Empowering Gifted Educators As Change Agents

Through an accessible, research-based program of professional learning, this critical resource empowers gifted educators to become change agents for equity in their classroom, school, or district. Designed for practitioners seeking to increase the rate of identification and retention of underserved gifted populations, this book guides readers through the Four Zones of Equity-Driven Professional Learning Model, a practical set of tools specific to the field of gifted education. Readers will develop an all-inclusive professional learning plan specific to their teachers’ understanding of cultural norms, guiding participants to gain insight into the characteristics of gifted marginalized students, coaching faculty in ways to increase classroom support, and equipping educators with the tools necessary to build effective partnerships with parents and communities. Ideal for gifted educators, coordinators, and administrators, this playbook is packed with practical ideas, strategies, and activities to bring meaningful, equity-driven professional learning to life.

Through an accessible, research-based program of professional learning, this critical resource empowers gifted educators to become change agents for equity in their classroom, school, or district. Designed for practitioners seeking to increase the rate of identification and retention of underserved gifted populations, this book guides readers through the Four Zones of Equity-Driven Professional Learning Model, a practical set of tools specific to the field of gifted education. Readers will develop an all-inclusive professional learning plan specific to their teachers’ understanding of cultural norms, guiding participants to gain insight into the characteristics of gifted marginalized students, coaching faculty in ways to increase classroom support, and equipping educators with the tools necessary to build effective partnerships with parents and communities. Ideal for gifted educators, coordinators, and administrators, this playbook is packed with practical ideas, strategies, and activities to bring meaningful, equity-driven professional learning to life.

Pedagogy for talented students is a widely discussed area in the field of gifted education. Much debate exists over the instruction required to meet the unique learning needs of the gifted. The learning experiences focused on the strategies of yesterday are no longer sufficient to address the thinking demanded by the innovations of tomorrow. Interdisciplinary connections are a critical component of innovation and must be a cornerstone of learning for the gifted. Innovation requires interdisciplinary thinking that is adaptable and not anchored to a specific context. Practices That Promote Innovation for Talented Students curates cutting-edge, high-leverage practices that develop innovation and inquiry in talented learners and highlights the belief that the future of education requires a shift from teacher-centered strategies to student-centered high-leverage practices that are interdisciplinary and function across educational contexts. Covering key topics such as teaching advocacy, creative thinking, and student learning communities, this reference work is ideal for industry professionals, policymakers, administrators, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

Help underserved high-potential students claim their right to an education that addresses their unique needs. In gifted education, an important and contentious issue that has yet to be sufficiently addressed is the systemic underrepresentation of gifted students who have been discriminated against in school-based gifted and advanced learner programs because of their race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other realities. Empowering Underrepresented Gifted Students gives a voice to those students and brings their stories into focus. With chapters written by student and expert scholars who specialize in addressing the structural inequity and educational inequality in gifted and advanced learner programs, Empowering Underrepresented Gifted Students recommends practices and strategies for helping underserved high-potential students claim their right to an education that addresses their unique needs. Each chapter has key takeaways and discussion questions, providing a built-in book study guide to prepare educators to engage students in conversation and to help develop their self-advocacy skills. Coeditors Dr. Joy Lawson Davis and Deb Douglas have brought together the voices of experts and students to help educators move closer to ensuring equity, access, and excellence in gifted education. By arming historically marginalized gifted students with self-advocacy strategies, these remarkable students will be better enabled to fulfill their dreams.

Gifted students spend most of their time in the regular classroom, yet few general education teachers have the specialized training to address their unique needs. This book provides the structures, processes, and resources needed to facilitate GT (Gifted/Talented) coaching as a means of building capacity among classroom teachers to identify, serve, and teach gifted and high-potential learners. Guided by best practices and research in professional learning, this resource provides the steps, strategies, and tools needed to create and sustain effective coaching practices designed to maximize access to advanced learning and differentiation throughout a school. Bolstered by downloadable resources, chapters address how to support, stretch, and sustain teachers’ instructional practices through a sequence of co-thinking, co-planning, and reflection that emphasizes ongoing and sustainable professional learning. Outlining a step-by-step guide for the coaching process, this valuable resource equips gifted and talented coaches with tools to support teachers to meet the needs and reveal talent among gifted and high-potential students through differentiation in the regular education classroom.

Empower gifted learners to take charge of their education. Gifted learners are full of potential, but sometimes they’re also frus­trated, bored, and even disruptive in class. Many bright students struggle because they have never been taught how to ask for what they really need to improve their school experience. This research-based guide shows educators how to teach self-advocacy skills to gifted students in four essential steps. Gifted students will: Understand their rights and responsibilities Develop their learner profiles Investigate available options and opportunities Connect with advocates These simple yet comprehensive strategies are brought to life in triumphant true student stories. Also included are complete instructions for conducting a day-long self-advocacy workshop with gifted students. Digital content includes a workshop facilita­tor’s guide, a PDF presentation for use in workshops, pre- and post-workshop student surveys, and customizable forms.

In Activating Youth as Change Agents: Integrating Youth Participatory Action Research in School Counseling, editors Amy L. Cook and Ian P. Levy aim to reshape the way school counselors work with youth by shifting the power dynamic to allow young people to tell their stories and uncover the hidden inequities and power structures that disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) as well as other marginalized groups. Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is an action-oriented research and group approach that encourages critical examination of experiences and knowledge in ways that seek to promote youth and community development. The authors describe the applications of YPAR as a youth-oriented group process where school counselors collaborate alongside students in developmentally relevant ways to achieve their goals toward personal growth and positive school-community improvement. In section one of the book, YPAR is introduced with a focus on the individual/small group level. In sections two and three, authors provide developmentally relevant descriptions and report on YPAR projects conducted in small and large groups, and illustrate YPAR at the community level. Activating Youth as Change Agents is essential reading for school counseling professionals and trainees who are seeking how to engage in culturally responsive counseling practice that helps build counselors' self-awareness and understanding of bias, and how to collaborate with others to improve systems that are unjust. Additionally, this book provides practitioners and counselors-in-training with group-counseling skills focused on action and how to engage in social justice efforts both locally at their school and in their communities.

Empowering multilingual learners, families, and teachers With its emphasis on relationship building as the backdrop for linguistically and culturally sustainable assessment, the bestselling second edition of Assessing Multilingual Learners significantly impacted the field of language education. Applying the groundbreaking assessment "as," "for," and "of" learning model to new contexts, this updated third edition offers educators welcoming and encouraging ways to support multilingual learners to succeed in school and beyond. Through eight thoroughly revised chapters, Dr. Margo Gottlieb ties assessment to teaching and learning to foster agency and empowerment for multilingual learners, families, and teachers. This book envisions assessment as a process integral to and embedded in curriculum and instruction through: Assets-based language Student-centered activities Classroom assessment tools Portraits of practice illustrating authentic assessment practices References and resources for stimulating discussion Deep questioning for thinking through processes, dilemmas, or challenges Assessing Multilingual Learners explores the realities and possibilities of classroom assessment as a road to inspire multilingual learners, their families, and teachers to reach great heights.