Developing Individualized Plans for Gifted Students in the Classroom: Rationale, Challenges, and Solutions

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Developing Individualized Plans

Prof. Dr. Amani Khalaf Al-Ghamdi

Talent

Developing individual plans for gifted students is of utmost importance, which is referred to as providing a distinctive education for each student. All students are entitled to receive an education that is appropriate for them according to their mental, physical and psychological abilities, including students whose strengths indicate their ability to learn exceptionally.

In order to classify students in the classroom, the teacher classifies gifted students according to their mental and academic abilities and their various academic talents as having special educational needs, which requires him to develop individual plans and programs. The pressing question remains: How can gifted students be classified? What is the coding used in their classification? What are the methods and tools used in their classification? And do they suit our society or not?

Given the importance and comprehensiveness of the meaning of differentiation in teaching, as it is the most general and comprehensive concept of the meaning of developing individual plans for gifted students in the classroom, I will begin by defining differentiation: it is improving opportunities for thinking and learning.

According to several scientific sources, the differentiation in individual plans for gifted students, which fall under enrichment programs, which are based on expansion and deepening for the gifted, is distributed into five elements; first: content differentiation, second: processes and procedures, third: products, fourth: environment, fifth: assessment. This indicates that developing individual plans for gifted students requires providing a plan suitable for the individual learning speed that suits their abilities. These plans can be defined as plans to accommodate a varied pace, allowing students to move through the content at a pace appropriate to their learning needs as individuals.

Individual plans, their components and implementation mechanisms

Individual plans represent the basis from which all training activities and educational procedures emerge, and they are a criterion for accountability regarding the suitability and effectiveness of the services provided to gifted students. They are written documents through which the efforts of specialists are mobilized to raise and educate gifted students, and they are based primarily on the assumption that the gifted is a learner with unique characteristics, and therefore needs to be dealt with individually (Al-Khatib; and Al-Hadidi, 2003).

Individual educational plans for teaching gifted students are based on a set of principles, the most important of which are: the necessity of identifying the required skills, knowledge and learning outcomes, then presenting them to the teacher, who in turn presents them to the gifted students through direct teaching using the best appropriate methods and means, and activating their roles in using higher-order thinking skills during their interaction with the educational unit being studied (Saada, 2010).

The success of these plans requires favorable environmental conditions and appropriate family support through providing parents with cultural, social and educational experiences, in addition to developing school education systems with all their curricula, teaching strategies, assessment methods and school management, and sound educational preparation for teachers, psychologists and educational counselors who deal directly or indirectly with gifted students (Al-Saeed, 2014). This is consistent with what Turnbull and Turnbull (1997) indicated that individual educational plans contribute to providing an opportunity for teachers and parents to work together to identify the needs of the gifted student, the services that can be provided to him and the expected results, and ways to evaluate him and follow up on the development of his performance (Fathallah, 2013).

There is no doubt that well-prepared individual educational plans that are compatible with the traits and characteristics of gifted individuals have a great impact on their skills, knowledge and behaviour in learning environments. They benefit greatly from the processes and procedures of these plans, which develop their abilities for effective and influential learning and contribute to developing their organisational abilities and communication skills with others.

Individual plans for gifted students within the classroom depend on the type of giftedness and the student’s needs, and can vary from one school to another and from one educational system to another. These plans must be flexible and based on periodic assessment of student performance and development in order to achieve their goal; which is to motivate gifted students and provide a learning environment that suits their academic and developmental needs. These plans represent a profitable investment in education, and Renzulli (2016) indicated that the broader goal of education is to increase the number of individuals capable of solving problems in contemporary society, with the aim of enabling them to become producers of knowledge and art and not just users of what is available. The following are some strategies that can be applied as part of individual plans for gifted students:

1. Self-learning:

Supporting gifted and talented students in developing self-learning and scientific research skills by providing additional resources and supervision, and providing a positive educational climate that enhances the positive psychological capital of the gifted, such as self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and psychological resilience (You, 2016). The independent learner model developed by Betts (1985) can be used to achieve this, as the model aims to understand how students develop self-learning and independence skills. This model consists of five main components: personal abilities and orientations, self-confidence and motivation, knowledge and skills, a supportive environment, and strategies and techniques; that is, the methods and approaches that the student uses to enhance his learning, such as using active learning and setting learning goals. The self-learning strategy is one of the best strategies in light of technological development, the development of distance learning tools, and the multiplicity of its channels, especially since it enhances lifelong learning skills.

