Curriculum Development for the Gifted is one of five courses needed to complete the gifted endorsement. Participants will learn how to plan, develop, implement, and evaluate curriculum and instruction for gifted learners. Participants will learn how to write an interdisciplinary unit incorporating technology, differentiation, alternative assessments and products. We recommend the other four courses as prerequisite for Curriculum so strategies and understanding of gifted learners will be evident in the final unit.

Duration: 8 weeks
Inservice: 60 points
Audience: Instructional K-12
Access to Students: No

Syllabus

Week 1: What is differentiated instruction?
Week 2: What are the principles of differentiated curriculum for gifted learners?
Week 3: What are the strengths and weaknesses of various curriculum models?
Week 4: What curricular components are essential to meet the cognitive and affective needs of gifted learners?
Week 5: How do exemplary teachers of the gifted select and use appropriate resources?
Week 6: How do exemplary teachers of the gifted assess demonstration of mastery?
Week 7: What continuum of services would be appropriate to meet the needs of gifted learners?
Week 8: How can educators of the gifted communicate and advocate effectively with their many constituencies?

Specific Objectives

Participants will:

• demonstrate knowledge of the principles of differentiation for designing appropriate curriculum for gifted students
• compare and contrast models for teaching critical thinking, problem solving, and decision-making skills
• demonstrate methods of curriculum compacting and pacing appropriate in meeting the needs of gifted students
• demonstrate the ability to organize the learning space to offer individual, small and large group contexts for learning

Implementation

Evidence that course content has been transferred to daily instruction might include:

• increased student achievement in the classroom
• increased implementation of Educational Goals in the classroom
• increased differentiation of curriculum for gifted students
• increased acceleration of curriculum for gifted students

Inservice

• complete all assignments
• participate each week in the Discussion Area
• score at least 80% or higher on post test

To receive the inservice points, all course requirements must be completed independently by the participant and not plagiarized from any other source or person.

Prerequisites

Participants must possess the following computer skills and software to participate in this course:

• an understanding of your computer’s operating system and software
• the ability to access the Internet and knowledge of Internet search techniques
• the ability to download and install files from the Internet
• an up-to-date antivirus software package