Curriculum Department
SAISD
Quarterly Report
Department/Area: Gifted & Talented Quarter: S D M J
Prepared By: Debby Grayson Budget Source: General Fund
OVERVIEW:
I.This program was set forth by the Texas State Plan for the Education of Gifted and Talented Students (Section 29.123 of the Texas Education Code, adopted by the SBOE in 1996 and revised in 2000).
II.It provides for the identification, direction of existing services, and research in programming options for gifted/talented students. There are five programs areas: student assessment, program design, curriculum and instruction, professional development and family and community involvement.
III.After identification, the program provides for a wide range of service delivery options including classroom enrichment, mentors, resource programs, independent study programs, special classes (SAGE and MEP) and a magnet program (SAND) for grades one through four. This allows the district to accelerate, pace or modify courses and schedules whereby students learn at a pace and level appropriate to their individual skills and abilities.
Goals with Benchmarks:
I.Continue providing staff development opportunities for teachers needing the required 30 hours and 6 hr. updates
II.Identify kindergarten students for the program and notify schools and parents of results
III.Send copies of screening profiles to home campuses to be placed in permanent files by campus staff
IV.Obtain recommendations and prepare staff for next year’s program
V.Notify parents of proposed program options and obtain pertinent information for next year scheduling of services.
VI.Submit Long Range Plan for Gifted Program
VII.Complete and place copies of Gifted and Talented Handbook at each campus
VIII.Prepare for upcoming DEC visit
Accomplishments/Progress for Present Quarter
I.Implement revised screening profile- in place for second semester ( DEC GT 2,3,4)
II.Sent group of educators to TAGT state conference for staff development- December 6-7, 2001, in San Antonio. Eleven teachers attended under the National and State Conference rotation allocation as listed in the second quarterly report. The following administrators also attended the special administrative session on Dec. 7, using administrative travel allocations- Marty Jonas, Secondary Education; Judy Knight, Elementary Education; and Tennie White, Title I and Bilingual/ESL. This will enhance inter-program coordination as seen in some of the program recommendations for next year. (DEC GT 16,17,18)
III.Two teams organized for the Destination Imagination program competed in the February regional competition in Fort Worth--This is part of a grant that was received by San Jacinto from the Texas Creative Problem Solving Organization. (They selected 10 economically disadvantaged schools from throughout the state and will pay up to $4,620 per district to develop and send one or
more teams to the competition. They allowed Rio Vista to enter as a second team under this grant.) Both teams competed in a different category so as not to compete with each other. The San Jacinto team took 6th place and received the DaVinci Award for originality of story and creativity of costuming. There was only one of these awards given among the 120 schools competing at this competition. This is quite an accomplishment for a team created on short notice and with no prior exposure. All participants will be eligible to attend a summer workshop in Fort Worth under this grant. (See list of participants attached) (DEC GT 13,14).
IV.Continued review and processing of referral packets sent from campuses -screening committee will meet the first week in April to review and make recommendations on referrals completed the second semester. ( DEC-GT 2,3,4)
V.Courses coded G/T, AP or G/T- AP in the Educational Planning Guide were discussed in District Curriculum Committee and updated information was included in the new course catalogue (Comptroller’s recommendation #16, p.94)
VI.Staff continues processing incoming folders by grade level and program status.
VII.Supervisor has met with SAGES Parent Advisory Board consisting of Jackie Martin, Val Frank, Judy Herring, Sandy Seifert, Susan Kinney, and Jean Polhemus on 2/25/02. She has also met with numerous parents, teachers and various board members to discuss program status.
VIII.The SAGES parents requested continuance of the magnet program and petitioning for such.
IX.Staff continues to update program/status in the PEIMS database for all students as they are screened or status changes.
X.We are currently serving 224 students in the elementary magnet program, approximately 130 in the SAGE pull-out with the remaining in regular classroom settings, behavior units, Bilingual/ESL or other special programs. There are @ 345 at the junior high level and @ 286 at the high school level for a total of 1046 as of the 10/26/01 PEIMS report. A number of the elementary children also attend the Math Enrichment Program that is held as part of the extended day programs on Tuesday afternoon. We are currently serving about 6.7% of the school population as stated in the last report.
XI.A new screening instrument is in place for second semester. This follows the recommended guidelines set forth by the state. (DEC GT 7) A copy was attached the second quarter for your information. This was used by the SAND screening committee for the required Kindergarten Identification that is currently in progress. Completed packets were reviewed on February 21, and the initial screening results will be entered by March 1st. The committee will then select, from students receiving additional screening measures, approximately the top 5% of the population most in need of a differentiated curriculum. These students will be identified for the program and begin receiving services in the regular classroom for the remainder of the year. It is required by Texas law that a group be identified no later than March 1 of each year.
XII.Region XV has been providing staff development for the required 30 hrs. SAISD has signed a $10,000 per year contract with the Region XV ESC to provide the state mandated staff development for the required 30 hr. Program and the 6 hr. Yearly Update to keep the SAISD staff in compliance. An additional 18 hours of staff development are on the calendar for March and April.(DEC GT 7)