2. Acceleration programs:

If gifted students show a willingness to progress more quickly than their peers, special programs can be offered that allow them to advance through the curriculum at a faster pace. A flexible pacing strategy can also be adopted, which allows students to move through the graded curriculum in a flexible manner, and at a different rate than their peers. Flexible pacing can take several forms, such as: allowing students to complete some outcomes more quickly, spending extra time on more challenging activities, allowing them to explore a specific learning in a deeper way, and enabling them to move to a starting point appropriate to their abilities in the curriculum based on pre-testing. Flexible pacing involves compressing or simplifying the curriculum at the level of individual students rather than classes; eliminating any repetition of previously learned material; and allowing students to move to the highest level of thinking in one or more areas according to their desires, abilities, and scientific and psychological readiness.

3. Providing advanced materials:

This strategy includes providing academic materials above the current grade level to motivate gifted students and meet their academic aspirations, with the necessity of providing the necessary social and emotional support to enhance their motivation and perseverance (Atiyat, 2016).

4. Submitting additional assignments:

Giving gifted students the opportunity to work on additional assignments that allow them to explore and transfer their talent outside the regular classroom curriculum.

5. Interactive education :

Encourage students to participate in discussions and learning activities that enhance higher-order thinking skills, such as critical thinking and creativity, as well as social-emotional learning and communication skills.

6. Workshops and training courses:

Organizing workshops and training courses that suit the interests of talented students and help them develop specific skills.

7. Research projects:

Encourage students to research topics that interest them and submit research projects that deepen their knowledge and develop their research skills.

8. Participation in competitions and events:

Support participation in academic competitions or external events that contribute to developing the skills of talented people and enhance their excellence.

9. Psychological and social support:

Providing psychological and social support to gifted students, who may feel additional pressure as a result of their excellence and the differences in cognitive development between them and their peers, and may need help in dealing with these pressures, and developing leadership skills, communication with others, and cooperation with peers (Al-Rashoud, 2007).

10. Academic guidance and counseling:

Providing guidance and advice from specialized teachers to develop the abilities of gifted students and guide them towards appropriate educational and professional options (Al-Rashoud, 2007).

Periodic evaluation of the performance of gifted students is one of the most important components of the success of individual plans provided to them. In this context, Freeman et al. (2010) found that schools measured the success of gifted student programs in different ways, as follows: 60% through student success, 33% through the number of students enrolled in gifted programs, 29% through student progress, 27% through parents, and 25% through student satisfaction.

Gifted students may benefit greatly from processes and procedures that develop their capacity for effective and impactful learning, organizational skills, and communication skills. Examples of such processes and procedures include, but are not limited to, flexible pacing, questioning strategies, identifying similarities and differences, and independent projects; these are all important and effective strategies for achieving differentiation.

Renzulli (2016) identifies two goals of education: first, to provide students with the potential to achieve self-realization in one or more areas; second, to increase the number of individuals capable of solving problems in contemporary society with the aim of enabling them to become producers of knowledge and art, and not just users of existing knowledge; this is the broader goal of education.

One existing model is the Independent Learner Model (Betts, 1985), and the Response to Intervention Curriculum Model is a developmental offshoot of it; the Independent Learner Model provides a progressive learning plan. This curriculum model has been implemented in Colorado, Georgia, and Kentucky (Johnsen Parker & Farah, 2015, 227). The model is defined as a framework that promotes a well-integrated system that combines general, alternative, special, and gifted education; thus, it helps enable high-quality, standards-based instruction and intervention that is appropriate to the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students. VanTassel‐Baska (2006) notes that gifted programs today face problems of credibility and a lack of political will to implement them. The problem of credibility arises from the large number of giftedness concepts and curricular models, weak assessment support, and a lack of funding for gifted education at the national level (VanTassel‐Baska, 2006).

From the above, the importance of developing individual plans for gifted students becomes clear. As for the challenges of this type of development, it can be said that one of the most important obstacles to developing individual plans for gifted students is the need for specialized and trained teachers to prepare this type of development plans, and so on. All challenges lie at the heart of the work of gifted students and are the basis for starting to prepare individual plans for them.

