My+Philosophy

My Philosophy

 //Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children// (WISC) or the //Stanford Binet Intelligence Test// (SB-IV), //Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities//, Co//gnitive Assessment System// (CAS), //Comprehensive Test of Nonverbal Intelligence// (CTONI), //Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test// (UNIT), //Kauffman Assessment Battery for Children// (KABC), and the //Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test// (NNAT) are just a few intelligence measurements identified by the NAGC to assist in determining giftedness.
 * Intelligence: **

 Achievement tests are also indicators of potential giftedness: Iowa, Stanford, Kaufman (//Parent Handbook: A Guide to Your Gifted Child’s Emotional and Academic Success//, College of William and Mary, 2003). Sternberg is referenced in Pierce Howard’s //the Owner’s Manual for the Brain// by suggesting that achievements tests predict only rote learning and that traditional IQ (or ability) tests explain less than 10 percent of what most of us call “success.” (2000) Intelligence, according to Howard, has three different definitions: **process** (Sternberg), **content** (Gardner), and **structure** (Eysenck and Brody).   Researchers also recognize the significance of nature/nurture or heredity/environment. The proverbial apple may not fall far from the tree, but if that seed is not developed, the roots of success may never develop.

 According to Barbara Clark, Jane Piirto, Karen Rogers, Linda Silverman, and Joyce JanTassel-Baska, there are //General Characteristics of the **Intellectually** Gifted:// advanced vocabulary and language development, excellent memory, intense and longer periods of concentration than age-mates, preference for older companions, habit of asking many questions, creative and imaginative, perfectionism, love of books and reading, intense curiosity, intensity in emotions and interests, keen sense of humor with a love of “puns,” and ability and interest in problem solving.

 Prior to my “introduction” into the gifted world, I paid little attention to giftedness and gifted students. Those kids weren’t in my class; why do I need to clutter my mind with this practical information; most of those children intimidate me; and other misdirected thoughts ruled that muddied my perception of gifted education. As a GRT, I can see first-hand that intelligence is the manner in which we process, categorize, analyze, accept, discard, or work through our day. My students, those identified as gifted, are all over the place when I view them through the intelligence lens: high achievers/underachievers, engaged/apathetic, single-minded/eclectic. So my personal philosophy of intelligence is one’s ability to recognize and deal with their world and recognizing their results as acceptable.

 Having a basic understanding of gifted identification through the two tests administered by my school district (WISC and NNAT), I am satisfied that these tools benefit our students. Testing all of our elementary students and then providing for additional testing to many, has, in my opinion, given us the ability to provide additional resources to more students.

 In my //definition of giftedness,// I stated: Dr. Renzulli (1978) emphasized that “Giftedness consists of an interaction among three basic clusters of human traits – these clusters being above average general abilities, high levels of task commitment, and high levels of creativity.” This is simply one definition, but one that resonates with me. Because the whole gifted thing is still in its infancy for me, I am all over the place and beginning to accept this organized chaos. Let me explain myself: Giftedness doesn’t have a concrete definition because human beings are complex. I have not met two gifted students that are even slightly similar. Identified giftedness today is different than it was one hundred years ago and light years from how we will see gifted learners in the future. So what is my personal philosophy? Giftedness is the potential one possesses to identify and solve problems and/or to physically perform at a level that exceeds the average (the arts). Giftedness is inherited but must be nurtured. **Not everyone is gifted.**
 * Giftedness: **

Above I have included a variety of tests that are used to measure intelligence. In the City of Virginia Beach “all students in grade one are screened during January and February in order to create a pool of potential candidates. First grade students scoring 90% or higher onthe Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT, 2nd Edition) ©2007 screening test are recommended for additional assessment using the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test, Version 5, 8th Edition, ©2003, a group test designed to measure abstract thinking and reasoning ability through performance on five item types, including verbal comprehension, verbal reasoning, pictorial reasoning, figural reasoning, and quantitative reasoning.” (2010-2015 Local Plan for the Education of the Gifted)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Identification: **

<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Virginia’s Department of Education has, in my opinion, been broad in referencing the identification process for gifted learners. “Identification and placement committee: means the building-level or division-level committee that shall determine a student’s eligibility for the division’s gifted education program, based on the student’s **assessed aptitude and learning needs.** The identification and placement committee shall determine which of the school’s division’s service options are appropriate for meeting the learning needs of the eligible student.” Virginia suggests that identification must be based on “multiple criteria” determined by the division; valid and reliable data shall be examined by a division-level committee; and nationally norm-referenced aptitude test shall be included. Virginia does not reference one specific test over another and they are explicit that testing/identification is fair. It appears that the State has provided their school districts with guidelines that legally meet the students’ needs but offer the specific choices (identification measures, education programs, and curriculum) for divisions based on their individual needs.

<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Levels of intelligence are observed verbally, nonverbal, standardized scores, and quantitative and spatial reading ability. This process of attempting to identify the intelligence of every student signifies to a community the importance that is placed in responding to the needs of that community now, and more importantly in the future. <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif'; font-size: 16px;">VBCPS is a unique school division. “Citywide screening of all first grade students ensures access to early identification. Qualitative as well as quantitative information is collected to develop a student profile.” (VBCPS Gifted Programs Testing Guidelines, 2012) Those students that are identified as gifted begin receiving the necessary resources to support their individual needs. The intellectual programs in grades 2-12 are school-based cluster models that differentiate instruction in academic areas. Clustered teachers collaborate with their gifted resource teachers to develop differentiated instruction. in that it evaluates (identifies) the intelligence of every first grader for giftedness.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Connections (intelligence, giftedness, identification) **