high ability PROGRAMMING
Western Wayne Schools is committed to providing a high quality education for all students. This includes our identified high ability students. We provide the rigor and support students need to ensure that they receive an education that adequately meets their needs.
Our Identification Process:
We screen all students in Kindergarten, Grade 2 and Grade 5 for high ability aptitude/potential. This takes place in November for fifth graders and January for Kindergarten and second graders every school year. The platform we use for this testing is the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT). Students are identified as potentially high ability if they score in the 95th percentile or higher on the CogAT.
Three times per year, all students in grades K-5 take the iReady math and language tests to measure verbal and quantitative achievement/performance. Students are identified as potentially high ability if they score in the 95th percentile or higher on the iReady tests.
Students may qualify as high ability in math, language arts, or general intellectual (both math and language arts).
We also look at classroom achievement and teacher recommendation to determine if this additional evidence is strong enough to identify a student as high ability.
Our Instructional Offerings:
Identified high ability students are cluster-grouped into one classroom where they receive their core curriculum in math and English/language arts for each grade level K-5. At the secondary level, we also offer Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate, Cambridge International Courses, and Dual Credit or Honors Classes (AP Calc, AP Chem, AP World History).
We have a K-12 vertically aligned, written curriculum in core content areas.
We use pre-assessments to determine individual learning goals and the overall direction of differentiation needed for all students.
Differentiated Guidance and Counseling Offerings:
Teachers have been trained in the Zones of Regulation and Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI). While this benefits all students, it also has many applications for the social and emotional needs of high ability students.
There are licensed high ability teachers who have completed coursework regarding the social and emotional needs of high ability students.
There are counselors from Centerstone who are available for student support services K-12.
Students are provided with differentiated college and career guidance at the high school level.
Program Evaluation Plan:
A written philosophy and/or mission statement related to high-ability students guides our program development/monitoring:
Western Wayne Schools provide a K-12 learning environment that respects each child’s learning needs. The corporation recognizes that high ability learners are found in all racial, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds and will require differentiated curriculum, instruction, and assessment to meet their cognitive and social/emotional needs. Western Wayne dedicates itself to creating a supportive learning environment that will accelerate and enrich learning, so high ability students can maximize their potential in academics, leadership, and creativity. Specifically, the program will provide opportunities to develop the following skills:
Become a confident, passionate, resilient learner who is willing to take risks
Learn to gauge personal strengths and areas of challenge
Prioritize and solve problems
Take initiative and persevere
Apply knowledge to the real world by making connections to self, community, and the world
We have a newly formed broad-based planning committee that will meet at least (2) times a year. The committee members include the superintendent, grants director, building principals, teachers from the high school, middle school, and elementary school, and parents.
Services are constructed, developed, and regularly reviewed by a broad-based planning committee to ensure the broad range of individual high ability needs are met.
Student growth and achievement are regularly measured using multiple metrics to ensure consistent and sustained progress. (IREADY, ILEARN, IREAD3 at the 2nd Grade level).
We actively look for ways to expand upon the academic services and opportunities that we provide our high ability students. Western Wayne Schools is a great place to grow and learn!