The solutions, based on what was mentioned by a number of scientific references regarding the methods by which content, processes, procedures and products are modified to meet the needs of gifted students, are summarized in the following illustrative elements:

In the following table, we discuss each element in some detail:

Step	Meaning	Examples: How can I use it? (processes, strategies, steps)
Abstraction	Content that goes beyond superficial details and facts to basic concepts, generalizations, and symbolization.	Provide opportunities for choice and flexibility. Many advanced learners like the opportunity to choose and given the opportunity, they will build their own differentiated options. Possibilities include choice boards and assignments of varying difficulty.
Provide multiple options	Giving students more opportunities to vote, choose, and take more control over their learning.	Provide ways to build a classroom based on student choice, and give students meaningful choices in the classroom.
Condensation to reduce repetition	Curriculum condensation: a systematic procedure for modifying curricula for students. “This important educational strategy condenses, modifies, or simplifies the regular curriculum to reduce the repetition of previously mastered material.	“Intensify” what students already know by giving them acceleration or enrichment time beyond the core curriculum for students who would otherwise simply practice what they already know.
Conceptual discussions	High-level discussions of topics, concepts, generalizations, issues, and problems, rather than reviewing facts and terminology. And the details.	Discussion of ideas: Discussion of the conceptual framework, review of the literature, and provisional learning developments of the arguments.
Additional challenges	Offer a choice of challenges. Extension for learners who need additional challenges.	Rethinking challenges. The challenge should be different from the entire assignment, not in addition to it.
Flexible Assessment	Offering different assessment options that allow students to demonstrate their mastery of new concepts, content, and skills.	Provide a list of items or allow students to create a way to demonstrate their mastery of new concepts, content, or skills that is not a formal assessment.
Flexible project time	Students negotiate more or less time to complete learning experiences.	Use flexible pacing to accommodate student differences.
Various job opportunities	Providing diverse opportunities for work, collaborative learning, multiple challenges, flexible skills, and achievement in teaching the subject.	Various opportunities to work in whole groups, small groups, with a partner, or in an independent environment based on willingness and/or interest.
Higher order thinking skills	Higher-order thinking skills go beyond basic observation of facts and memorization, when we want our students to be evaluative, creative, and innovative.	Critical Thinking and Higher Order Thinking Skills in Education Research brief on higher-level thinking and questioning strategies. Develop higher order thinking skills and team commitment to collective problem solving, forming a bridge to the real world.
Bloom's Taxonomy Levels	Bloom's Taxonomy is a framework for educational achievement, with each level based on: At the level below. It is often depicted in the form of a pyramid, similar to Maslow's hierarchy of needs.	Using Bloom's Taxonomy to Write Effective Learning Objectives.
Independent study	The student explores a topic, question, or problem of the teacher's or the learner's own choosing, and develops traditional or non-traditional products to demonstrate learning.	Independent study should be separate from, not in addition to, a class assignment, project, or unit.
Panorama / Collaborative Learning	Jigsaw puzzle, one piece for each student participating in the cooperative learning groups.	A necessary step to complete and fully understand the final product.
Microteaching	Microlessons provide levels of support and challenge as needed for students with similar abilities or needs. A mini-lesson can be taught to a whole class, a small select group, or to individual students.	A mini-lesson should be short, focusing on one strategy, skill, or deeper concept. Teachers introduce the topic; demonstrate a strategy, skill, or concept; guide student practice; discuss the topic.
Most difficult first	After the teacher has finished teaching the lesson and assigned homework, or class work to practice the skill just taught, he or she acts out the five most difficult problems in the assignment. This strategy is a very simple first step to full compression. They require additional practice and training. It is typically used with skill-based activities, such as math, grammar, map reading, vocabulary, or spelling. The teacher allows students to demonstrate mastery of the five most difficult problems in a task, and then participate in alternative activities without having to complete the task. Some students have already mastered a skill and would otherwise become bored and frustrated, especially if they are forced to participate in activities that they perceive as rote, routine, and/or repetitive. This strategy allows them to do more meaningful alternative activities.	What does it mean to have the most difficult problems first? All students have the opportunity to do the five most difficult problems only to demonstrate mastery. If a student achieves the level of mastery set by the teacher, the teacher gives them full credit for doing the entire task, allows them to do something else, and the rest of the students do the task. A student who demonstrates mastery gets an A for mastery if he or she completes the entire task. It is best for students not to have to get 5 out of 5 questions right to demonstrate mastery, as this sends the message that perfection is essential. No student should demonstrate mastery on the five most difficult problems or ask the teacher for help doing the entire task.
Pre-evaluation	Use a range of pre-assessment options to check student mastery prior to teaching.	By regularly pre-assessing students, teachers can flexibly group students according to ability and readiness levels. Pre-assessment is also essential for integrating curriculum and other approaches to student learning. (Advanced MTSS Learner’s Guide) By pre-assessing students, teachers can better determine students’ current level of proficiency and adjust instruction.
Various levels of complexity	Varied level of complexity Books and learning materials with varying levels of complexity allow students to study the same concepts, but with levels of depth and complexity to suit their specific learning needs. The minimum level of complexity should be that required by the standard or learning objective. Within or across disciplines is a convenient way to enhance the learning experience.	Books and learning materials with varying levels of complexity allow students to study the same concepts, but with levels of depth and complexity to suit their specific learning needs. The minimum level of complexity should be what the standard requires.
Varied speed plan	Plan to accommodate a variety of paces to allow students to move through content at a pace appropriate to their learning needs.	Variations in curriculum approach may include consideration of rules and trends, multiple perspectives, patterns, authority, ethics, details, interdisciplinary topics/concepts, and changes over time.

