KleinIndependent School District
Curriculum & Instruction
Advanced Academic Services
Klein Independent School District
Gifted and Talented Parent Communication Letter
Dear Parents,
In accordance with the State Plan for the Education of Gifted/Talented Students (2.1A) and the Texas Administrative Code (19 TAC §89.3(3)), we plan to update you on your child’s involvement in the district’s Gifted and Talented program during each nine weeks.
A GT Services document will be included in each report card for the school year. This form delineates your child’s participation in one or more of the following gifted/talented program services:
Pre-Assessment:
Pre-assessment prior to instruction is used to determine students’ instructional levels and skill needs. Results from pre-assessments provide information to the teacher for selecting and pacing appropriate instructional materials and activities, and also can lead to curricular compacting.
Curricular Compacting:
Curriculum compacting is an instructional strategy designed to adapt the regular curriculum for a student by eliminating work that has already been mastered. Content is streamlined to a pace commensurate with the gifted students’ readiness. Students involved in compacting engage in replacement material tied directly to their interests instead of redundant work.
Tiered Assignments
A tiered assignment is a modified classroom activity which provides gifted students challenging material while still allowing them to work within the same unit or content area as the rest of the class.
Socratic Seminar
Socratic Seminar promotes critical thinking through the examination of a written or visual text. During a seminar, students present different points of view about the text and wish to establish the truth of the matter by dialogue, with reasoned arguments. The purpose of the seminar is to explore the possibilities and not to arrive at a single, predetermined correct answer.
Problem Based Learning
Problem-based learning (PBL) is an approach that challenges students to learn through engagement in a real problem. It is a format that simultaneously develops both problem solving strategies and disciplinary knowledge bases and skills by placing students in the active role of problem-solvers in a situation that simulates the kind of problems they are likely to face in their professional role of the future.
Independent Study/Outside Mentorship
Independent study is research based on self formulated questions that students are able to pursue in greater depth, at their own pace. It includes a variety of steps that engage students in acting like professionals such as posing questions, gathering information, organizing information, and presenting their results to an audience. Experts or professionals who work in the same area of study assist as mentors. Mentoring provides the student with an authority in their chosen field to further develop their focus, research, and evaluation of their research.
Texas Performance Standards Project (TPSP)
The TPSP is a guided research project for students who have compacted out of the regular curriculum. Originating at the state level, these interdisciplinary projects are based on Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills as well as College and Career Readiness Skills.
Your continued support in the Gifted and Talented program is very much appreciated. Please review the GT Services documenteach nine weeks, sign, and return to your child’s teacher. Thank you.
GT PARENT COMMUNICATION
ACADEMIC YEAR 2013-14
GT Services
Pre-assessments / Tiered Assignments / Problem Based Learning / Texas Performance Standards Guided Research (TPSP)Curricular Compacting / Socratic Seminar / Independent Study/Outside Mentorship
Teacher: In the space below, briefly describe the implementation of GT Services.
Week 1: / Week 2: / Week 3:Student Inventory
Week 4: / Week 5: / Week 6:
Week 7: / Week 8: / Week 9:
Revised 8/22/13
Klein Instructional Center4411 Louetta Road, Spring, TX 77388-4414832-249-4453