AIG Licensure Program

In 2015, I wrote about my personal philosophy of the gifted learner. I stated in my paper that, “Giftedness is not a one, set definition. The definition of gifted must encompass intellect, ability, creative talent as well as emotional awareness. It cannot be micro-managed and be a “one size fits all” definition” (Dauber, 2015). People, who are gifted, need differentiation and opportunity to express, demonstrate and show their giftedness. Educators must be able to provide opportunities for the gifted learner to express his/her abilities and/or talents. Gifted students learn differently and require special educational experiences in order to grow academically and achieve their highest potential. Therefore, the education field must be able to understand not only the cognitive side of a gifted learner but the affective or social/emotional aspects too.

Education was built, along with many other things, to the average standard. It was designed with the average student in mind, never really adapted towards those who grasps concepts quickly, accelerate at rapid rates beyond their peers. As gifted, or exceptionally intelligence children make up around 6 to 10 percent of the students within America, roughly 3 to 5 million students (“Gifted Education in the U.S”). But as America is behind in the general education, it is bounds behind in gifted education. Teachers aren’t equipped to challenge the gifted students, or simply have no time to spend developing and nurturing the child’s talents. Schools don’t have programs to help the children develop at their quicken pace, and programs in place aren’t

Middle school is a period of transition for adolescents. Students are no longer the children were once were in elementary school; they are beginning to mature into the adults they will need to become. Gifted learners at the middle-school level face the same developmental and tasks tasks and challenges that their peers do. Yet, gifted learners also possess traits that are different from their peers, which often make them misunderstood or ignored. The need for teachers to identify these students and differentiate instruction in a way that addresses the needs of the gifted students in the classroom is becoming more crucial than ever.

Education serves as the foundation to a lifetime of learning. Since every child is unique, I believe that it is important for them to learn in an environment that is both secure and stimulating. By creating this type of atmosphere, the students will be able to realize their intelligence and use it constructively. As a future educator, it will be my goal to establish a classroom that is, 1) non-authoritarian, 2) student-centered, and 3) focused around student experience. These three elements are part of Progressivism, the educational philosophy I plan to incorporate in my classroom.

Van Tassel-Baska, J. (2000). Theory and research on curriculum development for the gifted. In K.A. Heller, F.J. Monks, R. J. Sternberg & R.F. Subotnik (Eds.). International handbook of giftedness and talent (2nd ed., pp. 365–386). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

2 & 3. Use the most current versions of standardized tests that are going to be used to make a decision about admission into a gifted program and that norms are up-to-date and a good representation of

Many educators feel that teachers aren’t trained to teach gifted students. Teaching accountability has teachers focus more on

This often occurs due to testing being warped and using a single mode of assessment, such as focusing only on IQ scores, Rather than using a single mode of assessment, testing should include both intelligence and achievement data in order to fully determine if a student is both gifted and achieving, gifted and underachieving, or gifted but weak when it comes to academic or social skills. This would help significantly when it comes to determining placement decisions for students as well as help those gifted underachievers become achievers by teaching them study and language skills that they may currently be lacking. Recruitment for gifted education programs need to develop a more well-rounded philosophy, significant changes in the deciding

How would you define a student that is always reaching maximum achievement in school and continues to choose to go above and beyond what is necessary. This type of student is known as an AIG student. You may be wondering what AIG means exactly, it stands for an academically or intellectually gifted student. This type of student takes up between six to ten percent of the entire population of students in the United States. In this paper, I will include information about AIG students. I will also provide you with different perspectives and what their views are of AIG students.

AIG students are not just smart in the academic field, but are able to exceed in all areas,

The second reason is identifying students. If you have any student(s) that you think should be tested for the AIG (Academically Intellectually Gifted) program please email the student's name, grade level, and class period that they are with you if applicable. To help you make your recommendation I have included below the Common Characteristics of an AIG student and attached is a comparison chart, which is extremely helpful in this decision process. Please keep in mind that we test in math and reading; thus, a student can be a behavior problem and a student have a learning disability and be gifted. Please send your names to me by Monday (9/12/16) morning.

As a future teacher, I will spend hours planning and executing lessons, but when some lessons did not go well, I may wonder, “What happened and why? Also, this experience taught myself to be proactive. Teaching uses specific strategies for students such as re-reading the problems or supplying students with additional materials. So, I’m designing an environment that influences all areas of their development.

What it means to be an AIG student is a lot of things, most of them are academic but some aren’t. The academic parts of it is that you strive to be the best in a certain subject . Also you have to be responsible and turn in your work on and it actually be correct. Responsibility is a big part of Being an AIG student and it is a very important factor.

Ward, 2005); President Obama’s defunding of the Javits Act, as part of the federal budget in 2012 (Equity) (Stephens, 2011), and the passing of the TALENT Act under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015 (NAGC, n.d.). In short, the federal government’s support for gifted education has been inconsistent at best, and when compared to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which "guarantees all children between the ages of three and twenty-one with specifically identified disabilities a 'free appropriate public education' in the least restrictive environment in conformance with an Individualized Education Program” (Ward, 2005, p. 58) funding and support by federal government is severely lacking (Brown, 2008; Ward, 2005). Nevertheless, the TALENT Act (2015) is encouraging for gifted education as it promotes professional development to support high-ability students, seeks to recognize and respond to excellence gaps, makes student achievement data publicly available, and advocates for research and the distribution of research that supports best practices in gifted education (NAGC, n.d.). Likewise, the Javits Act continues to give hope to those who have been historically underrepresented in gifted education through the first of its two priorities, which is to support “Initiatives [that] develop and scale up models serving students who are underrepresented in gifted and talented programs” (USDOE, 2017).

Our gifted programming standards take several factors of a gifted student’s educational experience into account. Our primary goal is for each gifted student to develop well-rounded academically, socially, and emotionally.