How to overcome the challenges of developing individual plans

After monitoring a number of references to the challenges that may face the development and design of individual plans for the gifted, the following challenges were identified in planning individual programs:

Determine individual program goals and objectives.
Choosing the concept of talent and the model of the approach followed.
The way students, parents and schools are involved in the planning process.
Document layout.

The planning process for an advanced learning plan consists of seven stages: parents and relevant staff, the student is notified of the advanced program planning process, data is collected and analyzed to determine current levels of academic achievement, the student learning goal identifies the abilities, limits, conditions and learning contexts appropriate to each level, annual measurable achievement, and emotional goals. There are two types of individual program preparation methods during the planning process: initial and annual. The initial learning plan contains the following elements: information from the student identification process such as the profile, talent area, achievement goals, emotional development goals and evidence of parental involvement. The annual advanced education program contains: student results, data generated, student file updates, new achievement goals, new emotional development goals and evidence of parental involvement.

The differentiated model of giftedness provides four stages of the individual programme process: meet and set goals (review successes, challenges), agree and plan (agree responsibilities, plan and how goals will be achieved, and within the specified timeframe); learn and teach (develop learning and teaching goals), and review and report (assess against goals) (Gifted and Talented Students – Meeting Their Needs in New Zealand Schools, 2012).

Individual program planning includes different planning stages: planning, which begins with providing information to students, parents and teachers about individual program planning, obtaining information about the student and planning the document; the level of participation and cooperation of students, parents and teachers, which contributes to high-quality individual program planning. There are different hypotheses that also depend on the school culture and the chosen curriculum model. The quality of the planned individual program is an indicator of comprehensiveness; this means that it is integrated with and complements the regular education program. The individual program is goal-based and development-oriented, and an important criterion for monitoring and evaluation. (Željeznov, 2016).

Conclusion

It can be said that individual programs or plans to enrich the gifted consist of several stages that focus on:

First: Therapeutic diagnosis (determining the criteria by which gifted people are diagnosed, determining the condition of each individual, and creating a complete, detailed picture of him).

Second: Planning (which includes preparing and selecting trained teachers to deal with the gifted, then determining the general and detailed objectives of the program).

Third: Selecting students and the training team, and preparing the program with its various enrichments, which consist of expanding and deepening all the components of the curriculum in order to differentiate and suit the students, as well as determining the theories behind the program, including the triadic and constructive theory, for example.

Fourth: Determining the aspects that the program seeks to nurture and enrich, such as the academic aspect, the personal aspect, the mental aspect, and the personal psychological aspect.

Fifth: Self- and institutional evaluation and monitoring and determining their standards. The role of the family cannot be overlooked through the family’s interaction with the educational institution.

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Al-Ghamdi, Amani. (June 25, 2024). Developing Individual Plans for Gifted Students in the Classroom: Rationales, Challenges, and Solutions. King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity. https://www.mawhiba.org/Ar/DigitalLibrary/Resources/Pages/default.aspx