Today we embark on a new path in the field of Gifted & Talented Education in our school district with the advent of Flexible Grouping! These high ability groups will function like a PACE group, but will allow students who fall in the top 85% or higher in their class the opportunity to receive the proper challenges of the curriculum that they need, but are not currently receiving PACE services.
We are changing the culture- from one of exclusivity to more inclusive and the goal is to help as many students as we can via this process. The statistics show that flexible, high-ability groups work and the students' scores on tests are higher as well, because they are being challenged. The goal of these groups is to give high-ability students the materials and curriculum necessary to help them see their potential and learn from this type of community. Hearing different perspectives from peers is vital to that process!
I am excited to be starting these groups in Language Arts and the good thing is we have been doing this in Math for a number of years and it has been successful! Math Olympiad is the same flexible, high-ability group in the area of Mathematics and students have really prospered from this experience. As with any new adventure there will be bumps in the road, areas for improvement, but ultimately we are making a difference in students' lives and that is what matters!
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