PSD Student Success Team

The following information summarizes the degree to which Advanced Learning Plans (ALPs) were formulated and documented in Exceed at four middle schools and one senior high during the 2009-10 school year. Narrative comments follow the numerical data.

ALP compliance for Math G/T and Language Arts G/T combined:

Total combined Math and Language Arts G/T students identified at the schools: 382

Total combined Math and Language Arts ALPs written at the schools: 239/382 (63%)

ALP compliance for Math G/T:

Total G/T students identified in Math: 247

Total G/T Math ALPs written: 160/247 (65%)

ALP compliance for Language Arts G/T:

Total G/T students identified in Language Arts: 135

Total G/T Language Arts ALPs written: 79/135 (59%)

Cases where ALP service was declined:

Total G/T students choosing to “opt out” of ALP participation: 26/382 (7%)

Math G/T students choosing to “opt out” of ALP participation: 13/247 (5%)

Language Arts G/T students choosing to “opt out” of ALP participation: 13/135 (10%)

Comments:

Site-to-site variation in ALP compliance in terms of Plans documented in Exceed ranged from 100% of G/T students to 5% of G/T students.

In some cases, at some sites, activities that fulfilled compliance with ALP service took place but were not formulated into ALP prose descriptions and were not placed into Exceed.

All of the twenty-six cases of declined service occurred at the same site. Adjustments will likely happen to try to reduce the number of such cases at that site in 2010-11.

End-of-year ALP ratings were generally positive. One frequently-noted concern was the difficulty of scheduling meeting times for teachers to mentor the ALP work.

School counselors and selected teachers faced a new and much larger task as G/T Coordinators and ALP creators, respectively, in 2009-10. Historically, school counselors have typically been G/T Coordinators because previous state requirements only involved enrolling G/T students into advanced courses of study. The newly-required creating, mentoring, and documenting (in new software) of unique Advanced Learning Plans for G/T students was a large and unfamiliar work load addition. Partial adjustment happened in 2009-10, but more years of experience will be needed to move toward excellent ALPs, scheduled mentoring, and service to every G/T student.

The added work load of ALPs fell mostly on Math and Language Arts teachers, since those are the two areas of G/T identification. Further, it especially impacted teachers of honors or Pre-AP courses. One teacher of two sections of Grade 8 Geometry, a course typically populated by better Math students, served 34 G/T-identified students.

The experience gained by building G/T Coordinators and Math/Language Arts teachers in 2009-10 will likely result in a higher percentage of documented ALP compliance and better ALPs during 2010-11. Also, the 2009-10 experiences of teachers who happened to serve high numbers of G/T students have produced strategies that will enable them and others to deal with that circumstance more efficiently in 2010-11.

One recommendation based on 2009-10 experience would be for schools to arrange, as early in the year as possible, a meeting between the school’s RTI/Exceed Coach, the school’s G/T Coordinator, and those key teachers who will have in class the majority of Math/Language Arts G/T students. Starting early allows a relaxed pace in structuring and mentoring of ALPs. Discussion with the RTI Coach should clarify the task of creating ALPs, suggest possible efficiency strategies to those who have multiple G/T pupils, and bring assistance with Exceed software documentation.

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PSD Student Success Team

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