EXPO SPECIALIST MANUAL
Start-Up Procedures
Verifying Student List
  • In August
  • Check class rosters from the previous school year to make sure all returning students are on the current rosters.
  • Check furlough paperwork on your campus to see who needs to be reinstated.
  • MS - Check the list of 6th grade EXPO students enrolling in your school and make sure they are included on your class enrollment.
  • Check all 6th grade cum folders for yellow folders. If the student is marked EXPO and was served last year in Denton ISD, they are still in the program.
  • Check returning students’ folders (students who left Denton ISD). These students should be automatically reinstated in EXPO.

Requests Received for G/T Records

  • If you receive calls, faxes, and/or written requests for G/T information or records for students who were previously in EXPO at your school and who have transferred to another district, please send a copy of page one of the identification profile (please make sure it is completed accurately and thoroughly) or at the middle school level, please refer them to your registrar.

Informing Campus of EXPO Procedures

Teachers (on home campus in August via staff meeting or individual groups)

  • Introduce the referral and identification process.
  • Introduce important dates for referrals.
  • Discuss characteristics of GT students – a power point will be provided for your use. It is important for all campuses to use the same presentation to ensure every campus hears the same information. All campuses should be informed of the procedures throughout the district, not just at their campus.
  • Submit EXPO referral dates and information to campus newsletter, PTA newsletter, daily announcements, campus TV screen, and/or webpage.

Organizing Parent Informational Meeting

  • Schedule a parent informational meeting preferably just before an open house/back to school night (arrange with campus principal).
  • Parent meeting slide show (which will be provided for you) may be utilized to explain the referral process, GT characteristics, and the Denton ISD EXPO Program. Please add specific information to your campus such as curriculum, scheduling, etc.

Planning Curriculum

  • Determine classroom procedures and plan to practice those procedures the first time you meet with the students. These procedures will facilitate transitions and allow you more instruction time with the students. Examples are:
  • Entering procedures (pick-up procedures – if appropriate)
  • Work procedures (discussing ideas with peers, appropriate documentation, etc.)
  • Class discussion rules
  • Brainstorming rules
  • Getting attention procedures (both of the teacher and peers)
  • Clean-up and exiting procedures
  • Hallway procedures
  • (Middle School) Plan generic activities for the first weeks of school due to the adding and deleting of students to your classes.
  • Use the GT Scope and Sequence to determine skills to be taught for each grade level. (Middle School)-Refer to the Language Arts Curriculum or Language Arts Campus Department Head to ensure the required novels are read for each grade level.
  • Please refer to the EXPO Curriculum Units, K-8 for what units to teach.
  • New teachers should coordinate with their mentor teachers or other EXPO teachers for assistance as needed.

Verifying PEIMS List/Yellow Folders

  • PEIMS
  • Go through all cumulative folders to verify PEIMS list, update documentation, and maintain organization of EXPO folders. See PEIMS section of the manual.

Yellow Folders

oIf there is a red dot on the yellow folder, that child should be in EXPO or have documentation to explain why they are no longer in the program (i.e. furlough or exit papers.)

oIf there is a student who should be served in EXPO that isn’t currently being served, address the need immediately. Paperwork may need to be updated or a schedule change may need to be made by the counselor (middle school).

oStudents who were placed in EXPO previously that leave the district and return should still be served by the EXPO program. Evidence of this prior placement should be found in the student’s cumulative folder.

G/T Transfers

(students who were in G/T in another district)

Retesting Procedures for Transfers
  • Verify that the student was actually served in a G/T program in their previous school (and not just a talent pool, enrichment program, or advanced classes).
  • Parent should complete a GT Transfer Student form when they register. This form gives us permission to request records, assess the child, and if qualified, to serve the child.
  • Please call the previous school to verify that the student was identified for their GT program.
  • Request a copy of their Identification Profile be sent or faxed to you, but if it is taking too long to receive it, go ahead with the testing anyway.
  • The child must be assessed and placed within 6 weeks of enrollment.
  • If test scores are available from the previous school, determine their compatibility with the tests used by the EXPO program by using the following criteria:
  • Use achievement and ability test scores from the previous district if:
  • The achievement and ability tests are nationally normed standardized tests, and
  • The achievement and ability tests were given within the last year.
  • If the scores from the previous district are not usable, you will give the entire battery of EXPO testing.
  • Transfer students must qualify with the same testing guidelines and scores as anyone else with the exception of the teacher checklist.
  • Retesting required if:
  • Previous school’s testing is not compatible with D.I.S.D’s
  • Compatible scores are older than 1 year
  • Results are presented at your next scheduled EXPO Screening Committee as long as that will satisfy the 6-week time requirement.
  • See “Assessment Guidelines” for more information.

