Gray Matters

Vol. 4 # 1

October, 2000

Newsletter of the BVSD TAG Office

Primary Articles

Professional Development Opportunities
BVSD Enrichment Calendar
Girls and Math 2000 update
District Identification Procedure
Introverted Gifted Students
Resources

Professional Development Opportunities

Teaching Thinking to Promote Understanding
Presented by Dr. Sandra Parks of Thinking Works. A workshop for educators Wednesday, November 8, 2000:date> 8:30 am - 3:00 pm. This workshop will focus on infusing critical thinking into the content areas. There is no cost to BVSD educators to attend. The TAG Office does not supply subs. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. RSVP 303-447-5067 or becky.whittenburg@bvsd.k12.co.us

Socratic Seminar for Adults
This class will conduct Socratic Seminars for participants and facilitate networking for those who have already taken basic training. Oct. 16, Nov. 13, Dec. 11, Jan. 22, Feb. 12, Mar. 14, April 16, May 7. These classes will be held on Monday evenings from 7-9 pm at new Vista HS. Facilitator: Tad Kline supported by John Zola. $5 materials charge. For questions, call Tad at 303-443-9973. Relicensure and salary credit available.

Designing Units and Lessons to Include Differentiation
Peg Beecher - April 16 & 17, 2001, 8:30 - 3:00. Sponsored by the TAG Office. RSVP 303-447-5067. Location TBA.

Emotional and Social Development of the Gifted and Talented with George Betts. Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2000:date>, 9 am - 3 pm. Arvada Center. Cost: $95.00 per person. Registration deadline Nov. 10. ALPS Publishing, PO Box 1654, Greeley, CO 80632 or call 1-800-345-2577

Meeting the Social and Emotional Needs of Gifted Children in a School Setting with Jim Delisle Saturday, October 21, 2000:date>, Loveland High School Cafeteria, 920 West 29th Street, Loveland, CO

Language Arts Curriculum for Gifted and High-Ability Students Saturday, February 10, 2001 with Joyce Van Tassel-Baska: (Will also be offered in BVSD) 2407 LaPorte Ave, Ft. Collins, CO

TAG Educational Advisor meetings
Oct. 16, Nov. 13, Dec. 18, Jan. 8, Apr. 16, May 21, 8:30 - 11:30 am. There will be no meetings in February or March.
Conference Rooms 1 & 2, Education Center

2000-2001 Enrichment Calendar

Quiz Bowl Grades 6-8 Nov. 15, 2000:date> Louisville Middle

Science Fair Grades 6-12 Mar. 2 & 3, 2001 5th grade exhibition only location: CU

Destination Imagination Grades K-12 Mar. 17, 2001:date> Fairview HS

History Day Grades 6-12 Apr. 4, 2001:date> Angevine MS papers due Mar. 21, 2001:date>

Literary Magazine Grades K-12 Apr. 27, 2001:date> submissions due

Spelling Bee conducted by Daily Camera Mar. 10, 2001:date>, 303-473-1216

Girls and Math - a 2000 update

Why do we care if girls are excelling in math? According to research cited in Choices: A Teen Woman's Journal of Self-awareness and Personal Planning by Bingham, Edmondson and Stryker, the leading determinant of how much money and authority a working woman will attain is not found in commonly cited demographic differences, but rather in how much math they have taken. There are, of course, other contributing influences. For example, women who do not complete school will be deficient in not only math, but in all areas. Young women who attend inferior schools likely do not have access to advanced mathematics. Furthermore, there is a connection between poverty and the ability to devote one's energies to academics. Regardless, overall achievement in math shows the strongest relationship to power and money - traditionally cited measures of success.

The American Association of University Women and the Society of Women Engineers among others, have historically promoted exploration of non-traditional careers for young women - particularly in math, technology, and the sciences. Currently, Denver's KUSA Channel 9 runs a public service announcement encouraging girls to become involved in and excited by these fields. Interest in the gap between females and males in math and science although recognized during the late 50's Sputnik era, didn't really gain urgency until the 1980's. At that time, it became apparent that significant numbers of women were pursuing careers, and the 50's model of the stay-at-home mom became less the norm.

