Master Plan Section 4: Social and Emotional Development

Section 4:  Social and Emotional Development

GOAL:  Davis Joint Unified School District supports the social and emotional development of gifted learners to increase responsibility, develop self-awareness, engender ethical behavior and assist other issues of affective development. (EC52212a1)

RATIONALE:  Often the affective needs of gifted students are overlooked while educators and parents/guardians concentrate on their academic needs.  Because gifted learners often respond to social and emotional factors in their lives differently than do their age mates (just as they respond differently to academic factors), educators and parents/guardians need to recognize and appropriately attend to those needs assuring balanced and simultaneous growth of cognitive and affective abilities.

STANDARD 4.1 Teachers, parents, administrators, and psychologists/counselors are provided with information and training regarding the characteristics of gifted learners and their related social and emotional development.  Teachers incorporate techniques to support affective learning in their classrooms.  Ongoing counseling services are provided and documented as appropriate.

RATIONALE:  Teacher training and parent education do not typically offer specialized training needed to equip educators to recognize the characteristics of the gifted and to provide them support. Teachers, meeting with students on a daily basis, are in a position to be most effective in supporting healthy social and emotional behaviors. It is important that the district create teacher resources related to affective development in areas such as interpersonal skills, self-esteem, moral and ethical judgment and behavior, and empathy.  Counseling services by teachers, principals, and psychologists/counselors need to be an ongoing process.

ONGOING IMPLEMENTATION

1. The GATE library at the District Office provides resources for all educators and parents/guardians including lists of affective traits of gifted students, books and materials by James T. Webb, Lawrence Kolberg, Carol Gilligan, and Erik Erickson on moral development, guidelines for choosing appropriate classroom materials, and a list of available community resources to support the social and emotional needs of gifted students.
2. Teachers attend gifted conferences and/or pursue the gifted certificate program at the University of California at Davis.
3. Staff development issues related to gifted students are provided by district personnel.
4. Articulation meetings involving all GATE teachers in the District self-contained program establish recommended GATE core literature lists that emphasize the use of literature to support positive affective development in students.
5. GATE teachers in the self-contained program conduct class meetings, conflict resolution, reflective assessment and problem-solving lessons on an ongoing basis. 
6. Workshops conducted by the GATE coordinator and GATE teaching staff provide information to parents about the special needs of gifted learners. Procedures for assigning students to counselors and groups are established at each school site, conducted by the Student Study Team (SST, Healthy Kids, etc.) and utilize the services of the GATE Coordinator as requested.
7. Appropriate GATE experts provide training regarding the social and emotional needs of gifted students for all staff and support personnel, to provide training sessions for teachers that include skills for leading student discussion groups.
   a. The GATE Master Plan provides for training sessions for parents. Specific needs regarding transition issues exist at the following levels of the self-contained program:  entering 4th grade, exiting 6th grade/entering 7th grade, after the 1st semester of 7th grade, and mid 9th grade.  Parents, as well as students, have needs for support regarding social and emotional giftedness issues.

STANDARD 4.2 Guidance and counseling services appropriate to the social and emotional needs of gifted students are provided by trained personnel. Teachers and guidance personnel are trained to collaborate in implementing intervention strategies for at-risk gifted students.

RATIONALE:  Gifted learner’s advanced intellectual development can make it more difficult to diagnose at-risk behaviors.  Teachers are trained in content and pedagogy.  There are limits to what can be expected of teachers regarding the guidance and counseling of students.  Studies and experience demonstrate that gifted learners are at higher risk for suicide, depression, stress, underachievement, perfectionism, and substance abuse than their age peers.  Early intervention is crucial.  To be most effective, teachers and counselors must collaborate with one another.

ONGOING IMPLEMENTATION

1. Counseling groups for students exhibiting specific-needs are scheduled as needed by school counselors and psychologists at the sites with GATE self-contained programs, and are made available to other sites if requested..
2. Referral services to community resources are made when appropriate.  Documentation is done in individual IEPs and by Student Study Teams at the various sites.
3. Teachers and support personnel are included in all plans for student support, including Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) and 504 plans.
4. Records are established and kept to track service and progress through IEPs, 504 plans, and in the individual student’s cumulative file.
5. Referral procedures are established at individual school sites.
6. An information collection system that supports open communication between parents/guardians and the school is maintained through copies of IEPs, open cumulative files, and a GATE database in the GATE office.
7. Intervention plans meet social and emotional needs through a variety of strategies including contracts, flexible scheduling, use of mentors, split-site Davis High School and Davis School for Independent Study assignment, and referral to outside counseling services.
8. The GATE Master Plan provides for access to a designated GATE expert with specialized training in GATE education and student needs.
1. To define the strategies appropriate to deal with at-risk gifted behaviors and develop guidelines for effective individual intervention plans,
2. To provide staff training in the procedure for carrying out appropriate intervention plans
3. To establish clear and consistent procedures for referral for services,
4. To appropriately share specific information (anecdotal records, referral records) with parents/guardians of students who have been identified as at risk, and
5. To additionally provide support for gifted learners, their teachers and parents at sites not housing the self-contained programs, so that services are timely and equitable across the district.

STANDARD 4.3 Gifted students are provided awareness opportunities of career and college options and guidance consistent with their unique strengths.

RATIONALE:  One of the goals of gifted education is to assist students in becoming autonomous learners, which includes becoming good decision makers.  Gifted learners are frequently multitalented, which can make career decision-making difficult.

ONGOING IMPLEMENTATION

1. Job shadowing is available through the School-to-Career Program and through Health classes at Davis High School.
2. Gifted students are encouraged to participate in college information nights provided by the district, which includes scholarship information.
3. National/regional/state talent search material is advertised and provided through the GATE Office (SCAT testing, ACT, Johns Hopkins),
4. Concurrent enrollment through Los Rios Community College District, California State University, Sacramento, and University of California at Davis is available to DHS students.