Education of Special Populations of Gifted Students is one of five courses needed to complete the gifted endorsement. Participants will examine the many misconceptions of what it means to be gifted as well as the challenges and issues that face the diverse populations of gifted students. This course incorporates many of the issues central to multicultural education, special education, and at the same time it will allow participants to confront difficult questions of quality, educational excellence, prejudice, stereotyping, and discriminatory practices on the national, state, and local levels of education.

Duration: 8 weeks
Inservice: 60 points
Audience: Instructional K-12
Access to Students: Does not require access to students

Syllabus

Week 1: Defining Giftedness of Special Populations
Week 2: Identifying Gifted Students in Special Populations
Week 3: Low SES and LEP Gifted Students and Plan B
Week 4: Gifted and Physically Disabled Students
Week 5: Gifted Preschoolers and Gender Considerations
Week 6: Highly Gifted
Week 7: Inclusion for Gifted Students
Week 8: Effective Gifted Programs

Specific Objectives

Participants will:

• develop an awareness of the teacher’s own prejudices and stereotypes concerning students who are diverse gifted
• develop the awareness of intercultural competence in the teacher and advocacy for underserved populations of gifted students
• develop an awareness of the cognitive, physical, and affective characteristics of diverse gifted children
• develop an awareness of skills to assist in the screening and identification process
• develop an awareness of the process and content of individual psychological testing and alternate assessment in the identification of the gifted
• develop an awareness of the roles and functions of various systems that support teachers working to meet the needs of children from diverse populations who are gifted
• develop an awareness of the basic issues involved with the planning, development, and implementation of programs for diverse gifted children

Implementation

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

• increased identification of gifted students in special populations
• increased student achievement in the classroom
• increased effective gifted programs for the special populations of gifted students

Materials

None

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