3/4/13 Goals for This Session
GIFTED STUDENTS AND THE COMMON CORE:
IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
•  Gain A Better Understanding Of The Common
Core Standards as they Impact Gifted Learners
•  Learn Strategies for Differentiating Task Demands
and Activities for the Gifted
•  Learn Practical Applications for Applying the
Tamra Stambaugh, Ph.D.
Common Core Standards to Student Assessment
Assistant Research Professor of Special Education
Executive Director, Programs for Talented Youth
Vanderbilt University
This is NOT:
Training on PARCC or Smarter-Balanced
Common Core:
Shifts from Previous Standards
What do we know about gifted learners that matches
the Common Core Shifts?
•  Integrating multiple standards into more
•  Integrating multiple
complex tasks
•  Ensuring conceptual understanding
•  Mastery of content
•  Use of content-discipline terminology
•  Explanation of ideas and tasks
•  Real-world problems
•  From - Advances in the PARCC Assessment
standards into more
complex tasks
•  Ensuring conceptual
understanding
•  Mastery of content
•  Use of content-discipline
terminology
•  Explanation of ideas and
tasks
•  Real-world problems
•  Complexity of thought
and ideas
•  Decontextualists –
Whole to part thinking
•  Fewer reviews to master
content
•  Intensity and Sensitivity
of Issues
Why should gifted education care about
the Common Core?
Why should gifted education care about
the Common Core?
•  TIMSS, PISA, and other international comparisons
•  An opportunity for growth and collaboration with regular
demonstrate that high end learners in the US are less
competitive than their international peers
•  The majority of gifted students are “served” in general
education classrooms and are required to take state
assessments
•  Not all gifted students score proficient on state
assessments
•  In the current economic climate, gifted programs must
integrate, collaborate and be held accountable for student
growth in order to demonstrate viability
education and within the field of gifted.
•  Students may access more rigorous standards throughout
the day, which would impact direct gifted education
services and ensure access to advanced education.
•  CC standards align with and validate gifted education best
practices, such as concept-based learning, integration of
disciplines, and inquiry-based options.
•  Some gifted education classrooms focus on less robust
content than in the general education classroom.
1 3/4/13 Gifted Achievement Gap: Discrepancy
between potential and performance
Misconception #1:
Once the Common Core standards are taught we will meet
the needs of gifted in the general classroom.
•  The Case of Tennessee:
•  Performance on NAEP across ten years of high stakes
testing remains “languid” for the gifted while all other
groups show growth (Fordham Foundation, 2008)
•  Underachievement among the majority of gifted students
– especially underrepresented populations
•  Teachers report spending less time and attention on high
performers in the classroom than on low performers
(Fordham, 2008)
Misconception #2:
Gifted students will struggle with Common Core and as such will not
need differentiation
•  We have had low expectations for all students – especially when compared to
other nations.
•  Gifted students learn at a pace that is faster in pace and depth of
understanding.
NAEP, 12th Grade Science
•  Is a hamburger an example of stored energy? Explain why or why not.
Applying Knowledge and Reasoning Skills to Real-World Situations
•  (Sweden, year 5)
•  Carl bikes home from school at four o’clock. It takes about a quarter of an
hour. In the evening, he’s going back to school because the class is having a
party. The party starts at 6 o’clock. Before the class party starts, Carl has to
eat dinner. When he comes home from school, his grandmother, who is also
his neighbor, calls. She wants him to bring in her post before he bikes over to
the class party. She also wants him to take her dog for a walk, then to come
in and have a chat. What does Carl have time to do before the party begins?
Write and describe below how you have reasoned.
Misconception #4:
Gifted education instruction should avoid the Common
Core content and focus on isolated problem solving
•  “Compared to Tennessee’s stated goal of proficiency for all its students
by 2014, as well as in relation to the standards and proficiency levels of
other states, Tennessee’s standards were simply not high
enough.” (International Center for Leadership in Education)
State
% Proficient in Reading
% Proficient in Math
Tennessee
88% (NAEP: 28% proficient /
2% advanced – 2009)
87% (NAEP: 21% proficient/
4% advanced)
North Carolina
82%
91%
Iowa
77%
80%
Florida
71%
63%
California
48%
51%
Misconception #3:
Teachers will be able to differentiate for gifted
learners in the general classroom
.
