Gifted Service Design
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A flexible system of viable options that provide a learning continuum is developed throughout the district and reinforces the strengths, needs and interests of gifted and talented students.
SISD practices site-based management. Site-based management allows each school to make decisions about the best way to serve their unique populations. Each school recognizes the importance of serving GT students as a group, allowing GT students to work with other students, and giving GT students the opportunity to work independently.
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Identified K-5 grade students are served in regular classrooms through the four core academic areas. Modifications for content, process, and product are made for gifted and talented students, and these modifications are noted and kept in teachers’ lesson plans. In addition, elementary students may be served through a “pull out” during the week for enriched, in-depth, challenging activities to work on with other gifted children. Teachers at all grade levels in the elementary schools require GT students to work independently on projects that require complex, abstract, and higher-level thinking skills, while challenging these students to produce “new” ideas.
**Each K-5 identified GT student will complete at least one Texas Performance Standard Project or other approved project for the current school year. -
At the middle school level, students are served in the four core areas in pre-AP and regular classes in their area/s of strength, working with other students and in specific cluster groups through a differentiated curriculum. Teachers develop modification plans for their GT students each nine weeks. These modifications include plans for students to work independently on projects and research that requires high-level thinking and producing.
All middle school GT students participate in the Texas Performance Standards Project or other approved project-based assignment, developing an in-depth, long term project. In addition to serving the students in regular classrooms, many schools schedule their GT students into specific advisory/activity periods and/or gifted and talented classes. As with the middle school concept, an additional special focus on social and emotional issues specific to preteen/teen GT students is added to the advisory/activity period when the classes are available at a campus.
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Identified GT students at the high schools are allowed to make curriculum choices from a wide array of magnet programs throughout the district. Students are encouraged to make choices for a specific magnet program that meets their learning interests. GT students may also opt to enroll in Advanced Placement courses or in GT courses in particular subject areas not included in the magnet programs. Dual Credit courses are available at all campuses for students interested in earning both high school and college credit concurrently. The International Baccalaureate Program (IB) is available at El Dorado High School. Early College High Schools available on all campuses provide students the opportunity to earn an Associate's degree while in high school.
High school teachers who are serving GT students in AP/IB/GT/DC classes differentiate instructional techniques to allow students to use their knowledge and be full participants while learning the sophisticated content offered in AP/IB/GT/DC courses. Courses that support the Texas Performance Standards Project are available at all high schools.
Differentiated Curriculum and Instruction Methods
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Special consideration and planning are given to curriculum and instructional delivery for GT students in the Socorro Independent School District. Adjustments to the level, pace, complexity and depth of learning for GT students are planned and implemented in grades K-12. Changes to the processes in which GT children learn allow teachers to work as facilitators in the education of GT students and allow students to become active seekers of knowledge.
Curriculum and instructional delivery methods that are differentiated include independent and/or research projects, simulation studies, learning centers both in and out of the classroom, compacted studies, and student-selected studies. Teachers employ the use of pre-testing and post-testing to determine student readiness and mastery of material in order to offer alternative choices for acceleration and enrichment.
Critical and creative thinking strategies are practiced in classrooms via investigations, questioning strategies, and active discussions. Independent studies, research, and authentic projects and products are all part of the curricular strategies implemented in the Socorro Independent School District. The Socorro Independent School District utilizes the Texas Performance Standards Projects and/or other approved projects at all grade levels.
Additional Opportunities
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Socorro Independent School District offers students at Elementary, Middle School and High School the opportunity to participate in rigorous, TEKS and College Readiness Standards based competitions. For more information on how you can join a UIL team, contact the UIL coordinator at your school.
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GT campus coordinators may register their GT students in the regional Team Quest competition hosted by Adventures in Learning. For more information about this academic competition opportunity, visit the Adventures in Learning website.
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AcaDec is a program that provides high school students an opportunity to experience the challenges of rigorous academic competition through participation in team activities. Visit the Academic Decathlon website for more information: https://www.usad.org/.