Finding the Time!Meeting the Needs of High Ability

StudentsPresented at OCCGATE Fall 2012

Curriculum compacting is a procedure used to streamline the regular curriculum for students who are capable of mastering it at a faster pace.The compacting process has three basic

phases: Determine the goals and objectives of the

regular curriculum. Assess students for previous mastery of these

objectives. Substitute more appropriate (challenging)

options.

Students already know most of their text’s content before “learning it”.Taylor and Frye (1988) found that 78-88%

of fifth and sixth-grade average readers could pass pretests on basal comprehension skills.

Flanders (1987) found that students in grades two to five encounter approximately 40-65% new content.

Textbooks have been “dumbed down”.Decreased vocabularySimplification of vocabularyNarrowed range of reading abilitySentence structure simplifiedAdjectives and other describers are limited

The quality of textbooks has failed to improve.A Nation at Risk (1983) recommended that

(textbooks) and other tools of learning and teaching be upgraded to assure more rigorous content.

Chall and Conrad (1991) indicate that readability levels did not change in any appreciable way.

Tyson-Berstein (1988) state “editors are increasingly organizing elementary reading series around the content and timing of standardized tests.”

The needs of high-ability students are not often met in classrooms.The National Research Center on the Gifted

and Talented – “The Classroom Practices Observation Study” (1992) Little differentiation in instructional and

curricular practices including grouping arrangements and verbal interactions.

Gifted students received homogenous grouping only 21% of the time.

GATE or high-ability students experienced no instructional or curricular differentiation in 84% of the instructional activities in which they participated.

Compacting provides time for more challenging learning experiences.Pursuit of independent studiesReading self-selected materialsOther replacement options

The pace of instruction and practice time can be modified.Elementary classroom teachers can

eliminate as much as 40-50% of the basal regular curriculum for high-ability students.

For gifted learners, that percentage may be as high as 70-80%.

Middle school students can compact out up to 50% of core curriculum.

Compacting guarantees educational accountability.Not all high-ability and gifted learners will

know it all.When compacting curriculum, teachers can

document the student’s strengths and teach missed concepts commensurate with student ability.

Identify the relevant learning objectives in a given subject area or grade level.California Department of Education – Grade

Level StandardsCommon Core StandardsDistrict pacing guidesTeacher’s manualsCurriculum specialists

Find or develop some means of pretesting students on one or more of these objectives prior to instruction.District assessmentsAdopted curriculum assessments

Chapter tests Unit tests Beginning of the Year/End of Year assessments OARS – Online Assessment Reporting System

Identify students who may benefit from curriculum compacting and should be pretested.GATE identification listGATE folder list/merit listSTAR dataTeacher recommendation

Pretest students to determine their mastery levels of the chosen objectives.Determine as a grade level or site what

constitutes mastery.Determine what students will participate in

extension activities or enrichment projects.Determine what students need to have

small group instruction for missed concept(s).

Eliminate practice, drill, or instructional time for students who have demonstrated prior mastery of these objectives.Students “buy time” to work on extension

activity or enrichment project.Differentiate assignments based on student

need.

Streamline instruction of those objectives students have not yet mastered but are capable of mastering more quickly than their classmates.Small group instructionPractice worksheetsComputer software/on-line resourcesCooperative learningPeer tutoring

Offer enrichment or acceleration options for students whose curriculum has been compacted.

Classroom Activities: Independent or small group studyEscalated coverage of curriculumSpecial interest groups

“Interest-A-Lyzer” – Joe Renzulli “My Way” – Joe Renzulli “If I Ran the School” – Sally Reis and Del Siegle

Lessons to further cognitive and affective processes Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) – Type II

Process Skills

Keep records of this process and the instructional options available to “compacted” students.Personalized Education Plan (PEP)Report card“The Compactor” – Individual Educational

Programming Guide

Start small – choose a small group of students for whom compacting would be appropriate.

Select one area – choose one curricular area in which the targeted group has shown considerable mastery and that you have appropriate enrichment materials.

Experiment with pretesting – find a method compatible with the curriculum, the students, and you.

Compact by topic – compact for a unit, chapter, or topic rather than a grading period.

Decide how to document – determine at the site how a child’s progress will be documented and define proficiency based on site consensus and district policy.

Find a wide variety of alternatives – find and create a wide range of enrichment opportunities to replace content that will be eliminated through compacting.

Keep experimenting – try new ideas, reflect upon success, and modify as needed.

Comic Book

Bridge

Curriculum Compacting: The Complete Guide to Modifying the Regular Curriculum for High Ability StudentsSally Reis, Deborah Burns, Joseph Renzulli

Independent StudySandra Kapan and Bette Gould

The Parallel Curriculum: A Design to Develop Learner Potential and Challenge Advanced LearnersCarol Ann Tomlinson, Sandra Kaplan, Joseph

Renzulli, Jeanne Purcell, Jann Leppien, Deborah Burns, Cindy Strickland, Marcia Imbeau

Type II Processing Skills www.gifted.uconn.edu/sem/typeiips.html

My Way (Expression Style Inventory)www.gifted.uconn.edu/sem/pdf/myway.pdf

The Compactor (Documentation of Services)www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/

curriculumcompacting/SEC-IMAG/compactor.pdf

Interest-a-lyzer (Small group or independent project survey – upper elementary)http://enrichmenttriadmodel.weebly.com/

uploads/7/6/4/7/7647438/the_interest-a-lyzer.pdf

If I Ran the School (Small group or independent project survey – primary)http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/

curriculumcompacting/SEC-IMAG/ranschol.pdf

Krisa Muller

Woodsboro Elementary

Placentia-Yorba Linda School District

kmuller@pylusd.org