Page 12 - FDLRS Focus Winter 2021

Gifted

"I raise up my voice, not so I can shout, but so those without a voice can be heard...we cannot
succeed when half of us are held back."
-- Malala Yousafzai

So much has changed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but our strength and dedication to
ensuring that the needs of gifted children are met remains the same. The past year has given us
much to learn about resilience and creativity. Our students have shown their resilience in adapting
to change and our teachers have shown their creativity in the way they serve and support gifted
learners.
Strategic Theme #1 of the Palm Beach School District’s Strategic Plan expresses the importance of
addressing the instructional needs of its students. The goal of “Effective and relevant instruction to
meet the needs of all students” is inclusive of our top performing students. Gifted and high achieving
students demonstrate a need for a challenging academic experience; presented in a creative and
differentiated format with support for the unique social/emotional needs of this special population of
students. This is achieved through the opportunity of gifted services being provided for students that
demonstrate a need for rigor and depth beyond the scope of the traditional instructional program.

As a District, we realize the importance of challenge and rigor in the
gifted classroom and presenting the standards with greater depth and
creativity than would be found in the general education setting. To support
this philosophy, professional development and teacher support has been
enhanced. This year, our Gifted Education team has worked hard to ensure
that the needs of all gifted learners are still being met. This year the team
has continued to provide in-service and instructional support to teachers,
on demand trainings, and collaborated with content areas to ensure
differentiated content is being offered in this digital setting.
An essential component of building a strong gifted program is increasing
the applicant pool of teachers with the state mandated Gifted Endorsement.
The opportunity for public school teachers to obtain their Gifted
Endorsement at no cost has been a great incentive for teachers to register for these classes. The
Gifted Endorsement helps to enhance the marketability of a teacher. The Florida Department of
Education requires fifteen additional semester hours of course credit to add an Endorsement in
Gifted Education to a teaching certificate. Palm Beach County offers the necessary courses for
endorsement to teachers employed by the district free of charge and for a fee of $300 per course
for charter school employees seeking to earn the credits toward the Gifted Endorsement in the form
of five 10-week module courses. Each class is worth 60 in-service points and can also be used for
recertification and include the following course titles:

Module 1: Nature and Needs of Gifted Students
Module 2: Theory and Development of Creativity for the Gifted
Module 3: Guidance and Counseling of Gifted Students
Module 4: Education of Special Populations of Gifted Students
Module 5: Curriculum Development for the Gifted

Page 12 FDLRS Focus