Study Guide

Field 053: Gifted Education
Sample Multiple-Choice Questions

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Competency 0001
Understand the historical, legal, and philosophical foundations of the field of gifted education.

In the Parallel Curriculum Model (PCM), the curriculum of practice strand is focused primarily on which of the following goals?

  1. helping students see how concepts and principles of a discipline manifest across other disciplines, time periods, and places
  2. guiding students toward ever higher levels of expertise through examination and implementation of the habits and thinking of experts in a discipline
  3. prompting students to simultaneously examine how what they learn teaches them about themselves through the lens of a particular discipline
  4. ensuring that students develop a framework of essential knowledge, understanding, and skills in a discipline
Answer
Correct Response: B.
The Parallel Curriculum Model (PCM) was developed by Dr. Carol Ann Tomlinson. The PCM is a set of four interrelated yet parallel designs for organizing curriculum: Core, Connections, Practice, and Identity. The curriculum of practice is concerned with applying the content and skills the students are learning in an authentic experience. Students are encouraged to take on the roles of professionals that would use the information they are learning in certain career fields. For instance, when studying city planning, students could take on the roles of government officials. The teacher could assign the students a job planning a new city, and the students would need to use the knowledge they gained through instruction to act as city planners and complete the activity.
Competency 0002
Understand the development and characteristics of students who are gifted.

Which of the following students is most clearly demonstrating characteristics associated with asynchronous development?

  1. Nora, a fifth-grade student, has an orthopedic impairment that affects her mobility and is popular with her peers because of her quick sense of humor and friendliness.
  2. Horace, a third-grade student, receives mathematics instruction in a fourth-grade classroom and recently recruited six new members for the mathematics club at his elementary school.
  3. Manny, a seventh-grade student, has few friends at school or in his neighborhood and prefers to spend time discussing political issues with his adult neighbor, a former United Nations ambassador.
  4. Jamilla, a ninth-grade student, has a talent for writing poetry but earns poor grades in English language arts class because she struggles with writing narrative and persuasive essays.
Answer
Correct Response: C.
Asynchronous development means that a student who is gifted has the intellectual capacity to understand and synthesize information that usually is many years more advanced than the information another student of the same chronological age could understand. This situation can present challenges for students who are gifted when it comes to fitting comfortably within a group of peers. Students who are gifted often seek their intellectual peers, which in many cases will be adults who share their interests and can converse with them about concepts and ideas at a deeper level.
Competency 0003
Understand the professional roles and responsibilities of a gifted education intervention specialist.

Which of the following professional activities would best position a gifted education teacher to advocate for the needs of students who are gifted?

  1. participating actively on school and district improvement committees and action teams
  2. reading scholarly journals that publish current research about innovative strategies
  3. distributing fact sheets to school staff with information about characteristics of students who are gifted
  4. displaying examples of products created by students who receive gifted education services
Answer
Correct Response: A.
School and district improvement committees and action teams generally include representatives from various stakeholder groups and are charged with implementing changes in the school or district to improve student learning outcomes. Participation on such committees provides gifted education teachers with the opportunity to share information with stakeholders about the unique needs of students who are gifted and helps ensure that these students' needs are also considered in decision making. Actively engaging in the discussions and decisions of these committees enables the gifted education teacher to be the voice of students who are gifted.
Competency 0004
Understand procedures for selecting, designing, and using various types of formal and informal assessments.

A group of new middle school students have gaps in their educational backgrounds yet demonstrate above-average reasoning abilities. Which of the following techniques would best help teachers determine whether to refer these students to be evaluated for gifted education services?

  1. increasing the frequency of assessments of students' progress and skill development
  2. asking the school counselor or school psychologist to conduct formal observations of students' performance
  3. relying exclusively on the use of nonverbal and spatial assessments to gauge students' abilities
  4. gathering information about students' learning potential using an ongoing formative assessment approach across content areas
Answer
Correct Response: D.
Ongoing formative assessment is a best practice for monitoring students' learning. It allows the teacher to adapt instruction and adjust content and pacing as needed to promote continuous progress. If the students described in the scenario quickly demonstrate mastery of new content and are able to gain missing concepts and skills at a relatively fast pace, along with their above-average reasoning abilities, then they could be showing characteristics of giftedness. The evidence gathered from ongoing formative assessment would provide the gifted education teacher with a more comprehensive picture of the students' learning potential.
Competency 0005
Understand procedures for using assessment information to develop differentiated instructional plans for students who are gifted.

The specific program components or curriculum interventions section of the Written Education Plan (WEP) for a student who is gifted must include which of the following provisions?

  1. a summary of the research base for the decisions about the student's program articulated in the plan
  2. a statement addressing how to handle work or assessments missed in the regular curriculum while the student participates in gifted education services
  3. a description of enrichment or gifted education services the student has previously received
  4. a citation referencing the specific provision in the state's operating standards that supports the planned curriculum for the student in question
Answer
Correct Response: B.
The State Board of Education (SBOE) has designed a Written Education Plan (WEP) model form. The section of this form describing specific program components or curriculum interventions includes not only the what, when, and where questions about how curriculum will be differentiated to address the goals in the WEP, but also must note the policy in place for the waiver of assignments and rescheduling of tests. The Ohio Operating Standards for Identifying and Serving Students Who Are Gifted require that a provision must be made to address how to handle all work or tests missed in the general curriculum while the student participated in gifted education services.
Competency 0006
Understand the components of comprehensive gifted education programming and how to collaborate with others to develop, implement, and assess such programming.

