Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Treffinger's Level of Services gifted program

Our school district is going to adopt a Level of Services model of gifted services, and I'm wondering if anyone has children attending a school with a similar program. It's based on the following book, by Donald Treffinger et al.

Enhancing & Expanding Gifted Programs: A Levels of Service Approach

P. 21 of this preview is where they start describing the 4 levels of service, from Level 1, being the most inclusive and providing all students with such things as critical thinking skills, to Level 4, which would be services such as mentoring or acceleration for students with exceptional needs. Students are not labeled; the program is. Also, students would not necessarily be pigeon-holed in a particular level at all times. Rather, they could move in and out of services as needed. E.g., a kid may need Level 3 services for geometry, but not for algebra.

It sounds like a lot of work for the teachers - pretests and observation and coordination. But on paper, it sounds really great, especially for the kids who just miss traditional cutoffs for gifted services. In this model, achievement and IQ tests are only part of the assessment to determine whether a student is in need of services, and a student may move in and out of different levels of service for units throughout the year.

Anyone familiar with this model?

A friend lives in a district with something similar. I don't know how fluid their groups are though. It has 4 levels. Level 1 is enrichment, in class differentiation. Level 2 is pull-out in specific areas. Level 3 is acceleration I believe. Level 4 is a self-contained gifted classroom. I'm not sure who well it works b/c this is the first year of the program. This is in St. Louis.

I think this is really the key, isn't it? I think there will be a big learning curve in implementing the program. And probably not everyone will be on board right away. But the goal and the idea of the program sounds good.

Thanks for sharing the negative aspect of the kids worrying that they might not get in. I think that even though you don't label the kid, but label the services, there will still be the impact of wanting to get in. Although I think the level 3 and 4 services might be compacted curriculum/more challenging work, and so maybe not everyone will want to get in?

I'll keep everyone posted on how things pan out. Our district doesn't have a whole lot of money, so the program will be slowly implemented.

I would love if there were a self-contained gifted program, but I don't think that will happen in our little district.