VanTassel-Baska says...

'The first issue needing attention is that administrators need to be clearly aware of the research evidence indicating the benefits of higher level instruction and flexible delivery—not just to gifted learners, but to all learners.' p. 361

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'The second comment I would make on that relates to how teachers can work within inclusion classroom settings. If teachers want to survive and have all students thrive, they’re going to have to use flexible grouping and employ differentiated materials to accomplish that end.' p. 361

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'We place some unreasonable expectations on teachers by expecting that they will have sufficient time and expertise to design and deliver quality curriculum for the full range of learners consistently and effectively.' pp. 361-2

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'Through the arts there is an opportunity for students to explore emotion, to understand their own emotions, and to understand other people’s, as well as to be able to develop ways to regulate and channel emotion in ways that will enhance and inform their cognition. I think all of those reasons support the importance of

including the arts in a curriculum for gifted students.' p.363

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'...differentiation for the gifted should begin with the core curriculum and then branch out, based on other considerations about the learner and the environment. One of the key considerations is the level of evolving ability of the student. Students can have interests at certain stages, but if their aptitude doesn’t match the interest, then they’re not going to stay motivated. If the aptitude is there but the interest isn’t there, then they’re not likely to stay motivated either, so the two really go hand in glove.' p.364

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'Whenever you start to look at a different content area at a given point in time, you suddenly realize that there are different ways of conceptualizing how to transform that content understanding into a curriculum unit of study. I continue to be challenged by that. I think also that working with new groups of learners causes us to shift our lens and think about how we can either adapt, cus-tomize, or create curriculum that is more appropriate for them.' p.365

Source: Journal of Advanced Academics

January 1, 2009

The Last Word:

Always Pushing the Rock Uphill—

An Interview With Joyce VanTassel-Baska

Catherine A. Little

University of Connecticut