measure. The school board in February eliminated 15 differentiation specialists at a cost savings of about $1 million.

The positions were cut knowing the district was in the process of transitioning to the new accelerated curriculum model, and regular classroom teachers would receive additional training to provide the same services to gifted students. The district and the Professional Development Alliance have provided 45 hours of specialized training to help teach and inspire gifted students, Woolwine said.

Likewise, budget cuts have forced a change to the Reading Recovery program, which helped struggling first-grade readers on a one-on-one basis. In February, the school board cut 12 Reading Recovery specialists to save about $805,000.

A new program will be implemented in the fall that is similar to the Reading Recovery.

Regular classroom teachers and reading specialists will provide those first-graders needing extra help with 30 minutes of literacy intervention each day in groups of two to five students.

Reading specialists and first-grade, special education and bilingual teachers received 12 hours of training this spring to start the new reading program.