Superintendent Search: Quotes on Gifted Education
A big THANK YOU to Debbi Hartman and the Rochester Community Schools for quickly posting the Superintendent Semi-finalists Interviews online on their Internet Broadcast System.
The board deliberation follows the second interview on Thursday, March 17, beginning at 3:11:30 on the video.
Here are their quotes on gifted education and the timestamp on the videos:
Geraldine Moore – 3/16/2011
6:56 – “We are here for all students to make sure that they reach their potential. And reaching their potential may have to come in a variety of ways because I do think that there are some students we have to look at ways to get them caught up but there are other students who already know things that we have to keep working and stretching them to reach their growth potential.”
13:30 [Pyramid of Intervention] “But the one part that we really looked at with the Pyramid of Intervention is how do we meet the needs of all students and the part with professional learning communities is “What are we teaching students? Do they already know it? What are we going to do if they already know it? What are we going to do if they don’t get it?” and trying to answer the questions that go with that. And so by putting in the Pyramid of Intervention it was really to get at both sides of the triangle. And that would be the students that are not achieving, but also the students that would need acceleration. We first have been working the students that have not been achieving and looking at that achievement gap, coming in with pieces such as interventions and really enforcing with parents the necessity that students would take extra coursework, math labs, Success Maker, those kinds of things to lower the gap from those students that were meeting to those students that were not. And we have been very successful in doing that and would continue to do that. I certainly believe we are on the right path to closing that achievement gap.” Ed. note: at this point the board flipped up yellow “30 seconds” card and I do not believe her answer was completed.
Gary Richards – 3/16/2011
No quotes or references to gifted education.
Fred Clarke – 3/17/2011
No quotes or references to gifted education.
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The district is indeed convinced the Pyramid of Intervention helps advanced learners.
And the theory sounds great… just like Differentiated Instruction.
I’m curious… with PoI having been in the Rochester district for 4+ years… can anyone share a specific example of how it has helped their child?
To learn more about the Pyramid of Intervention… read the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes.
PLOT
“The Emperor’s New Clothes” is a short tale by Hans Christian Andersen about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes that are invisible to those unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, a child cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!” The tale has been translated into over a hundred languages.
An Emperor who cares for nothing but his appearance and attire hires two tailors who promise him the finest suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or “just hopelessly stupid”. The Emperor cannot see the cloth himself, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing unfit for his position or stupid; his ministers do the same. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they mime dressing him and the Emperor then marches in procession before his subjects. A child in the crowd calls out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all and the cry is taken up by others. The Emperor cringes, suspecting the assertion is true, but holds himself up proudly and continues the procession.