Los Angeles Unified School District
Office of Curriculum, Instruction, and School Support
Gifted/Talented Programs
Opening Meeting
Overview and Planning for GATE/SAS Coordinators
2012-2013
Contact Information
District Coordinator
LaRoyce Bell
District Specialists
Catherine Estrada
Dr. Lucy Hunt
Erin Yoshida-Ehrmann
District Specialist
Wynne Wong-Cheng
Psychological Services
Phone: (213) 241-6500
Fax: (213) 241-8975
333 S. Beaudry Ave., 25th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017
www.lausd.net/gate
www.facebook.com/LAUSDGATE
twitter.com/LAUSDGATE
Gifted/Talented Programs Goal
To identify gifted and talented students, including those
from diverse racial, socioeconomic, linguistic, and cultural
backgrounds, and provide high-quality differentiated
opportunities for learning that meet students’ particular
abilities and talents.
California Department of Education (CDE)
It’s All About Differentiation!
Differentiated instruction occurs when the standardsbased core curriculum is modified and includes these
non-negotiables:
 Acceleration (pacing)
 Depth
 Complexity
 Novelty
 Expectations appropriate to individual assessed interests,
needs, abilities, and learning styles
How are differentiated
instructional needs met?
 Implementing articulated programs that provide
more rigorous standards
 Organizing classrooms to provide differentiated
curriculum as an integrated part of the regular
school day
 Providing differentiated instruction for
gifted/talented students that builds on and
supplements the core curriculum
Clustering Models
To adhere to State/District policy, a local school must cluster students in
a well-defined way and provide a differentiated program. A cluster is a
minimum of 5-8 gifted students per class in elementary and 15-25 gifted
students per class in secondary. SAS schools not clustering students will
lose their funding. The clustering models are as follows:
Model 1: Team-Taught Cluster
Consists of two or more teachers working as a team with flexible grouping strategies in
core subjects
Model 2: Full Day
Consists of clusters, can be designated as Honors or AP (on the secondary level), and are
composed of 1) identified gifted students, 2) students who are being screened for
recommendation, and 3) students who are recommended for continued screening and
advanced instruction
Model 3: Self-Contained
Consists of all identified gifted students with an emphasis on acceleration and continuous
progress that is appropriate to individual needs (i.e. highly gifted or individualized
honors programs)
Model 4: Alternative Program Model
Schools with unique circumstances or requirements and cannot meet the clustering options
defined in the first three models (subject to approval by the Gifted/Talented Programs
office)
Model 2 (Full Day) is the MOST COMMON
form of clustering found in schools where
clusters of identified GATE, potentially gifted,
and students currently being screened are
grouped together all day.
Elementary
Clustering Recommendations
 Clusters should be 5-8 identified gifted students per classroom
(students should not be scattered by design or chance);
Students being screened for identification may also be included
in these classes
 Students who are identified mid-year must be provided a
differentiated curriculum, even if they are not in a “GATE”
class
Secondary
Clustering Recommendations
 Clusters should be 15-25 identified gifted students per classroom (students
should not be scattered by design or chance); Students being screened for
identification may also be included in these classes
 Students who are identified mid-year must be provided a differentiated
curriculum, even if they are not in a “GATE” class (or efforts should be
made to provide appropriate mid-year placement)
 Students should be placed in classes that meet their academic needs (i.e.
Honors, AP, etc.) as appropriate; A student identified in Specific Academic
Ability Math does not necessarily need to be placed in Honors English
 Classes designated as “Highly Gifted” should be filled as follows:
1) Identified Highly Gifted students*
2) Highly Gifted Applicable students
3) Other identified gifted students as appropriate
* The term “Highly Gifted” refers to those students scoring 99.9% on a
District psychologist-administered Intellectual assessment
FAQ Regarding Cluster Grouping
Q. Isn’t “cluster grouping” the same as “tracking”?
A. No. In a tracking system, all students are grouped by ability much
of the school day, and students tend to remain in the same track
throughout their school experience. Gifted students benefit from
learning together, and need to be placed with similar students in
their areas of strength (Hoover, Sayler, & Fedlhusen, 1993: Kulik
and Kulik, 1990; Rogers, 1993). Cluster grouping of gifted students
allows them to learn together, while avoiding permanent
grouping arrangements for students of other ability levels.
Winebrenner and Devlin (2001), Cluster Grouping of Gifted Students: How to Provide Full-time Services on a
Part-time Budget.
Research Synthesized by Dr. Karen Rogers:
Dr. Rogers used a “meta-analysis” approach and compiled all published and unpublished studies on specific strategies
or practices and calculates the “effect size” (ES) of each study outcome and averaged the effect sizes together.
(+.33 would be 3 grade equivalent school months of additional achievement)
Research-Based Strategy
Gifted “Track”
Effect Size
.49 elementary .33 secondary
Full Time Gifted Program
.33 K-12
Early Entrance to School
.49 academic
.20 social
Grade Skipping
.46 academic
.31 social
Cluster Grouping
.62 academic
Subject Acceleration
.57 academic
Advanced Placement
.27 academic
.24 social
Pullout for Enrichment
.65 academic
.44 critical thinking .32 creative
Mentorships
.47 academic
.40 social
Regrouping by Achievement Level for Instruction
Compacting
.79 math/reading
.83
Independent Study
Peer Tutoring/ Remediation
0
0 academic
Dr. Karen Rogers (1991). The Relationship of Grouping Practices to the Education of the Gifted and Talented Learners.
Recommended Guidelines for Grouping Gifted/Talented
Students from Dr. Karen Rogers
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Gifted and talented students should spend the majority of their
school day with others of similar abilities and interests
Cluster grouping of a small number of students within an otherwise
heterogeneously grouped classroom can be considered
Gifted and talented students might be offered specific group
instruction across grade levels
Gifted and talented students should be given experiences involving a
variety of appropriate acceleration-based options
Gifted and talented students should be given experiences which
involve various forms of enrichment
Mixed-ability cooperative learning should be used sparingly for gifted
and talented students, perhaps only for social skills development
programs