Examination of theoretical program models for the delivery of middle school gifted education

2005·3.9 MB·English

by  Kamm, Brandy Lord

EXAMINATIONOFTHEORETICALPROGRAMMODELS
FORTHEDELIVERYOFMIDDLESCHOOLGIFTEDEDUCATION
By
BRANDYLORDKAMM
ADISSERTATION PRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT
OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF
DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
2005
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
—
Thishasbeenawonderfulandenlighteningendeavorforme onethat1couldnot
haveachievedwithoutthesupportofsomeveryspecialandcaringpeople. 1haveto
thankmyfamilyfortheirunwaveringsupportandencouragement,eventhoughIamsure
theyallwonderedifthiswasevergoingtoend. Ithankmyparentsforinstillinginmea
loveoflearningandadeterminationtoachieve. Theyhavealwayspushedmetoreach
forthestarsandhaveprovidedtheguidanceandsupporttoenablemetodoit. My
husband,Eric,hasbeenmyrockthroughoutthisjourney. Ibeganthisdoctorateprogram
justonemonthafterwegotmarried,andhehasknownnothingbutthestressfullifeof
beingmarriedtoa"doc"student. Iappreciateallhisencouragementandhiswillingness
tosacrificetobesurethatIreachedmygoal. If1could,1wouldgranthimanhonorary
doctorate,becauseIfeelthathehasbeenasmuchapartofthisjourneyasIhave. Iwant
tothankmydaughter, Brea,whowasborntothetribulationsofamothercompletingher
dissertation. Shewasalwayssmilingandgivingmeareasontoactuallycompleteit.
Mycommitteechair,Dr. PhilClark,hasbeenaninspirationsince1beganthis
journeyfivelongyearsago. Dr.Clarktoldmethatthiswasa"marathonandnota
—
sprint." Washeeverright thatwasalessonIlearnedalltooquickly. Ithankhimfor
hissupport,hiscaringdemeanor,hisfeedback,andhiswordsofwisdom. Dr. Doudhas
alsobeenaninfluentialpartofmydoctoralstudies. Hehasalwaysencouragedmeto
pushmyselfand"stretchmyselftothinkthatmuchdeeper." Ithankhimforhiskind
wordsandsupportivefeedback. IwouldliketothankDr.PaulGeorgeforwonderful
insightsandknowledgeintotheworldofmiddleschooleducation. Hepushedmeto
thinkdeeperandgavemeagreatdealofknowledgeandinformationalongtheway.
Ithankeveryonewhohadtoendurethistiringjourneywithme. Iknowthatthe
sacrificesofmyfamilyandfriendsweremanyandoftenunmentionedorseemingly
unnoticed. IwantthemalltoknowthatInoticedeverythingtheyhavedoneforme,and1
trulythankthemfromthebottomofmyheart. 1feelthatthisaccomplishmentbelongsas
muchtoallofthemasitdoestome.
TABLEOFCONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ii
LISTOFTABLES vi
ABSTRACT
viii
CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
1 1
GiftedEducation 2
MiddleSchoolEducation 4
ResearchFocus 5
ProgramDeliveryModels 8
StatementoftheProblem 10
GlossaryofTerms 10
DelimitationsandLimitationsoftheStudy 12
SignificanceoftheStudy 13
Overview 14
2 REVIEWOFLITERATURE 15
Introduction 15
StatementoftheProblem 15
HistoricalDevelopmentofGiftedEducation 16
IdentifyingandServingtheGifted 23
MiddleSchool Setting 28
MiddleSchoolProgramModels 36
GiftedProgramModels 40
HomogeneousClassroom 45
AlternativestotheHomogeneousClassroom 52
DifferentiatedCurriculum 54
RelevantResearch 58
METHODOLOGY
3 63
StatementoftheProblem 63
Summary 70
4 RESULTS 71
StatementoftheProblem 71
LiteratureResults 72
MiddleSchool Models 79
MiddleSchoolsinaLargePublicSchoolDistrict 89
SchoolInterviewResults 91
Summary 110
5 CONCLUSIONSANDRECOMMENDATIONS 113
Introduction 113
StatementoftheProblem 113
Conclusions 114
DiscussionofFindings 117
Recommendations 122
ImplicationsforFutureResearch 125
Summary 128
APPENDIX
A INTERVIEWQUESTIONS 129
B GLOSSARYOFTERMS 133
REFERENCES 137
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 146
LISTOFTABLES
Table Page
4-1.Clark'sModelforGiftedEducation 74
4-2. Gallagher'sModelforGiftedEducation 75
4-3.Kaplan'sModelforGiftedEducation 75
4-4. Renzulli'sModelforGiftedEducation 76
4-5. Taylor'sModelforGiftedEducation 77
4-6. Treffinger'sModelforGiftedEducation 77
4-7. ComponentsFoundinTwoorMoreGiftedEducationModels 78
4-8. Alexander'sModelforMiddleSchoolEducation 80
4-9. Beane'sModelforMiddleSchoolEducationDeliverySystem 81