It is interesting to note, however, that young men are rarely encouraged to explore non-traditional career choices. The boy who says he wants to be a nurse is encouraged to explore becoming a physician or an Emergency Medical Technician. The boy who wants to be an elementary school teacher is often encouraged to look into high school or post-secondary teaching. The boy who wants to be a poet, a ballet dancer, or an artist, is often the subject of whispers if not outright abuse, and his career choice may be tolerated as a hobby but not as a serious career. The societal messages and cultural values that determine how different careers are viewed is complex. It is not just a matter of supply and demand as evidenced by the shortage of quality day care and the average wage of the day care provider. Because women's careers have traditionally provided less of those American measures of success - power and money - they are devalued. Digging deeper still, one must ask if devaluing of what women do reflects devaluing of what women are. Educators have tackled at least some of these far-reaching and complex issues in terms of what school is, what it provides and to whom.

In October, 1996, the Boulder Daily Camera examined the research regarding the gender gap in math. Students, teachers and administrators were interviewed, and opinions ranged from denying the existence of the gap to expressing deep concern for girls, especially in the middle school grades. The overall tone, however, suggested that even if this is recognized as a national concern, it isn't in Boulder.

Reflected in the standardized test scores of 1997 and 2000, on average, girls perform as well as boys in the BVSD, however, at the highest levels, the gap becomes apparent. It isn't that girls don't perform reasonably well in math, it's that they don't excel at the same rate as boys. Encouraging, however, is that the gap in BVSD is holding or shrinking in all the measures examined. In both the 1997 CAT test and the 2000 CSAP, students performing at the advanced level showed a gap of less than 5% between males and females regardless of grade. Predictably, however, the largest gap was at the 10th grade in 1997 with males outperforming females by 4.7%. Although not considered statistically significant, the gap never favors females in any grade or year. When we look at more current data regarding the CSAP, however, making assumptions based on one year's fifth grade CSAP score is risky, One should also take into consideration that research shows it is in adolescence, primarily middle school years, not elementary, that girls traditionally begin underachieving or exercising course selections that limit their math education.

Both males and females have shown an increase in performance in math by most national measures. Nationwide, the 2000 SAT showed the highest math performance in 30 years with an average score of 514 out of a possible 800 and the proportion of students scoring above 650 is at an all-time high. BVSD did even better with an average of 566.

Students taking the SAT in 2000 also reported taking more pre-calculus and calculus courses than students in 1990. This trend is evidenced in BVSD by the increase in the number of high school students enrolled in the highest offered math course from 75 females and 104 males in the fall of 1996 to 142 females and 176 males registered for the fall of 2000. Furthermore, one BVSD high school has advanced its highest level math course offering from pre-calculus in the fall of 1996 to calculus A/B for the fall 2000 semester. BVSD also demonstrates a slight narrowing of the gender gap between the 1996-1997 highest level math course enrollment of 42% females, and the fall of 2000 enrollment of 45% females. Young women did, however, drop out of the BVSD highest high school math courses in greater numbers than their male classmates increasing the gap during the last half of the 1996-97 school year by an additional 4%. It will be well worth watching to see if the tendency for girls to drop out of these courses continues through the spring semester of 2001.

Another BVSD measure of gender differences in math is the number of high school students who enroll in university level math classes. Of the forty-two high school students taking post-secondary math courses at CU for the fall of 2000, the gap exactly mirrors that of enrollment in the highest level math courses at the high school level - 45% female to 55% male. This is encouraging when examined in the context of factors reported to discourage girls from reaching for those challenging classes.

When we look further at the college level and beyond, we have a long way to go. According to a recent NPR Harvard Business School report, the number of women graduating with a masters degree in math-related fields holds at around 19%. Closer to home the percentage of females and males earning undergraduate degrees at CU Boulder in math is unchanged at 29% female and 71% male between 1997 and 2000. The percentage of graduate students enrolled in math has dropped from 36% to 28% among women. The number of both male and female students with a math emphasis has declined overall at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and faculty positions held by women remain quite low at only 11%. As young women complete their K-12 experience in a time of increased awareness and efforts to motivate and encourage them in math, it will be interesting to see if the number of women holding faculty positions and employment in math fields over the next decade increases accordingly.

