The Byron Union School District GATE program is designed with eligibility criteria
that is comprehensive in nature and addresses the whole child. In the student selection process we utilize
state standardized testing information, local assessments, the Raven
instrument, and teacher input.
One of our major focus areas during the school year 2008-2009
will be Differentiated Instructional Strategies for all students. With our gifted population, the objective will
be to promote metacognition and deeper-level thinking skills. The system and process that will be in place
to ensure consistency of opportunity for GATE students throughout the
curriculum will be our Response to Intervention (RTI) process. All teachers will be reporting out to a site-level team regarding their students, including gifted students. The GATE mentors will ensure that the general
education teachers are providing enriched curriculum and experience for GATE
students through observation and conversation.
The mentoring process will include both accountability and ongoing support and guidance. The
District will provide ongoing opportunities for staff development in best
practices of powerful teaching and learning.
However, we realize our most effective avenue to ensure that all
teachers provide quality experience for our GATE students will be through the
ongoing mentoring process.
The District-level GATE Advisory Group includes Counselors
and guidance personnel that will address the special needs that gifted/ high
achieving students may present. This
includes a comprehensive guidance plan to meet the needs of all students. All of our sites have assigned Counselors
that are available to all students and their families. The Counselors provide ongoing support along
with crisis-type intervention as needed.
The Counselors will provide information and support to teachers during
the ongoing RTI meetings in relation to all students, and the specialized needs
of gifted students.
Our GATE mentors will be attending specific training that will support their efforts to effectively provide ongoing support to our teaching staff. The training includes a
wide range of topics and experiences to address the enrichment opportunities
for gifted students. The trainings are
in-depth and address the emotional and academic needs of the gifted students. Our mentors will utilize their knowledge and
skill to provide ongoing training and support for staff. Finally, our parent meetings will be a means to
support the needs of the gifted student and their families.
The Byron Union School District has a very active and
supportive level of parent involvement.
Parent involvement will be an element of our Advisory group, including a
process for program evaluation and planning.
We have outreach processes in place throughout our District, at each
site, that encourage parent awareness and involvement in the GATE
program. Announcements are placed in
District Newsletters, School Bulletins, and the local newspapers, informing parents of
the open enrollment for our GATE program.
Our process for reviewing the GATE program will be based
upon a number of criteria, including formal and informal assessments. We will be conducting Parent surveys
regarding their experience with the GATE program, along with their suggestions
for improvement. The assessment process
for our GATE program is similar to that of the evaluation process utilized for
all of our instructional programs. This
includes the reflection on Data that leads us into conversations pertaining to
what is working in the program and what we need to do to improve. This reflective process of evaluation
includes consideration of student achievement data (i.e., STAR testing, local
assessments), and feedback from all stakeholders, as we target
program improvement.
Byron Union School District, as we move into our system and
structure of Response to Intervention, will be developing a process that
will allow us to consider and align all categorical programs and funding, in an
effort to meet the needs of all students.
This process, often referred to as Communities of Practice, will
allow us, in a collaborative effort, to allocate monies to target various student
populations, including services for gifted students.
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