4-10. CarnegieCouncilonAdolescentDevelopment'sModelforMiddleSchool
Education 82
4-11. Eichorn'sModelforMiddleSchoolEducation 83
4-12. GeorgeandAlexander'sModelforMiddleSchoolEducation 84
4-13. LounsburyandVar'sModelforMiddleSchoolEducation 84
4-14. NationalMiddleSchoolAssociation'sModelforMiddleSchoolEducation 85
4-15. ComponentsFoundinFourorMoreMiddleSchoolEducation 86
4-16. ComponentsofGiftedEducationandMiddleSchoolEducation 87
4-17. AllComponentsIdentifiedinMiddleSchooland/orGiftedEducationModels....88
4-18. NumberofSchools(N=ll)withComponents 89
4-19. InterviewQuestionComponentswithLikertScaleValues 90
Table Page
5-1. CommonComponentsinGiftedEducationandMiddleSchool Education
Models 116
AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool
oftheUniversityofFloridainPartial Fulfillmentofthe
RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy
EXAMINATIONOFPROGRAMDELIVERYMODELSFORMIDDLESCHOOL
GIFTEDEDUCATIONPROGRAMS
By
BrandyLordKamm
December,2005
Chair: PhilClark
MajorDepartment: EducationalAdministration,Policy,andFoundations
Thepurposeofthisstudywastoidentifycommoncomponentsofbothmiddle
schoolandgiftededucation.Theliteraturesuggestsaconflictbetweenthephilosophyof
giftededucationandthephilosophyofmiddleschooleducation. Themiddleschool
philosophyandpracticehavebeenlargelyviewedbygiftededucatorsasantitheticalto
theeducationalneedsofgiftedandtalentedstudents. Middleschoolandgifted
educationmodelswerereviewedtodevelopalistofcomponentscommontobothsetsof
models. AsingleFloridaschooldistrictwasthenstudiedtodeterminethecomponents
presentateachmiddleschoolandtowhatextent. Sincethepurposeofthisstudywasto
identifythemesofamodelthatfall intotheidentifiedcategory,theterm"component"
wasutilizedasthelabelfortheindividualpartofeachmodelthatpertainstothecategory
ofprogramdelivery.
Thisqualitativestudywasapproachedbytakingtheidentifiedcomponentsof
giftedandmiddleschooleducationanddevelopingaquestionnaire. Thequestionnaire
wasutilizedininterviewswithmiddleschoolprincipalsortheirdesigneeswithinalarge
CentralFloridaschooldistrict. Classroomandcampusobservationswerethenconducted
todetermineanyidentifiedcomponentspresentandtowhatdegree.
Thisresearchprovideseducatorswithcurrentdataonhowmiddleschoolandgifted
educationtheorycomeintobalanceaswellasacurrentlookintohowapublicschool
districtinFloridaismanagingthebalanceofdeliveringagiftededucationprogram
withinthemiddleschoolsetting. Thisbodyofresearchalsooffersinsightintotheimpact
ofFloridaaccountabilitymeasuresonmiddleschoolgiftededucationprogramdelivery.
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
Since 1971 whenSydneyP.Marland,thenU. S.CommissionerofEducation,
issuedhisreporttoCongressconcerningtheconditionofgiftededucationinAmerica,
curriculumdevelopmentandprogramdeliveryoptionshavebecomeaprimaryfocusof
giftededucation. TheMarlandReport(1971)statedthatgiftedandtalentedstudents
requiredifferentiatededucationalprogramsbeyondthosenormallyprovidedinthe
regularschoolprogram(Chance, 1998). Theterm"differentiatedcurriculum"has
becomeaprimaryobjectiveofeducatinggiftedstudents. Thefocusofthisresearchwas
giftededucationprogramdeliverymodelswithinthemiddleschoolsetting.
Theliteraturesuggestsaconflictbetweenthedifferentphilosophiesofgifted
educationandmiddleschooleducation. Themiddleschoolphilosophyandpracticehave
beenlargelyviewedbygiftededucatorsasantitheticaltotheeducationalneedsofgifted
andtalentedstudents(Clark, 1992;Feldhusen, 1990). Feldhusenbelievedthat"the
middleschoolmovementdemandsanendtoallspecialclassesforthegifted"(p.47).
Manygiftedadvocatesbelievethatthemiddleschoolphilosophy,whichreliesheavilyon
heterogeneousgrouping,willvirtuallymakegiftedandtalentededucationextinct
(Silverman, 1990). Thephilosophicaldifferencebetweengiftededucatorsandmiddle
schoolphilosophershascreatedmuchdebateandmadepolicydevelopmentanintensely
politicalendeavoramongschoolboards. Recentresearch,however,supportsthenotion
thatcharacteristicsofeffectivemiddleschoolsarealsonecessarycharacteristicsof