Differentiated Education Plan for Gifted Students

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Recently I was informed by a teacher in our school district, Oakland Unified School District, that all identified Gifted Students are required to be given a Differentiated Education Plan (DEP) if their parent or guardian requests one.

The DEP sets the standards for learning by establishing the current level of knowledge the student has mastered and the ways in which the school will meet the needs of the student. These include, but are not limited to: In-Class Flexible Grouping, Cluster Grouping, Flexible Subject Grouping, Flexible Cross Grade Grouping, Subject Advancement, Grade Advancement, Distance Learning Programs, Curriculum Compacting, Student Learning Contracts, Independent Study and an Academic Mentor.

Has anyone else in the group explored a DEP? Does anyone have a DEP for their student, and if so, how is it working?

What do you think are the upside and downside of a DEP for a student?

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Parent Replies to "Differentiated Education Plan for Gifted Students"

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Wow!! If this program had been offered at our school (Ventura County, Ca), I may not have had to homeschool my son through middle school! If the school does what it says it will, you have a lot to be thankful for ~ a program many parents (and teachers) would die for. I highly suggest you get a hold of the book suggested by KarenTC, called
"Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom" by Susan Winebrenner. Not only is it very parent friendly, but will provide you with what you'll need to know in order to verify that the DEP standards are being met. This book gives names of strategies used in the classroom and how they are done. It's really not complex at all. While this program sounds great, you could find that they are not doing enough or doing the right things for your child. It's wise to keep on top of things. You could even set up an appointment to observe some of the strategies actually taking place in the classroom and decide for yourself if you think your child is benefiting from the DEP. If not, the book will definately give you some ideas to share w/ the teacher. Nice to hear the good news about the program!

YOU AND YOUR CHILD are so LUCKY to have this option! This really meets the needs of individual students. It is a method of learning and teaching and challenging in an exciting way. It has nothing to do with IEP because an IEP is a planning meeting (with forms to fill out and file). IEP is a group of school staff (teacher, principal, psychologist, special ed. teacher, parents etc) meeting making plans for a child. Differentiation is a wonderful and creative style of teaching and learning with gifted children. If you go to one of these websites:

www.prufrock.com/client/client_pages/IAGC_article.cfm

www.nagc.org/index2.aspx?id=978
This website from National Association for Gifted Children explains it very well. It is worth a read and also includes books and articles to view or check out from the library.

Or check out Susan Winebrenner's book
"Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom" from the library.

Even if your child is in a gifted classroom, there is a wide range of abilities, strengths, learning styles, and areas of need. Differentiation accommodates almost all of these.

There are many methods for gifted kids, but I did use this --even in my regular classroom with the gifted child in mind. It was great and really fun with creativity, intellectual stimulation built in--learning with gifted kids is always fun (note that I said "learning with"--often I'm the student and the guide for resources :-)

Enjoy--here in Michigan, there are generally no gifted programs unless you live in a city with a college.

Karen TC

I know Pennsylvania does allow gifted IEP's (Individualized Education Plans, a term usually associated with special education remediation) but no matter whether it's called an IEP or DEP, the fact that they're considering needs of individualized students is wonderful. I wish they had them where I live.

We meet with the school principal, guidance counselor, gifted teachers and the classroom teacher twice a year - once near the beginning of the school year and once in December or January to discuss our sons DEP. The way our gifted program works is that students in a grade level meet together once a week and then my son has his own hour once a week, where he pursues his interests (currently science and physics).
With the DEP we can target areas the classroom teachers wants him to pursue (more writing), areas of his interest, our concerns (e.g. I want some accelerated math) etc. and setting up a learning plan that can be evaluated. Fairly simple, but then we have an idea of what he will be doing each semester.

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Differentiated Education Plan for Gifted Students

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