Developing An Educational Plan/Curriculum
by Karen Rogers, Ph.D.
Excerpted from Re-Forming Gifted Education

A well thought out written education plan helps parents and teachers ensure that a gifted child (with advanced development in one or more areas) will receive consistent curriculum and school instruction that is geared to his academic ability and potential, rather than instruction directed to abilities and potentials of students who learn more slowly. Without an appropriate education plan, gifted children often lose their excitement for learning because they must wait — sometimes for many years — so that others can learn what the children with advanced development already know. This is not appropriate education. Gifted children know the right to be given schoolwork that is motivating and challenging. Asking them to "slow down while others catch up" is not fair to them. Future Olympic swimmers aren't asked to sit idly on the side and wait while other swimmers practice the basic strokes. Yet too often, bright children are required to passively wait for others to finish the lesson before they are allowed to go on.

The book, Re-Forming Gifted Education, recommends that the parent present the school with a well thought out individualized educational plan. Such a plan is not likely to be adopted unless it is presented formally to school personnel several months before the child is to enter school or a new grade level. Why? Because schools typically need time to consider and accept evidence provided by the parent or guardian that the child may indeed be "different." Schools also need time to resolve administrative issues such as teacher selection and scheduling.

An educational plan tailored to the child's needs is particularly important during several critical periods in a child's schooling. These periods are approximately six months to a year before the child is to enter each new grade level — such as (1) kindergarten/primary grades, (2) intermediate grades, (3) middle school or junior high school, (4) high school, and (5) college. These junctures are important because the gifted child has generally "used up" the learning opportunities available in her current grade level environment and is ready to make a transition earlier than expected into the next grade level.

An education plan must be detailed and specific about what steps will be taken to continue the gifted child’s academic progress and talent development. These steps are the heart of the plan and should account for approximately 60-65% of the effort the school will expend on the gifted child’s behalf.

This piece of the plan — which contains descriptions for instructional management and delivery, curriculum adaptation, and acceleration — must be carefully spelled out. Further adaptation listed in the plan should indicate the name of the person who will be responsible for implementing and for monitoring its success.

As a check and balance, each adaptation must be thoroughly explainable by a particular need of the student — that is, it must match or correspond to one or more specific cognitive functioning levels, learning strengths, learning preferences, personality characteristics/behaviors, in-school interests, or outside interests of the child. All of these aspects of the child should be “matched” with one option or another of the education plan. Until that is done, the academic progress portion of the plan is not complete.

The second aspect of the plan consists of actions to be taken that will help the child remediate any weaknesses or issues that he may have. It is expected that this piece of the plan will account for no more than 10% of the child’s work time in school. The “weaknesses” may be academic, social, emotional, or motivational, but a specific plan must be listed for working on each of these weaknesses. A child, for example, might need assistance in writing or learning keyboarding to use in writing essays. Or perhaps the child dislikes working with a mixed ability group on a project, then his listed goal or “remediation” plan may entail a teacher finding an open-ended task for such a group to work on and for which there is individual accountability rather than a “sink or swim” cooperative group approach to evaluation. It is hoped through this approach that the child will learn that the product of the group can sometimes be “better” than what one does alone and that all members of the group can benefit from sharing their perspectives and efforts.

The third aspect of the educational plan includes provisions for the psychological adjustment of the child. How can the school help the child continue to be motivated to learn and to feel good about himself as a person, a learner, and as a social being? Would small group discussions on self-awareness be helpful? Would a few short talks with a school counselor help the child get himself “on track” or become adjusted to the routines and expectations of the school setting? No more than 5-10% of the school’s effort would probably be expended in this area, but that small amount might make all the difference in whether a child proceeds without psychological damage in what often can seem like a hostile environment for gifted students.

The final aspect of the plan will help the child adjust socially, both with his intellectual peers as well as with his age peers. What co-curricular activities might the child be steered toward? Is there a pull-out program in which the child can participate? The child’s learning preferences, interests both in and out of school, and personality characteristics will provide clues for what forms this socialization will take.

This part of the plan will account for approximately 20% of the child’s activities, with the focus being more on providing time to interact with like-ability peers than with agemates.

When you have completed your education plan, it’s time to present it to your child’s school and advocate for your child by requesting and negotiating the changes that will be needed in the ordinary curriculum program options the school offers. Keep in mind that an educational plan needs to be a joint agreement between parents and the school, with what is best for the gifted child in heart and mind.

Here are some fundamental “shoulds” for both schools and parents.

“Shoulds” for the Schools

• Make accommodations so that one and one half to two years’ curriculum in most subject areas is accomplished for each year that the academically gifted or talented learner is in the school, using a variety of methods to accomplish this — for example, compacting, grade telescoping, single-subject acceleration and credit by examination.

• Arrange for Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) or American College Tests (ACT) to be accessible to gifted students while they are still in middle school. This will open up a wide variety of Talent Search and other national opportunities to students beyond what the school can offer.

• Provide access to high school classes while the gifted student is still in middle school and to Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes in the first years of high school.

• Encourage gifted students to participate in post-secondary options (college) courses in their later years of high school. Offer dual credit for these courses if needed.

• Be open and flexible when additional opportunities cannot be offered by the school, so that the parents of gifted learners can search elsewhere for help and support.

• Offer on-line tutorial courses via Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, or Stanford University when the school’s coursework cannot be individualized enough for a particular student.

• Assign one counselor in the school system to “look after” gifted students as they progress from grades seven through 12. It is estimated that the counselor’s student load will be as great as all other counselors in the system, but that the nature of the work will be different — there will be more of a focus on academic advising, college counseling, career guidance, special opportunity recommendations for gifted students, etc. In addition, this counselor will have university courses as well as other training in the characteristics and needs of gifted learners.

“Shoulds” for the Parents

• Begin researching college programs early. Start saving money for higher education, and plan to spend a lot on college tuition. High ability does not necessarily lead to scholarships anymore.

• Inquire about and decide if Early Entrance Programs (EEPs) for college are an answer for your gifted student and your family. If the local schools are not cooperative in providing necessary flexible pacing, EEPs may be your only resort.

• Developing a bibliography of books for you as a family to read. Use Halsted’s Some of my Best Friends Are Books as a starting list. Use the Syntopticon or Adult Great Books programs for reading when the child is older.

• Arrange for your child to have chances to be with “true peers” on a regular basis or with older children for strategy situations, such as orienteering, chess, games, or simulations.

• Help your child develop verbal responses to be used in negative situations with age peers. Your child may understand why people, including siblings, act “strangely,” but they may need help with the solutions for these problems.

• Help your child to be involved in service groups such as Scouts or in service projects in your community, religious organization, and school, so that a sense of social responsibility and caring about others will be reinforced.

• Provide a wide variety of exploratory activities to develop hidden interests, but then allow your child to dig in deeply when an interest is found. Well-roundedness isn’t always necessary for personal development.

• Help your child practice memory skills at home with memory projects, such as memorizing poems, literary passages, lists of information, visual information, and music. Teach mnememic devices to aid memory.

• Include your child in most educational and recreational decisions that affect him or her, including grade-skips, early college entrance, and participating in a local school gifted “program.” If one of these choices does not feel “right” for the child, then select an alternative that does feel comfortable.

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