WELCOME… to the Healdsburg Unified School District Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) website. Check here for information concerning the district's GATE program, GATE Advisory Committee meetings, upcoming events, and links to related sites that may be of interest.
CONTENTS
This site includes this HOME page, with information about the program, current news, and LINKS below
Background Information
- Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) is an integral part of the school program addressing the special needs of gifted students. The GATE Program in California assumes the responsibility of providing services for pupils whose extraordinary capacities require special educational programming. A “gifted and talented” pupil refers to a pupil enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school who is identified as possessing demonstrated or potential abilities that give evidence of high performance capability. The GATE Program has been designed to enable gifted and talented students to reach these maximum capabilities.
- GATE is consistent with the basic principles of public education which seeks full development of each individual’s capabilities. Achieving our students’ potential for excellence is the best hope for our society’s future. GATE students need to be identified early and then motivated and challenged throughout their educational experiences.
- Raising and teaching exceptionally intelligent children can be a major challenge. Cooperating through communication between the school and home will assist in fostering the excellence that is the potential of every exceptional, gifted child and the ultimate goal of the HUSD’S GATE Program.
- Statistically speaking, "gifted" students are those who score in the top 2% on tests of intelligence. In California, school districts determine their own eligibility standards for GATE programs. HUSD uses a matrix of information including ability (intelligence), test scores, achievement test scores (STAR), a rating scale and other information from parents and teachers.
- GATE programs seek to enrich and extend the education of students identified as "gifted" in a variety of ways, including adjusting the pace and depth of instruction, additional thematic investigations, and courses in areas of particular interest. See HUSD's GATE current GATE Plan. (add link for this word doc)
GATE Program History and Legislation
- The State of California first became committed to programs for the gifted in 1961. New legislation defined mentally gifted minors as “students enrolled in a public school of this state who demonstrate such intellectual capacity as to place him/her within the top two percent of all students having achieved that school grade.” Further impetus was given to the program with the passage of SB364 in 1971. Important in this bill was the establishment of a provision for funding.
- AB494 became effective in 1989. Among its provisions is the option for broadening identification criteria into areas of artistic talent, leadership skills and creative thinking. The intent of AB494 was to place special emphasis on those pupils from economically disadvantaged and varying cultural backgrounds. The HUSD is regularly audited in regards to meeting the criteria set forth in these laws.
- Attempts to increase GATE funding by legislation, both state and federal, continue to be made. There is a recognized need for increased base funding as well as funding to meet identification and program needs
Healdsburg Unified School District GATE Program
Philosophy
- HUSD is committed to provide opportunities, resources, and encouragement to students who possess demonstrated or potential abilities of giftedness, regardless of background, socioeconomic factors or ethnicity.
- The primary function of the program for gifted students in the Healdsburg Unified School District is to provide unique opportunities for high achieving and underachieving pupils who are identified as gifted and whose needs are not being met in the regular program. It is the aim of this program to develop skills, concepts and attitudes that will enable students to work at their maximum potential throughout life.
District goals
- Promote Academic Excellence: Provide a learning environment designed to utilize the maximum of each student's high competency capability.
- Cultivate Independent Thinking: Provide a program structure that encourages development of independent thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Support Integration: Provide a vehicle for locating and serving all students with gifted potential regardless of race, cultural or social economic background.
- Promote Responsibility and Self-confidence: Provide a program structure that encourages constructive identity development, individual responsibility, and sensitivity to others.
Links
- American Association for Gifted Children (AAGC)
If you are interested in getting more information about AACG, including programs and resources, click on http://aagc.org - California Association for the Gifted (CAG)
If you are interested in getting more information about CAG, including scholarships and grants, click on www.CAGifted.org - Johns Hopkins Talent Search
The annual Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth Talent Search ("Developing academic talent in the world's brightest young people") has distributed application and enrollment information. The program is based in Maryland, but there are testing centers in California (San Francisco, Fair Oaks, Santa Rosa, Alameda, etc.) Some of their programs have been available in California as well. If you are interested in more information click on http://www.cty.jhu.edu/ - The Neag Center
The Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development comprises many unique teaching, research, and service components, earned recognition for its summer professional learning experiences associated with Confratute (conference & institute). The learning experiences mirror the theoretical and practical approaches advocated for gifted and talented students. If you are interested in more information click on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/ - MENSA
If you are interested in information about Mensa check out their International web site by clicking on http://www.mensa.org/
Further Reading
- TIME Magazine Article
This is an interesting article in a past issue of Time magazine. The article focuses on acceleration rather than grouping gifted students with age peers, but raises a number of interesting issues. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1653653,00.htm - Try the site, Great Potential Press, for titles that include Smart Girls, Smart Boys, Raisin' Brains and Helping Gifted Children Soar. www.giftedbooks.com