January 25th, 2023

8:15-12:00

Monroe County Schools

● Introduction to the TABs Referral Form

○ Core attributes, pervasive in any background

○ Building background, the “why” for the assessment

● What changes need to be made to address the underrepresentation of students in the

gifted program.

○ Diverse social or religious interests, numeric minority (economically

disadvantaged), racially diverse, culturally different, “at risk”.

● Chart displaying demographic breakdown (Walton County School Data) in the format

from the presentation was unfamiliar to the educators, found to be extremely helpful.

● Talent Development- Are we serving kids who have talent?

○ A shift in thinking

○ “In spite of gifted education/ the kids we identify.”

○ Focus on retention, developing students’ talents, responding programmatically

● Systemic barriers to gifted education

● Question posed for discussion: What are your concerns for underrepresentation at your

school?

○ Answered individually on notecards, then worked in partners to discuss some of

the ideas they wrote down.

■ Bias

■ Focus on behavior
 ■ New students

■ Influence of parents

■ Poverty/ Low Income

■ Low expectations

■ Traditions

■ ESOL

● Categories

○ Time Limits (No Opportunity for Creativity)

○ Background Experiences

○ Mental Health Issues (Rising)/ Social Emotional Needs/ Trauma

○ Teacher Expectations/ Attitudes

○ Grouping Practices

● Exercise with Matthew and Trinity

○ Which of these children would you refer for gifted education?

○ Why or why not?

● Metaphor of the Tree

○ All we can see in real life is the portion of the tree above the ground.

○ We cannot see the important functions helping to keep the tree alive, because the

root system is under the ground.

○ Similarly, we cannot measure giftedness directly.

● Dr. Frasier’s 10 Core Attributes

○ Inquiry

○ Motivation
○ Communication Skills

○ Memory

○ Reasoning

○ Humor

○ Interests

○ Problem Solving

○ Insight

○ Imagination/ Creativity.