Processing Yellow Folders for Transfers

Yellow folders

oStudent’s name on tab

  • Draw red dot on tab, if student placed
  • Student not placed, no dot
  • Inside the yellow folder, papers secured in bradsin this order:
  • Profile- remember to complete back of profile
  • Any Letter of Advocacy
  • Permission to serve (if applicable)
  • Permission to test transfer students
  • Cumulative folders
  • All yellow folders are filed in the student’s cumulative folder. If the student is placed into EXPO, mark the outside back of the folder under “Special Programs” with the date, EXPO G/T, and your name.

Completing Transfer Referral Log

Complete student information on referral log

  • Send a copy to the EXPO secretary, preferably by email, and file the original in your files for transfer students so that PEIMS can be updated.

REFERRALS

Providing Referral Period Information

  • Submit a brief notice about EXPO referrals, including dates, to the person responsible for your campus newsletter, PTA newsletter, daily announcements, and webpage.
  • Place referral forms in each team leader’s box and/or make forms available at a central location, such as the receptionist’s desk where they are accessible to everyone. EXPO teacher should keep one form to use for additional copies.
  • See Assessment Guidelines and the EXPO Calendar for more detailed information.

Setting Up Yellow Folders

  • As referral forms are received, EXPO teacher will check the cumulative folders to see if that student has previously been tested.
  • If yellow folder is found, check last date of testing. Students may test only one time during a calendar year.
  • If no yellow folder is found, one would need to be created for the referred student.
  • Each yellow folder should contain the following documents, all secured in brads:
  • On left side of opened folder
  • EXPO checklist
  • On right side of opened folder (in order from top to bottom)
  • Any appeals paperwork (if applicable)
  • Furlough/Exit form(if applicable)
  • Profile
  • Permission to serve (if applicable)
  • Permission to test
  • Referral Form

Campus GT Screening Committee

Selecting and Training Committee Members

  • Campus administrator, counselor, classroom teacher and EXPO Specialist, all trained in the Nature and Needs of Gifted Children.
  • Committee Member term is a minimum of two years
  • Each committee member is trained by the building EXPO teacher prior to the first placement committee meeting. A training power point presentation will be provided by the EXPO Coordinator.
  • See Assessment Procedures for more information.
  • See EXPO Calendar for dates.

Grading Policy

EXPO Grading Policy - Elementary School

An EXPO Progress Report is required to be sent home everytwelveweeks. All critical thinking, creative thinking, research, communication, and productassignments, activities, and/or assessments will be scored on a scale of 1 to 4. For kindergarten students, mark through the first 2 12-week periods and enter their scores in the 3rd 12-week section.Students will be scored according to the following:

4Exceeds Expectations

3Meets Expectations

2Needs Improvement

1Unsatisfactory

N/A Not addressed this 12-week period

EXPO Grading Policy - Middle School

  • Middle School EXPO teachers will provide grades according to the DISD grading schedule.
  • The following grading scale should be used to calculate a student’s grade:
  • 6th grade EXPO

30% -- Minor Summative (may include, but is not limited to

quizzes, minor tests, minor projects)

70% -- Major Summative(may include, but is not limited to

major tests, projects, research)

  • 7th grade EXPO

30% -- Minor Summative (may include, but is not limited to

quizzes, minor tests, minor projects)

70% -- Major Summative(may include, but is not limited to

major tests, projects, research)

  • 8th grade EXPO

30% -- Minor Summative (may include, but is not limited to

quizzes, minor tests, minor projects)

70% -- Major Summative(may include, but is not limited to

major tests, projects, research)

Miscellaneous

Answering Parent Questions About Placement Committee Decisions

  • Show and explain the profile.
  • Only show the parent the actual test if they insist on seeing it. Try to give examples of questions contained on the test to discourage the parent for asking to see the test itself.
  • If the parent asks to see the actual test, you must be present at all times the parent has contact with the test. The parent may not make any notes and may not have a copy of the test.
  • Students can be reassessed in 1 year.

Verifying PEIMS List

  • PEIMS -official district record of who is in the EXPO program.
  • EXPOCoordinator will provide a PEIMS list to each campus.
  • Compare current class roster with PIEMS list.
  • Report any deletions or additions of students to the EXPO Coordinator’s secretary.
  • If discrepancies are found, verify PEIMS list by checking yellow folder found in student’s cumulative file.

Purchasing

  • Use the GT Materials Request form (O Drive) to request purchases. Please complete the form completely and email, fax, or bring to the EXPO secretary.
  • All purchases should be for the educational benefit of your EXPO students.
  • Requests should be turned in 4 – 6 weeks prior to when you need them.
  • Include 15% for shipping/handling if you don’t know an exact amount.
  • If you exceed your budget, your order will not be approved.
  • You will not be reimbursed if you purchase something on your own.

Field Trips(see Gene Holloway memo dated 7.31.09)

  • All trips must first be acceptable to your principal and then to the EXPO coordinator. If both do not approve your trip, you may not go.
  • Obtain user id and password information from the Transportation Extra Curricular Trip Coordinator. (Currently that is Tracy Williams - )
  • If it does not go through WebTrips,the transportation department will not know about it. The EXPO secretary will not be doing the WebTrips part for you.
  • Email the trip coordinator a request for a cost estimate. Provide date of trip, destination, and #of passengers and if there are special accommodations for wheelchairs, car seats, or harnesses. Those items normally result in an additional bus that has to be scheduled.
  • Send the estimate to the EXPO secretary for approval before you begin your request through WebTrips.
  • Go to the district web page, go to departments, then Transportation, and click on the WebTrips link on the Transportation page.Bookmark the trip login page so you don't have to go through all that the next time you want to login to do a trip. Complete the required fields and indicate that EXPO will be paying for your trip (up to your budgeted allowance for field trips).
  • Transportation has a 12-day lead time.To make sure everything is done on time, please begin your requests 4 – 6 weeks prior to the trip.
  • When you have received your acceptance email from transportation, please verify that all information is correct. If it is not, please contact the transportation department immediately.
  • Contact the transportation department one day prior to your trip to confirm that all is well.
Middle School - Administering SRI
(English Language Arts Requirement)

SRI – Scholastic Reading Inventory

  • Administer to all students during first six weeks and the fourth six weeks of the school year.

For information on scheduling your students for this assessment, contact your Campus Technology Specialist.

Attending TAGT Conference

  • TAGT – Texas Association of Gifted and Talented
  • TAGT conference focuses on the varied needs of gifted and talented students.
  • It is held annually during the fall semester.
  • EXPO Specialists are encouraged to attend the conference. The budget, however, will not cover all costs. You will have several options in how to cover the rest.
  • Keep track of sessions attended on the forms provided at check in. This form must be turned into the EXPO secretary within one week of attending the conference. Keep a copy for your records as well.
  • You should attend all sessions each day, but no more than 1 or 2 missed sessions per day.
  • Please discuss this with your campus principal at the beginning of the year so they will have plenty of notice that you’ll be out for the conference.
  • Request educational leave and a substitute (Middle School only) through the Subfinder system before attending the TAGT conference. This process should be completed as soon as possible on the district intranet. When completing this form, indicate that the EXPO Coordinator will pay for the substitute needed. This will help the campus principal in processing the request.
  • Web site for TAGT :
Receiving or Updating G/T Certification
  • All EXPO teachers must have a minimum of 30 clock hours of appropriate G/T training before or shortly after being assigned to teach G/T students.
  • State certification in gifted education is the preferred credential.You may get more information at
  • Six additional hours are required annually in order to maintain status.
  • All EXPO Specialist must maintain a list of the GT hours received by the teachers at their campus.
  • Information on class opportunities is available from the EXPO Coordinator.

EXPO Specialist: Job Description

Teacher:

The EXPO specialist is first and foremost a teacher for the students identified for gifted services. There are curriculum guides for each grade level. Thinking skills, creativity skills, affective needs, and research skills are foundational to the program and the priority in whatever curriculum path is chosen. You will also be required to write curriculum as the need arises. Ethics and confidentiality are of vital importance!

Research Facilitator:

The EXPO specialist must be aware of this fundamental imperative: preparing students to be life-long learners. The specialist is responsible for assisting each student to develop a minimum of a written research paper along with other research products as fits your student population.

Tester:

The specialist is responsible for testing any student referred for the program on his/her campus during the entire school year. During the third testing session, the testing focus is on kindergarten students at the elementary level. It is expected however that new referrals will be accommodated as time permits. The specialist is required to maintain the integrity and security of the testing documents. Ethics and confidentiality are of vital importance!

Clerk:

Testing materials, student data, and teaching materials should all be kept in locked files or cabinets. The specialist is responsible for the upkeep of files and documentation in the program. Documentation includes referral logs, profiles, lesson plans, sign-in sheets from parent meetings, referral logs, grade book, G/T Materials Request Forms, and anything else as needed.

Resource Person/Gifted Advocate:

The specialist is an advocate for gifted children and a resource person in the field of gifted education at the campus level for parents and teachers. He/she will work with classroom teachers to gather information and materials concerning differentiation.

Student:

The specialist is expected to participate in training above and beyond that provided all teachers in the district. The state required 30 clock hours with the annual update is the minimum requirement for this position. The state g/t certification is the preferred credential. Research in current gifted education is expected.

Communicator:

The specialist will:

1)be responsible for ongoing communication with EXPO parents.

2)send home progress reports every twelve weeks (elementary).

3)send home overviews of units to be studied.

4)provide newsletters throughout the year

5)be available to meet with parents of EXPO students, parents of students newly placed, and parents of students who did not qualify.

6)provide clear, concise, correct information to parents and professional staff as to program identification, goals, and curriculum. (If you don’t know the answers, do not make them up. Seek help.)

7)participate in a district information meeting and a campus parent meeting.

Group Member:

The specialist will participate in group problem solving and decision making as a member of the EXPO team at scheduled meetings and will support the group at all times. Attendance at all scheduled staff meetings is required. Additionally, EXPO Specialists may be either a mentor or a “mentee.” New EXPO teachers (the mentees) will be assigned a mentor to help them adjust to and be successful in gifted education.