•  Less than 17% of educators have had any
training in gifted education
•  Most gifted students spend over 90% of their time
in the general education classroom with teachers
who are not equipped to meet their needs
•  Westberg studies on differentiation
Rigor Relevance Framework
International Center for Leadership in Education ©
and critical thinking skills
•  Rogers, 2007
•  Meta-analysis: .32 effect when isolated skills and a .65
effect when linked to accelerated content standards
•  Developing Expertise
•  Linked to Advanced Content of the Discipline
•  Employs Advanced Processes, Sources, and Language
of the Field
•  Reflection and Practice
•  National Research Council, 2000
2 3/4/13 RIGOR AND RELEVANCE FOR ALL
OUR RESPONSE FOR GIFTED
Emphasis on Rigor and
Relevance defined as:
•  Adjust AND Accelerate all levels of curriculum, instruction,
• Conceptual Understanding,
Procedural Skills and Fluency,
Application (CCSS, PARCC)
Teach advanced skills to gifted students by adjusting all
levels: standards, resources, tasks, and assessments
CC Reading
Standards
Adaptation for
Gifted
Sample
differentiated
task demand
Assessment
Indicators for
Gifted
(Key Ideas and
Details)
Compare and contrast two or
more characters, settings, or
events in a story or drama,
drawing on specific details in
the text (e.g., how characters
interact).
Compare and contrast two or
more characters, settings, and
events in a story or drama,
drawing on specific details in
the text and explain how the
similarities and differences
contribute to the theme of the
text.
Create a reality TV competition 1.  Linkage of characterization to
show (eg., American Idol) in
theme or concept
which you rate 2 or more
2.  Accurate depiction of events
characters, settings and events in
and interactions
a text as to how well they depict 3.  Use of specific evidence to
a major theme of the text. Give
justify ideas/ratings
specific details that support your
ratings (eg. Both MC Higgins,
the Great, and his father, Jones,
Provide challenging resource embody the theme of
with more figurative language “overcoming prejudice”.)
and inferential learning.
and assessment
•  Materials
•  Task Demands
•  Assessments
•  Standards
•  Approaches
•  Emphasis on Complex and Multi-Faceted Layers – Depth
and Complexity
Grade 3
Ask and answer questions to
demonstrate understanding of
a text, referring explicitly to
the text as the basis for the
answers.
Grade 5
Quote accurately from a text
when explaining what the text
says explicitly and when
drawing inferences from the
text.
Students select a line from Carl Sandburg’s
poem “Fog” and make an inference on what
the author meant.
Grade 8
Cite the textual evidence that
most strongly supports an
analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences
drawn from the text.
Students identify one idea that is
communicated in Carl Sandburg’s poem
“Chicago” and select lines of text to support
their analysis. Students will write a poem about
their own hometown, using “Chicago” as a
model.
•  Studied a concept in multiple applications or
situations
•  Conducted original research based on an
appropriate question
•  Incorporated multiple standards
•  Developed a product based on data
•  Provided evidence to support key ideas
•  Decided among differing ideas (evaluate)
•  Incorporates advanced resources
Advanced
Students ask and answer student and teachercreated questions regarding what the plot says
about courage and the life of women in the 19th
century, using textual references.
Product option: Multimedia project that
characterizes courage? (makes it more
difficult).
Students define personification and select a line
from Carl Sandburg’s poem “Fog” and describe
how Sandburg uses personification to enhance
his meaning.
Product option: Create your own personification
poem using “Fog” as a model or add an
additional stanza to “Fog.”
Students describe how Sandburg’s tone of
“Chicago” changes from the beginning to the
end of the poem, using textual evidence to
support their analysis. Students will write a
poem about their own hometown as “Chicago”
as a model.
Product option: Students can create a
multimedia presentation of the poem “Chicago.”
Why can’t all students have a different product
option? What makes this multimedia
presentation differentiated if it is just
comprehension like the typical example as it
doesn’t incorporate tone. This should be with
the typical and a more complex example could
be adding music and color to create tone in a
way that illustrates the poem.
Grade 12
Features of Task Demands that Are
Differentiated and Have Rigor and
Relevance:
Typical
Students ask and answer student and teacher
created questions regarding the plot of Patricia
MacLachlan’s Sarah, Plain, and Tall, explicitly
referring to the text to form the basis of their
answers.
