Overview of the Gifted Education Program at Birchwood

Following leading scholars in the field of gifted education and talent development (Abraham Tannenbaum and Francois Gagne) we hold that giftedness is measured through achievement and accomplishment in respective fields of work and study. This has two implications for the education of gifted children. First, the school must not only identify high intelligence, but it also must help children develop the habits and attitudes that will enable them to bring their giftedness from potential to fulfillment. Second, it is important that the education of gifted learners mirrors the knowledge base, habits of mind, work procedures, and products inherent in respective subject disciplines. Students should have the opportunities to be involved in subject matter like real historians, scientists, mathematicians, and writers. Having this view, we can differentiate the curriculum, providing for higher orders of thinking. The content can be broad and sophisticated while the thinking processes and finished products can reflect those in professional fields.

Classroom application:

To accommodate the gifted population at Birchwood School we use three strategies - immersion, acceleration and enrichment.

We use the word immersion to describe how we involve gifted students in the essential structure of subject matter, guiding them to model the work of professionals in the field. Gifted learners are given the opportunity to explore typical course topics more broadly or in more depth. In addition, the content can be made more extensive or complex, while the thinking processes may require higher orders of thinking such as analysis or synthesis. Furthermore, students may also display their knowledge of subjective matter through a variety of products.

Acceleration, known to be the most effective means to accommodate gifted learners (Lubinski,  Colangelo, Assouline), allows children to proceed through the scope and sequence of subject matter more rapidly. Methods of acceleration vary widely, but the main goal is to remove ceilings for learning, expanding the opportunities for cognitive growth.

Enrichment activities describe learning opportunities beyond the core curriculum. These include: foreign language studies – Spanish, Latin, Greek, programming in Logo and other languages, preparation for academic competitions - math, writing, science, and history, reading clubs that enjoy and discuss classic literature, Junior Great Books, creativity and innovation classes including participation in Future Problem Solving, leadership and character development classes.  

Examples of Acceleration:

Examples of Immersion:

1. In a reading unit focusing on historical fiction, teachers will provide       
    additional literature choices for good readers on multiple ability levels.
2. Math classes provide extensive problem solving practice that 
    develops reasoning abilities and problem solving strategies.
3. In the social studies and science classrooms, teachers provide 
    opportunities for broad reading on each topic and arrange questioning     strategies so that students may study the material from a more    
    sophisticated viewpoint.
4. During writing classes, students are shown how to upgrade the  
    caliber of their work and submit it for publication. Students regularly 
    submit work to Cricket Magazine, Scholastic, Ohio Celebration of 
    Poets, Cleveland Bar Association, and Letters About Literature.
5. Although all students participate in National History Day, highly able 
    students are shown how to do in-depth primary and secondary  
    research, how to analyze their topic in greater depth, and how to 
    prepare their final product for competition on a national level.
6. Students facile in basic computing skills may choose to study 
    programming languages, graphic design software, and multi-media 
    software in middle school.

Examples of Enrichment: