1. QUEST is an acronym for Quality Utilization and Enrichment of Student Talents.
2. QUEST is a program (developed in Leander ISD) for identified gifted and talented students.
3. The purpose of the LISD QUEST program is 1)to foster the gifts and talent of students who excel or show potential to excel in creative and productive thinking and general intellectual ability through focused and differentiated learning experiences and 2) to impact the capacity of all students to apply creative and critical thinking skills to their learning experiences.
4. The QUEST program consists of a spiraling, interdisciplinary curriculum through which creative thinking, critical thinking, and research skills are taught.
5. Other instructional theories and strategies incorporated throughout the curriculum include: 1)continuous improvement tools and processes, 2)Multiple Intelligences (based on recent brain research), 3) technology as a research and communication tool, and 4) communication skills.
Screening & Placement Procedures
6. All elementary students new to the district are screened for the QUEST program.
7. Creative and productive thinking and general intellectual ability measures are used for screening all nominees.
8. Screening measures for creative/productive thinking consist of: 1) Torrance
Figural B Test, 2) Frank Williams' Divergent Thinking Test, 3) LISD
Divergent Thinking Test, 4) Creative Thinking Scale, (CTS) 5) Parent
Referral Survey,6) Outstanding Student Products.
9. Screening measures for general intellectual ability consist of: 1) Matrices Ability Test, 2) Grade Average 3) TAKS 4) LISD Profiles 5) General Intellectual Scale, (GIS) 6) Achievement Test Composite.
10. Teachers are asked to fill out the CTS if a student qualifies on only one of the creative screening measures; teachers complete a GIS for students with only one general intellectual measure.
11. Parents are asked to fill out a Parent Referral Survey if their child qualifies on only one of the creative screening measures.
12. Students qualifying in 4/12 of the measures move to the general intellectual ability (IQ) testing.
13. General intellectual ability qualifications are at the 95%ile or higher.
14. Kindergarten - twelfth grade students must qualify on two intellectual measures at 95%ile or higher.
15. In order to qualify for the QUEST program, a student must demonstrate: 1) creative and productive thinking, 2) above average intellectual ability...95%ile or higher, and 3) task commitment.
Characteristics of a QUEST Student
16. A creative/productive thinker is: fluent, flexible, original, elaborate, imaginative, a risk taker, a complex thinker, and a curious and complex thinker.
17. Students with high general intellectual ability usually:
read early, often widely, quickly
have a larger vocabulary than age group peers
are able to construct & handle abstractions
can draw inferences
pick up and interpret nonverbal cues
seek the how and why
can work independently for long periods of time
have interests that are often wildly eclectic and intensely focused
take pleasure in intellectual activity
have a keen sense of humor
have insight into cause & effect relationships
are often skeptical, critical, or evaluative
have a large storehouse of information
Scope & Sequence
18. Creative Thinking Skills - what they are and how they are used to enhance learning.
19. Critical Thinking Skills - what they are and how they apply to problem solving, decision making, and more in-depth learning.
20. Research Skills - what they are, how they are used to explore issues and problems, and how findings or results are presented or reported to others.
QUEST Resource Services
21. The QUEST teacher is available to assist classroom teachers in planning and executing lessons using creative/ critical thinking and research skills.
22. The QUEST teacher offers Enrichment Labs for individuals and small groups as time allows and campus needs require.
23. Any time you have a question about the program or class assignments, please call your QUEST teacher.
Did You Know?
Gifted education is part of Special Education in many states (and was in Texas years ago). This is because gifted programs provide the same education purpose as special education programs:
To meet the educational needs of a special population.
Thus, QUEST, the gifted and talented program in LISD, should be considered an integral part of the QUEST students education it is not an extracurricular or optional program. It is a required part of the students academic day (just as are special education classes) to meet the social, emotional, and educational needs of the identified students.
QUEST strives to challenge students to reach a higher level of complexity in thinking both in critical and creative thinking. All QUEST students have scored in the top 5% on nationally standardized intelligence tests. That means each QUEST student has scored in the 95th percentile or higher. All QUEST students have scored in the top 25% on creative thinking tests.