Students cite strong and thorough textual
At the end of “Ode to a Grecian Urn,” Keats
Sample Task Demand CCS
•  Students determine the meaning of the
metaphor of a cat in Carl Sandburg’s poem
“Fog” and contrast that figurative language to
the meaning of the simile in William Blake’s
“The Echoing Green.” [RL.5.4]
Center for Gifted Education – School of Education – The College of William and Mary
3 3/4/13 Modification for the Gifted
Math Standard to Practice
•  Students provide evidence to support how figurative
CC Math: Measurement and Data
CCR 3.MD.8
language is used to emphasize the theme of redemption
in the following stories:
•  Declaration of Independence
•  An Excerpt from Les Miserables
Sample Task
***************************************************
Using the following criteria, create a model of an aquarium and
explain its make-up:
• Specifications of tank size
• Number and type of fish and plants
• Light & water filtration system
• Setting
• What variables are most important to consider in constructing
your aquarium. Why?
• How would you describe your aquarium as a living system?
Students add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals to the hundreths using
concrete models or drawings; related the strategy to a written method and
explain the reasoning used. CCS 5NBT7
Tell and write time to the nearest
minute and measure time
intervals in minutes. Solve word
problems involving addition and
subtraction of time intervals in
minutes (on number lines, in
graphs, and in words).
Standard to Practice
What would this look like in practice in
a general education classroom? What
would you expect to see?
What would this look like in practice
with mathematically gifted learners?
The Fans Have to Eat
Using provided data from the previous two years,
decide on an amount of food to order for this year's
concession stand at the local football stadium.
Compile a list of food recommendations, amounts, and
cost analyses.
Justify your recommendations by writing a persuasive
argument to convince the Athletic Booster Club of the
needed amount of food. Attach your cost analysis to
the ordering justification for this year s football
season.
Queen Anne’s Island
Team, you are needed right away! Queen Anne’s Island,
located off the Northeastern shore, is in an
environmental crisis. Many of its water sources have
become polluted from industry and traffic. Its
farmland has eroded and the air has become
increasingly dangerous to breathe.
We need your help to assist Queen Anne’s Island in
conserving its natural resources. Create a plan to
combat erosion and pollution. Be prepared to present
a plan to present to the board.
From Games for Fun and Practice
4 3/4/13 THE POWER OF “THAT” & “AND”
Your turn…
•  Create a new ending to the story
that incorporates the theme of
ending to the
beauty and includes symbolism
story
• 
Create a problem that illustrates
•  Create a new
math problem to the differences between the
distributive and associative
teach a friend
property and shows your work.
•  Create a playground that is to
•  Create your ideal
playground and scale, illustrates at least three
simple machines, and uses
defend your
recyclable materials.
creation.
Design an activity, PBL, or task
demand for your students that
employs standards from three
different CC outcomes and is
differentiated.
•  Create a new
Features of Task Demands that Are
Differentiated and Have Rigor and
Relevance:
•  Studied a concept in multiple applications or
situations
•  Conducted original research based on an
appropriate question
•  Incorporated multiple standards
•  Developed a product based on data
•  Provided evidence to support key ideas
•  Decided among differing ideas (evaluate)
•  Incorporates advanced resources
Features of A Differentiated
Assessments
•  Emphasis on thinking and problem solving –
•  Advanced/off-level
•  Open-ended
•  Emphasis on articulation of thinking processes
•  Real world
•  Uses multiple content standards
•  Establishes criteria
Center for Gifted Education – School of Education – The College of William and Mary
http://www.assessmentsforcommoncore.com/pdf/Common-Core-eGuide.pdf
5 3/4/13 seed
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Size
inches
3/4
1/2
1/4
3/4
7/8
3/4
1/8
3/8
1/2
Complete the line plot below to represent the data in the
table.
SEED MEASUREMENTS
______________________________
1/8 2/8 3/8 4/8 5/8 6/8 7/8 1
What is the difference in size, in inches, between Gilbert’s
largest seed and his smallest seed? Show your work in the
space below. Write your answer on the line.
http://www.assessmentsforcommoncore.com/pdf/Common-Core-eGuide.pdf
http://www.assessmentsforcommoncore.com/pdf/Common-Core-eGuide.pdf
Sample Item-Performance Event
(Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium)
Assess the cost-effectiveness of Ms. Johnson’s new insulation and
window sealing. You will need to research on “heating degree days”
on the internet. In your response, you must do the following:
Ø Compare Ms. Johnson’s gas bills from Jan. 2007 and Jan. 2008.
Ø Explain Ms. Johnson’s savings after the insulation and sealing.
