Date of Award
5-1-1986
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Center for Advancement of Education
Advisor
Dr. Joan Horn
Keywords
academically gifted, affective needs, boundary breakers, creative activities, demonstration lessons, differentiated curriculum, elementary education, elementary school teachers, gifted, gifted children, gifted education, gifted student identification, gifted students, gifted youth teacher attitudes, higher level thinking skills, inservice teacher education, inservice training program, intellectual needs, intermediate grades, multi-media workshops, posttest survey, primary education, regular classroom teachers, social-emotional development, teacher attitudes, teacher effectiveness, teacher response, teacher workshops, training materials utilization
Abstract
A ten week inservice training program in gifted education was developed and implemented for regular classroom teachers at the elementary school level. The goals were for the participants to show significant gains in identifying the gifted, in developing positive attitudes and in planning and utilizing appropriate methods and materials to meet their particular needs.
A local survey indicated that the majority of regular education teachers were not able to identify gifted students or to provide for their affective and intellectual needs. A creative inservice training program was developed to demonstrate effective gifted education strategies. Multi-media workshops presented information on identification, differentiated curriculum, and social-emotional development. Participation in Boundary Breakers, readings, creative activities, demonstration lessons, and higher level thinking skills involved all participants. The posttest survey indicated significant gains identifying the characteristics and needs of the gifted and in developing positive attitudes. The majority of the teachers could describe effective methods and materials to use with gifted students, although further training was recommended in order to fully utilize these strategies in the classroom on a regular basis. (Appendices include samples of all materials used in the inservice training.)