Recommendation for individuals using a screenreader: please set your punctuation settings to "most."
Descriptive Statements:
- Demonstrate understanding of possible assumptions in formal and informal assessments that may result in the underrepresentation of some groups and individuals in gifted education programs and how to select effective assessments.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the characteristics, uses, and limitations of various types of formal and informal assessments in different domains that may be used to identify and document the academic growth of learners with gifts and talents.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the processes and procedures for evaluating and placing learners with gifts and talents.
- Apply knowledge of the importance of using multiple methods of assessment and data sources for making educational decisions and the importance of aligning assessments with programming options.
- Apply knowledge of processes for selecting and administering formal and informal assessments that measure the abilities, talents, and strengths of individual learners with gifts and talents.
- Apply knowledge of measurement principles and practices to develop and use a variety of differentiated assessments to evaluate the progress of learners with gifts and talents.
Sample Item:
An assessment can be considered a standardized test if it has which of the following characteristics?
- The measurements provided by the test can be reproduced by multiple evaluators.
- The test results compare a student's performance with that of grade-level peers.
- The administration and scoring of the test are adapted to the contextual factors of the group.
- The test results indicate a percentile rank score within a normative group.
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
D. A primary defining characteristic of a standardized test is that it is administered across large normative groups in a consistent manner, enabling comparison among individuals in a percentile rank within this group. A percentile rank score indicates the percentage of people in a group who scored lower than a specific individual on a standardized test. The normative group in a standardized test is the representative sample of individuals from the population for whom the test is intended.
Descriptive Statements:
- Apply knowledge of how to interpret information from formal and informal assessments in various domains and communicate this information to learners, their parents/guardians, their general education teachers, and other staff members involved in developing and implementing differentiated instructional plans for learners with gifts and talents.
- Apply knowledge of how to interpret qualitative and quantitative information to develop a profile of the strengths and needs of a learner with gifts and talents to properly guide decisions and plan effective instruction and individualized curricula and accommodations.
- Demonstrate understanding of the importance of using a balanced assessment system (e.g., preassessment, formative assessment, summative assessment, learner self-assessment) to identify learners' needs, develop differentiated instructional plans, and adjust instructional plans using progress monitoring.
- Apply knowledge of how to use assessment results to develop differentiated instructional plans for learners with gifts and talents.
Sample Item:
Throughout a curricular unit, a gifted education teacher frequently uses both diagnostic and formative assessments. The teacher's approach demonstrates an understanding of which of the following benefits of the use of frequent assessment data of these types?
- Frequent assessments inform teachers' ability to revise their instructional plans to consistently meet student needs.
- Students' test scores and grade point averages often improve as a result of frequent assessments.
- Frequent assessment practices provide information that may be shared with colleagues to support their own instruction.
- Teachers can report on student progress more accurately when using frequent assessments.
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
A. The combination of diagnostic and formative assessments enables the gifted education teacher to adapt instruction to meet individual students' needs. Diagnostic assessments tend to provide information on learning gaps and evaluate students' current knowledge on a broader range of skills and concepts. Formative assessments typically provide information on recent lessons or units. Using the combination of these assessments on a frequent basis helps the teacher better plan targeted interventions and adjust instruction as needed. This approach provides students with targeted learning experiences and improves student performance.
Descriptive Statements:
- Demonstrate knowledge of key elements of curriculum standards and how to align differentiated instructional plans for learners with gifts and talents.
- Apply knowledge of ways to build learners' cross-disciplinary skills and adapt, modify, or enhance curriculum objectives to meet the needs of learners with gifts and talents.
- Apply knowledge of evidence-based strategies for selecting, adapting, and designing a variety of differentiated curricula that incorporate advanced, conceptually challenging, in-depth, and distinctive content.
- Demonstrate knowledge of resources and materials that effectively support differentiation for learners with gifts and talents.
- Apply knowledge of evidence-based strategies for selecting curriculum resources and materials to support curriculum objectives and individual learners' strengths and needs.
- Apply knowledge of strategies for helping learners with gifts and talents develop knowledge and skills for living and being productive in society, including developing and using a challenging evidence-based curriculum; integrating career exploration experiences into learning opportunities; and using curricula for deep exploration of languages, and economic and social issues.
Sample Item:
Which of the following factors should be a primary consideration when selecting resources or materials to support curriculum objectives when addressing the strengths and needs of individual learners?
- use of multiple visuals
- ease of administration
- level of interest to students
- alignment to the standards
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
D. Aligning curriculum objectives, materials, and resources to content standards helps gifted education teachers select learning resources or materials that reflect what students need to know. This practice also promotes structured opportunities for students to engage with the content and improves student outcomes by ensuring that students access necessary content and skills.
Descriptive Statements:
- Apply knowledge of how to use preassessments to pace instruction according to the learning rates of learners and to accelerate and compact learning (e.g., using technologies, learning contracts, tiered lessons, choice boards) to individualize instruction for learners with gifts and talents.
- Apply knowledge of how to respond to learners' individual needs and developmental levels when selecting, adapting, and using evidence-based instructional strategies, technologies, and materials that differentiate instruction for learners with gifts and talents.
- Apply knowledge of how to provide opportunities for learners with gifts and talents to explore, research, and develop their areas of interest and talent.
- Apply knowledge of evidence-based instructional strategies that support learners with gifts and talents in becoming independent investigators, researchers, and decision-makers in solving real-world problems that support the learners' ability to synthesize advanced knowledge and skills across environments.
- Apply knowledge of how to design specialized interventions for underachieving learners with gifts and talents that foster their cognitive and affective growth, including ways to enable learners to identify their preferred approaches to learning and interests, and expand upon them.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the characteristics and features of differentiated instruction in regard to content, process, product, and learning environment.
- Apply knowledge of evidence-based methods for fostering learners' critical thinking, creative thinking, problem-solving, habits of inquiry, metacognitive strategies, and authentic research methodologies.
- Apply knowledge of evidence-based methods for fostering learners' independent learning, time management, study skills, test-taking skills, and organizational strategies.
Sample Item:
A fourth-grade student who has been identified as gifted consistently demonstrates excellent listening comprehension skills and thoroughly participates in class discussions. The student completes written comprehension questions quickly following independent reading; however, their written work does not match the depth and complexity of their oral responses. Which of the following strategies would be most appropriate for a gifted education teacher to do first in supporting the student?
- providing the student with a rubric that outlines expectations of what is needed when writing a narrative text
- giving the student access to recorded versions of classroom texts
- observing the student and asking them follow-up questions to determine underlying factors that may be affecting them
- allowing the student to complete assignments using speech-to-text software
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
C. When a student produces more complex oral responses than written responses in their work, it is critical to obtain more information about the student to determine the underlying reason or reasons for this difference. The information the gifted education teacher gains from observing and talking with the student would provide them with the best information on how to support the student's written language responses. The gifted education teacher should ask the student about their thought processes when producing written responses and provide them with targeted support to determine what would help the student most with written response skills.
View Cart