Which of the following steps is considered best practice in the evaluation of gifted education programs and services?

  1. ensuring that tools and procedures used in evaluation are consistent from year to year
  2. using the results of ongoing formative assessment to make changes in the program and services in real time
  3. utilizing only appropriately certified gifted education teachers to collect and report data
  4. reporting strengths and weaknesses revealed by the evaluation along with critical issues that may influence services
Answer
Correct Response: D.
Program evaluation is a complex process that includes using a variety of data gathering methods designed to reflect the structure and goals of the program. Analysis of program evaluation data reveals areas in which the program is achieving its goals as well as areas that need to be improved or adapted to achieve better outcomes for students. When sharing this information with various stakeholder groups, gifted education specialists demonstrate accountability by describing both strengths and weaknesses revealed by the data. It is also important to identify critical issues that may affect the program going forward. These issues may include changes in funding, administrative rules, staffing and resources, or emerging needs of the school community.
Competency 0007
Understand how to plan and manage the learning environment for students who are gifted.

A gifted education teacher in an elementary school wants to help students develop a sense of social responsibility. Which of the following strategies would be most effective in promoting this outcome?

  1. creating opportunities for students to interact with community leaders in various contexts
  2. providing students with access to digital resources that focus on current events
  3. engaging students regularly in self-identified community service projects
  4. implementing a study buddy program in which students help one another prepare for assessments
Answer
Correct Response: C.
Community service provides opportunities for elementary students to gain an understanding of how they fit into society and how they can help solve societal problems. Students gain awareness of areas of need in society when they identify an issue that is important to them and plan a way to address that issue. Students learn empathy, respect, and kindness—internal strengths that connect them to others. When students are encouraged and guided to take action on issues that concern them, they begin to build a sense of identity as engaged and active citizens.
Competency 0008
Understand strategies for fostering personal, emotional, and social competence and advanced language and communication skills.

Janie is a seventh-grade student who is gifted and has a specific learning disability that affects her expressive language. She has difficulty translating her thoughts into writing that is understandable and cohesive. Janie's Individualized Education Program (IEP) team, which includes her gifted education teacher, is considering assistive technologies to enable Janie to fully develop her written communication skills. Which technology is likely to be the best match for Janie's needs?

  1. text-to-speech software that allows the user to hear typewritten text read aloud
  2. concept mapping software that allows the user to visualize and organize information by theme, relationship, or category
  3. portable device that allows the user to record ideas as they occur for later use
  4. customizable keyboard that allows the user to adjust keyboard functions (e.g., reduce input choices, group keys by color or location)
Answer
Correct Response: B.
A concept map is a type of graphic organizer that illustrates knowledge and relationships within a specific topic. Developing a concept map is a visual strategy for recording and organizing information in various ways. For the student described, concept mapping software would support the organization of ideas into a coherent structure to guide her writing. Software facilitates the concept-mapping process by allowing the student to manipulate ideas and information with greater ease than with a paper-and-pencil approach.
Competency 0009
Understand how to select, adapt, and design differentiated curricula for students who are gifted.

An 11-year-old who is gifted is extremely interested in the detective stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The student's elementary school has adopted Joseph Renzulli's Enrichment Triad model for students who are gifted. Which of the following activities represents a Type 3 enrichment activity that is responsive to the student's interests?

  1. creating an original mystery story about the use of logic and evidence to solve an apparently unsolvable crime
  2. reading a novel in which the main character uses forensic evidence to investigate a crime
  3. interviewing a detective on the local police force about techniques used by law enforcement in criminal investigations
  4. conducting an Internet search to develop a list of famous cold-case crimes in the last 50 years
Answer
Correct Response: A.
The Enrichment Triad model includes three types of activities. Type 1 activities are exploratory and designed to stimulate and inspire interests. Type 2 activities focus on thinking skills (e.g., problem solving, critical thinking) and working skills (e.g., use of resources, communicating information). Type 3 activities are academic investigations, artistic productions, or other projects in which the student becomes an inquirer and practicing professional, focusing on a topic of intense personal interest. Creating an original mystery story is a form of artistic production, and the inclusion of logic and evidence to solve a crime represents authentic detective practices.
Competency 0010
Understand how to select, adapt, and use evidence-based instructional strategies for students who are gifted.

For each instructional unit, a gifted education teacher plans tiered activities that focus on a central theme or topic as one way to differentiate instruction. To implement this approach effectively, the teacher should ensure that each tier of activities is designed to:

  1. engage students with different types of resources and materials.
  2. present students with a similar level of rigor and challenge.
  3. be completed by students with minimal guidance from the teacher.
  4. build on students' level of readiness and prior knowledge.
Answer
Correct Response: D.
Tiered lessons include tasks that are challenging for students at different levels of readiness. Although students should master the same content or core skills, the activities in tiered lessons often differ in complexity, depth of information, or level of abstraction. Before developing a tiered lesson on a particular topic, the gifted education teacher should pre-assess students to determine readiness levels. Additional considerations regarding students' readiness include their reading levels and prior knowledge of the topic. This information enables the teacher to begin to tier activities to meet students at their current level of readiness.