Program Policy for Gifted/Talented at UT Elementary School
The mission of the UTES GT program is to differentiate instruction for those students who are prepared for more challenging curricula, and to meet the social and emotional needs of the gifted child.
We have a thorough and effective program for identifying gifted students which includes teacher and parent surveys, teacher observation sheets, portfolio entrees, and CogAT testing, which is all reviewed and analyzed by a committee. We have universal screening in 2nd grade with CogAT which is a nonverbal cognitive abilities test, combined with portfolio products.
Our teachers are trained to extend lessons and provide opportunity for greater depth of learning through the use of Project Based Learning, Cooperative Learning with homogeneous grouping, and Individual Learning Contracts such as those provided in TPSP (Texas Performance Standards Project). The clustering model of grouping these students provides the opportunity for collaboration and socialization to meet the gifted students’ needs. It provides daily service as opposed to a once-a-week pull-out program, In addition, our restructuring of special area classes has greatly enhanced the service to our gifted population. Our special area classes include STEAM, Music/Orchestra, PE, and Spanish.
All students who have previously been identified gifted are admitted into the program. Nominated students will have the option to participate in assessment to determine eligibility for the program after one semester at UTES according to district guidelines.