Some of the factors which have historically played a role in limiting female participation in high levels of mathematics include:
· test bias and form
· course content and structure
· social expectations and stereotypes
· differences in learning styles
· presence or absence of role models

In a compilation of research by Julian Stanley, Daniel Keating, Lynn Fox and Barbara Kerr, the following strategies tend to increase math achievement and interest among girls and young women:
· minimize speed factor
· use manipulatives, visuals, etc. that address different learning styles
· give time to explore why and how, not just right answers
· establish behavior norms for classrooms that allow girls to be heard
· be sensitive to seating arrangements
· provide personable teachers/role models
· provide counseling for risk-taking in course selection
· provide for girls to work in groups in addition to individual work
· provide girls only groupings
· be sensitive to the importance of friends in upper level math classes
· minimize competition and balance it with cooperation in learning
· don't allow girls to drop out of math without counseling/questioning
· provide young girls with activities, puzzles and stimulating toys
· use math in context of art, investigation and social interaction
· discuss openly the research findings regarding girls in math
· discuss math in terms of career options
· insure that math is explored in context of female interests
· openly discuss the tendency of girls to underestimate their abilities
· be aware that the benefits of these strategies fade without reinforcement

Overall, BVSD students are doing well in math and the gender gap between males and females continues to shrink. Nationally as well as locally, however, girls have yet to reach full parity in any measure of advanced math achievement.

TAG Identification Procedure

All BVSD schools have received the district-wide identification procedure including forms for identifying gifted and talented students. This plan was developed by the TAG District Advisory Committee over the 1999-2000 school year, approved by principals, and adopted for district use beginning Fall 2000. This procedure is a compilation of best practices and includes the use of multiple criteria so that no single instrument or factor excludes a student from consideration as a TAG student. This is especially important with children who are culturally or language different, who exhibit different learning styles, are extreme introverts or otherwise have personality traits that mask their abilities, or are underachievers. By using a body of evidence that includes achievement and ability assessments, parent and teacher inventories, specialists' input and performance and product review, a dynamic picture of the student will emerge that will better insure that gifted students are identified even when not presenting the most obvious profile. The intent is not to lower the standard but to cast a wider net.

There is a nomination process where a teacher, parent or other adult (and in some cases a peer) can bring a student to consideration as a TAG student. If the nomination is not initiated by a parent, then a copy goes home to be signed by a parent giving permission to test the child as necessary. The Nomination Form, Parent Inventory and Personalized Learning Plan have been included in Spanish for all schools. They are also being translated into Hmong and can be made available in whatever language is needed. It is important for all families, even those less comfortable dealing with the educational institution, to be able to fully participate in gifted education for their children. We are committed in Boulder Valley to insuring that gifted education is neither elitist nor discriminatory.

Schools routinely gather achievement data and performance and product assessment for all students, but assessment of ability or aptitude is not always gathered routinely in a public school setting. Because giftedness has to do with ability and potential as well as actual performance and achievement, special instruments to assess this are used as a part of the body of evidence gathered. TAG Educational Advisors are trained to administer these instruments which have been determined to be valid for identification of gifted students. BVSD uses the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) a "group IQ test" that has three batteries, verbal, quantitative and non-verbal, and so aligns fairly well with curriculum areas of language and mathematics. The other instruments are the Raven's and Naglieri, both non-verbal assessments of abstract reasoning ability and valid for all students. They have also been determined statistically to be culturally fair and nonbiased. Along with the identification Packet that each school received is a section titled "Identification Multiple Criteria" which gives a brief overview of the relative strengths and weaknesses of each instrument and criteria used.

When all of the data has been gathered, the building's TAG committee will make a determination based on all of the information compiled. Some students will be clearly gifted, some clearly not, and others will present a greater challenge in making such a determination. If additional information is needed, the school has the option of deferring identification until they feel a correct determination can be made. This could necessitate gathering additional information or putting the student in more challenging or open-ended learning situations to see how they respond to the challenge. Sometimes, especially with very young children, the school will decide they need more time with the child before they can be sure. We do not want to identify children on the basis of enriched home life nor do we want to neglect to identify the gifted young child.

TAG identification is important for a variety of reasons. First, the state requires it in order for us to receive funding. It is also important to identify who is in need of gifted programming. Boulder Valley does not have "The Gifted Program" that children are plugged into, rather the needs of the individual child are assessed and appropriate programming implemented for that particular child in that particular area and at that particular time. The giftedness of the individual remains a constant, but programming needs may vary. A child who is grade level accelerated, for example, may require no additional programming for a while. Because we allow for the identification of gifted students in a particular area (such as only in math), programming can be implemented to meet that need while allowing the student to receive regular educational programming in other areas. It is not unusual in BVSD for a student to be accelerated in a subject perhaps taking algebra as a sixth grader or attending language arts in a higher elementary grade classroom. Course selection at the high school level allows for more flexibility as evidenced by the number of students taking Advanced Placement courses prior to their senior year or enrolled in classes at CU in their junior or senior years.

