THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOOKS
New programs to focus on students gifted in the arts and technical fields
NEWPORT NEWS – By September 2020, there will be new options for advanced learners in Newport News.
Those who are talented in the visual arts and theater or career and technical fields will have an option of a thirdthrough fifth-grade gifted program in the 2020-21 school year.
The idea is to give students who are gifted in ways that aren’t purely academic a chance to receive the additional instruction that speaks to their abilities, said Kimberly Beckerdite, gifted services supervisor.
“That’s the whole point; we need to think beyond just the typical idea of what gifted is and expand that, and that’s what we’re doing,” Beckerdite said. “There is no typical definition of a gifted child, and they’re all unique.”
The division currently serves about 2,700 students in its academic gifted program, about 11 percent of the division’s total enrollment. Kindergartners through secondgraders at all elementary schools are served with pullout programs, meaning they use a block of regular class time, usually the intervention/ enrichment block, to frequently receive gifted instruction.
Sixteen elementary schools have full-time classes for thirdthrough fifth-graders. This year, three schools also serve second-graders full time, which will be phased out by next year.
Five middle school sites — Achievable Dream, Dozier, Gildersleeve, Hines and Huntington at Heritage — also offer full-time classes. High school options include the honors, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate coursework, dual-enrollment for college credit and the Governor’s School for Science and Technology at New Horizons.
To be identified as gifted, students can be referred by parents, teachers or an administrator for testing. They need to place within the top 90th percentile ranking on an aptitude test, among other indicators such as academic progress and classroom observations, to be eligible. All second- and fifth-graders are screened.
All types of gifted students may be out-of-the-box thinkers, have problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and show empathy more readily than their peers.
But some with vivid imaginations or who have demonstrated the ability to express emotions through art or music might fit into the visual and performing arts program. And those who see patterns easily and quickly can grasp STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — concepts might be a match for the career and technical classes.
“Kids have different talents and different abilities and I think it’s really exciting that the new plan is going to have opportunities to identify students that don’t necessarily fit into that overall gifted category, but are gifted in the visual or performing arts or gifted in the career or technical field,” said Stacey Bueter, a member of Newport News’ talent and gifted advisory board. Bueter — the mother of two daughters who have progressed through the gifted program — and the other parents on the board helped review the new plan.
There’s still a lot of work to be done. Teachers — and parents — will need to be trained and informed on how to identify those students who aren’t traditionally academically gifted who might fit into the new programs.
The referral process is being revised to include a test for the career and technical aptitude program. Students in the two new programs also may need a portfolio of work — which could be drawings — or an audition to be considered.
Twenty of the 95 elementary teachers currently in gifted classrooms are gifted endorsed, which comes after a series of coursework. Another 14 are working on their endorsement, Beckerdite said.
To augment that training, the division offers professional development for how to differentiate learning between gifted and non-gifted students who still need the same general curriculum. That training will also happen for teachers adding on the career and tech and visual arts classes in 2020, she said.
The STEM, career and technical education, and visual and performing arts departments will collaborate with the gifted staff to develop curriculum units for the new programs, which will be based around standards that the state Department of Education lays out. So what, exactly, the lessons and projects look like is still to be determined.
Currently, there are two gifted resource teachers who supplement the gifted instruction by teaching foreign language, and one other who serves as a mentor for current teachers. The new gifted plan calls for rebuilding that team of resource teachers, which was slimmed this year as the program was restructured, Beckerdite said.
Adding the new programs may have another benefit of serving more “twice-exceptional” students, those who are both gifted and have a disability.
“Often times with twiceexceptional students, their disabilities may mask their giftedness, as well as their giftedness may mask their disabilities,” Beckerdite said. “And so by having a visual and performing arts, those specific gifts may shine, and they may flourish in the visual and performing arts program, and that gives them another way to show those talents.
“We have been focused on the gifted aspect for so long because of the academic program, I think this is a wonderful opportunity for Newport News Public Schools to focus on the talented aspect of it.” Jane Hammond, 757-247-4951, ejhammond@daily press.com, @byjanehammond