Ø Identify circumstances under which Ms. Johnson’s Jan. 2008 gas bill
would have been at least 10% less than her Jan. 2007 bill.
Ø Decide if the insulation and sealing work on Ms. Johnson’s house was
cost-effective and provide evidence for this decision.
Use the boxes below to write 3 different equations whose
sum is equal to 5/6.
___ + ___ = 5
6
___ + ___ + ____ = 5
6
___ + ___ = 5
6
(AP and NAEP assessment protocol are being used for
development of constructive response items)
http://www.assessmentsforcommoncore.com/pdf/Common-Core-eGuide.pdf
Sample Outcomes and Assessment
ASSESSMENTS CAN BECOME PART
OF THE TASK DEMAND WHEN
DIFFERENTIATING FOR THE GIFTED
Outcomes:
•  Students will be able to analyze different points of view on a given
topic or issue.
•  Students can write about what they read
•  Students make inferences from primary sources
•  Students take a stand on an argument
Assessment:
(Controlled setting response: 50 minutes)
Given the issue of human cloning, identify three different
stakeholder groups in society who would have different
perspectives on this issue; analyze each of their
perspectives and the reasons behind it in a well-developed
essay.
6 3/4/13 Who Stole the Principal’s Water?
Dear Students,
I vacationed at ocean this summer and collected some
ocean water as a souvenir. It was in my office. When
I walked into my office this morning, after working
with the janitor to fix the air conditioning, my water
was gone!
My water dish was still in my office and this white
powdery substance was in the bottom. I need your
help to determine what happened. Did someone steal
my water or is there a scientific explanation? Will you
please research this?
I need you to write a convincing argument with
evidence that I can give to the police so they know
whether or not to investigate.
Sample Item
Year Round School
Name _____________
Think of all of the positive and negative effects of the following situation, and
record them in the chart below:
Situation: You have been told that your school
will go on a year-round schedule next year.
Positive Effect
Negative Effect
A Sample Task Demand Incorporating Multiple
Standards Across Content Areas
Ask students to design an experiment to test a question of
interest to them:
Examples:
A. Do people prefer Product X over Product Y?
B. Are ants attracted to sugar?
C. Are girls more addicted to computers than
boys?
A research report must be prepared and presented, using
technology applications. Be sure to address your
hypothesis,your data collection techniques, appropriate
data tables, your conclusions, and your implications of the
findings based on your original question.
Tips for Creating Performance-Based
Assessments
•  Ensure it matches the standards assessed
•  Make sure it is open-ended to showcase knowledge
•  Make the rubric accelerated
•  Provide meaningful feedback or exemplars after
assessment is completed
•  Be clear about expectations
Choose one positive effect and explain your thinking about why it would be
positive. ______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Planning and Assessing Progress
Standards
Standards
Adapted for
Gifted
Specific Task
Demand with
Assessment
Instructions
Assessment
Measures
Resources
http://corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_ELA
%20Standards.pdf (ELA CCSS)
http://corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_Math
%20Standards.pdf (Math CCSS)
http://www.youtube.com/thehuntinstitute (CCSS writers
discuss the new standards)
7 3/4/13 For me, the fundamental mandate of
school reform is to examine every
decision, practice, and policy, and ask the
question:
What, if anything, is anyone learning
as a consequence of this?
Whether we are called teachers,
principals, or parents, our primary
responsibility is to promote learning in
others and in ourselves. That is what it
means to be an educator.
How Do You Create A Differentiated
Assessment?
•  Standard: Tell time to the nearest hour (K), half hour,
(1), and quarter hour (2) on digital and analog
timepieces.
--Roland Barth
Create a Differentiated Task Demand
That Allows Students To:
Language
•  Demonstrate comprehension of a variety of literary
forms;
•  Write about what is read;
•  Write effective narratives and explanations.
Should The Miser be Required
Reading for your grade?
Yes, because a lot of people will
understand it and it was a good
story.
No, because some people might
think I do not want to read this story.
8 3/4/13 Yes, I do think every kid in
this grade should read The
Miser. Because it might teach
some kids to use what they
have and not waste things. It
would also tell kids to not
attract other people. I would
also tell children that you
should think before you do
something.
This story will help children
in the third grade.
Your turn….
Yes, I think all the students in 3rd grade should read this book.
It s such an excellent moral.
One reason I think everyone in 3rd grade should read The
Miser is because it does teach a good lesson. It could help them
learn that things they never use are worthless.