This brings us to the all-important Personalized Learning Plan for identified gifted students. In order to insure that programming is logical and sequential for gifted students, documentation and accountability are essential. The Personalized Learning Plan is the instrument that documents the student's educational objectives, the expected and actual measured outcomes, and the programming strategies implemented. Conferencing between parents, students, and teachers insures that all parties are involved and working together in insuring success toward agreed upon goals. In this way, commensurate growth can be documented. As students move from school to school and elementary to middle to high school, the PLP follows the student so that their appropriate and progressive education is not compromised nor allowed to lapse.

The Introverted Gifted Student

The majority of Americans are extraverts (about 75%), but the majority of gifted children are introverts (about 60%). There is also evidence that the percentage of introverts increases with degree of giftedness (Intellectual Giftedness in Young Children, Silverman 1986). Because of the way schools are configured in busy classrooms, the recent emphasis on cooperative learning, and the predominance of extraverts in society, many people, including educators, place a high value on extraverts and feel that there is something wrong with the introvert that needs to be fixed. Introversion, however, is a healthy personality type; it simply isn't as common as extraversion. Giftedness is also a healthy cognitive condition, but it, too, isn't as common as average intelligence. When these characteristics come together in the introverted, gifted student, their differentness can sometimes be interpreted or judged as wrong or unhealthy.

Introverts and extraverts are "wired" differently. Extraverts get their energy from interactions with people and the external world. Introverts get their energy from within themselves. For the introvert, too much interaction drains their energy and leaves them needing to retreat. Conversely, for the extrovert, too much isolation leaves them edgy and needing to "get out" and interact.

In the school setting, the introvert may only have one or two close friends while the extravert is the social butterfly known by and a friend to all. This can lead to concern on the part of counselors and other educators that these introverted individuals are withdrawn, aloof, shy, secretive and a loner ­ pejorative terms which raise red flags and exhibit the degree of misunderstanding about this personality type. Some introverts, in an effort to find greater understanding and acceptance, may act more extraverted, a potentially unhealthy behavior that denies the true self in the disguise to be someone she or he is not.

In a society that values extraversion, it is important that educators and parents be aware of the differences in personality types and to acknowledge the positive benefits of being an introvert. The introverted individual needs to have affirmed that reflection is a good quality, that valuable inventions and discoveries have come from time in solitude, and that many leaders and high achievers in academics, the arts and technological fields are introverts. Additionally, more National Merit Scholars are introverted than extraverted, and introverts have higher grade point averages in ivy league colleges than do extraverts (Intellectual Giftedness in Young Children, Silverman 1986). Using the following guidelines when possible, will lessen stress for the introverted student.

How to Care for Introverts (Understanding Our Gifted, November, 1988)
· Respect their need for privacy.
· Never embarrass them in public.
· Let them observe first in new situations.
· Give them time to think. Don't demand instant answers.
· Don't interrupt them.
· Give them advanced notice of expected changes in their lives.
· Give them 15 minute warnings to finish whatever they are doing before calling them to dinner or moving to the next activity.
· Reprimand them privately.
· Teach them new skills privately rather than in public.
· Enable them to find one best friend who has similar interests and abilities; encourage this relationship even if the friend moves.
· Do not push them to make lots of friends.
· Respect their introversion.
· Don't try to remake them into extroverts.

New Resources

Teaching the Unconventional Child by Randy Lee Comfort, Teacher Idea Press, 1992. This work describes the learning process, developmental differences, and variances in learning styles and provides teaching strategies to use with these children.

Aiming for Excellence: Gifted Program Standards edited by Landrum, Callahan and Shaklee, 2001. This is a service publication by the National Association for Gifted Children and provides annotations to the NAGC pre-K - grade 12 gifted program standards.

Multicultural Mentoring of the Gifted and Talented by Torrance, Goff and Satterfield, 1998. This book provides a contemporary view of helping ethnically diverse and economically disadvantaged youth through the use of mentoring.

A Teen's Guide to Getting Published by Dunn and Dunn, 1997. Written by published teens, this is a how-to in the business of writing and getting published in today's media markets.

Please direct comments, corrections and suggestions to
becky.whittenburg@bvsd.org