Do you fulfill a vital role in helping to identify and serve the QUEST students?
*Classroom teachers, campus administrators, and counselors may all refer students to be screened for QUEST. The Creative Thinking Scale
, completed by teachers, holds equal weight with the other screening measures and provides valuable information about the student that may not be gained in any other format.
*Classroom teachers make it possible for QUEST students to be served by the QUEST program through their support of the pull-out time.
by ensuring the QUEST students are not being penalized for coming to QUEST,
by helping QUEST students to not feel overwhelmed or stressed because they are leaving the regular classroom,
by modifying assignments, and by coordinating closely with the QUEST resource teacher to choose pull-out times that are during non-instructional times during language arts, during tutorial times, during silent reading times, or other times that will allow QUEST students to attend QUEST and not miss critical learning experiences in the regular classroom.
*Classroom teachers help challenge QUEST students to learn by providing differentiation by varying the complexity of learning opportunities.
Differentiation
Form to Document Differentiation for Gifted Learners
Directions: Use this form to circle the types of differentiation strategies you will use for the unit of study. Then, attach to your lesson, in your curriculum guide, or in your grade book (whichever way you use to plan your lessons)
Begin SlowlyJust Begin, from Differentiated Instruction, by Carol Tomlinson
Low-Prep Differentiation
Pretests
Choices of books
Homework options
Varied journal prompts
Varied pacing
Student-teacher goal setting
Choice to work alone/together
Whole-to-part and part-to-whole explanations
Flexible seating
Varied computer programs
Varied supplementary materials
Options for varied models of expression/products
Lets Make A Deal projects
Computer mentors
Think-Pair-Share by readiness, learning profile, interest
Use of collaboration, independence, and cooperation
Open-ended activities
Mini-workshops/lessons to extend or reteach skills
Jigsaw
Negotiated Criteria
Explorations by interest, independent studies
Student-generated Games to practice mastery of information and skill
Multiple levels of questions
More-Prep Differentiation
Multiple texts
Independent studies
Alternative assessments
Learning Contracts
Multiple-Intelligence options
Varying organizers
Lectures coupled with graphic organizers
Community mentorships
Interest groups
Interest centers
Literature Circles
Choice Boards
Simulations
Problem-Based Learning
Product Possibilities to Differentiate for Gifted Learners
from Differentiated Instruction by Carol Tomlinson
Design a web page
Develop a solution to a community or school problem
Create a public service announcement
Write a book
Design a game
Generate and circulate a petition
Write a series of letters
Design and present a mime
Design and create needlework
Lead a symposium
Build a planetarium
Conduct a series of interviews
Develop and present a collection
Submit writings to a journal, magazine, or newspaper
Interpret through multimedia
Design a structure
Design and conduct an experiment
Collect and analyze samples
Plan a journey or odyssey
Make an etching or a woodcut
Design political cartoons
Formulate and defend a theory
Conduct a training session
Design and teach a class
Do a demonstration
Present a news report
Write a new law and plan for its passage
Make learning centers
Create and cook authentic recipes
Choreograph dances
Present a mock trial
Compile and annotate a set of Internet resources
Design a new product
Write a series of songs
Create a subject dictionary
Design and carry out a plan
Design a simulation
Write a musical
Develop a museum exhibit
Be a mentorcreate a plan
Write and produce a play
Compile a newspaper
Conduct ethnography
Write a biography
Create and present a photo-essay
Hold a press conference
Develop and use a questionnaire
Conduct a debate
Make a video documentary
Create a series of illustrations
Develop tools
Write poems
Design or create a musical instrument
Develop an advertising campaign
Draw a set of blueprints
Design a booklet or brochure of the subject
Design and present a radio program
Create and present a puppet show
Create a series of wall hangings
Create and archaeological dig
Design and make costumes
Present an interior monologue
Create a series of charts/diagrams/ visuals to explain a subject
|