Another reason I think all the students in 3rd grade should
read this story is they use great, funny words. It basicly is a funny
story. One of the parts I likes was He pulled his hair out (not
really). It would make our writing better.
Also, the students should read this because it s similar to a
true story. If you have a good, healthy body and you never use it,
the muscles will be very weak, and you ll miss out on a lot of
things.
As you see, it s a good moral for all the students in third
grade. They could learn great details for their own stories, and
they can compare it with a true happening like this story. It s a
great story.
Pre-Test
Design a performance-based assessment
task that would assess a standard of your
choice.
How would you do a fair test of this question?
Are earthworms attracted to light?
Defend using the key features of
performance-based assessment.
Tell how you would test this question. Be as
scientific as you can as you write about your
test. Write down the steps you would take to
find out if earthworms like light.
Pre-test Response
Post-Test
How would you do a fair test of this question?
• First, I would put some earthworms in a container.
There would be lights and some dirt. I would put several
different earthworms in it. If more earthworms like the
light than that would be right. If more didn’t like the light
than that would be right. I would try this with about
seven groups and decide if they like the light.
Are bees attracted to diet cola?
Tell how you would test this question. Be as
scientific as you can as you write about your
test. Write down the steps you would take to
find out if earthworms like light.
CFGE, 3rd Grade
9 3/4/13 Post-Test Response
• 
• 
• 
• 
1. 
2. 
3. 
Materials:
4. 
Hypothesis:
5. 
Diet Cola, 3 large containers, 3 small
containers, 6 bees.
If you give bees diet cola then they
will be attracted to it.
Gather 6 bees, diet cola, 3 large
containers, 3 small containers.
Put 2 bees in each large container.
Pour 5 ml of diet cola in each
small container.
6. 
Your turn….
Set the small container of diet cola in
each large container that has bees in
it.
Watch and observe to see if the bees
are attached to the diet cola.
You should record if the bees like diet
cola on a chart like below.
Bees If they are attracted to Diet Cola
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Design a performance-based
assessment task that would assess one of
the following:
- scientific habits of mind (ie. objectivity
and skepticism)
-data analysis skills
-interpreting poetry
CFGE, 3rd Grade
Differentiation Feature: Acceleration
Example of differentiated task
•  Fewer tasks assigned to master standard
•  Pretest student knowledge and skills based on their
•  Assessed earlier or prior to teaching
•  Clustered by higher order thinking skills
understanding of place value.
•  Group students according to their knowledge.
•  Combine less complex standards together and create a
more complex standard.
•  Provide more complex ideas.
Center for Gifted Education – School of Education – The College of William and Mary
CCSS: Example of Grade-Level Vertical
Alignment & Progression in Reading
CCSS: Example of Grade-Level Vertical
Alignment & Progression in Math
•  CCR Standard 3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas
•  CCM: Operations and Algebraic Thinking: Represent and solve
develop and interact over the course of a text.
problems involving multiplication and division
Informational Text
Number System
Grade 3: Describe the relationships between a series of historical events,
scientific ideas of concepts, of steps in technical procedures in a text, using
language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
Grade 3: Interpret products of whole numbers, eg. Interpret 5 x 7 as the total
number of objects in 5 groups of 7 objects each. For example, describe a
context in which a total number of objects can be expressed as 5 x 7
Grade 7: Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in
a text (e.g. how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals
influence ideas or events)
Grade 7: Understand that multiplication is extended from fractions to rational
numbers by requiring that operations continue to satisfy the properties of
operations, particularly the distributive property, leading to products such as
(-1) (-1) =1 and the rules for multiplying signed numbers. Interpret products of
rational numbers by describing real-world contexts.
Grade 11: Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and
explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over
the course of the text.
Grade 11: Explain why the sum or product of two rational numbers is rational;
that the sum of a rational number and an irrational number is irrational; and
that the product of a nonzero rational number and an irrational number is
irrational.
10 3/4/13 How would you accelerate a
writing strand in language arts
or a number strand in
mathematics?
See Page 44 Writing Standards OR
the Math Strand Handout
For me, the fundamental mandate of
school reform is to examine every
decision, practice, and policy, and ask the
question:
What, if anything, is anyone learning
as a consequence of this?
Whether we are called teachers,
principals, or parents, our primary
responsibility is to promote learning in
others and in ourselves. That is what it
means to be an educator.
--Roland Barth
11