Leadership in Gifted Education: ITAG 2022

Intended Audience: Educators attending the Iowa Talented and Gifted (ITAG) Association conference in West Des Moines; Sunday, October 9, provides opportunities to network and greet presenters but is NOT required; the conference date is October 10; additional days are added to allow participants to submit an annotated list of sessions attended and a synthesis of the main theme(s).

Course Description: This course has a professional leadership emphasis. Experts in the field of gifted education, as well as experienced educators from across the state (and beyond), will present successful practices and significant issues and theories related to serving the varied needs of gifted and talented students. Conference strands include cognitive and social/emotional needs of the gifted, creativity, ethnic, cultural, and gender issues, as well as curriculum and programming topics.

Course Objectives:

• Reflect on themes that emerge from the ITAG conference sessions, creating an annotated list of all sessions attended.
• Reflect on the actions that you anticipate taking on behalf of your gifted/talented students in order to better support their needs.
• Consider, in particular, ways to ensure that gifted programs are identifying traditionally underrepresented students and serving their needs.

Course Requirements:

• Enroll here for the Iowa Licensure Renewal Credit
• Register for the Iowa Talented and Gifted Association Conference (October 10, West Des Moines, IA)
• Attend keynote address, as well as your choice of concurrent ITAG Conference sessions; participation in the Sunday, October 9, networking session is not required. · Review the national standards in gifted education (the teacher preparation standards and the Pre-K – Grade 12 Programming standards.) Reflect on the standards that were addressed through the conference program.
• Create an annotated list of all sessions attended, including:
  • Presenter(s)
  • Title
  • A short summary about the main point(s)
• Create a synthesis of your conference experience. Connect your learning with at least one national standard in gifted education.
• Write a brief evaluation (another higher-level thinking opportunity) of how your conference experience will impact you in your role as educator, counselor, administrator, even parent.
• Analyze required readings, including a bulleted list of major points, plus meaningful quotes that could be shared with others
• ALL requirements must be emailed to Dr. Laurie Croft (laurie-croft@uiowa.edu) by October 31, 2022.

Course Materials: Research-based readings will be provided

Sequence and Plan of Study:

October 10, 2022

8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Keynote (April Wells)

9:00 – 11:00 Breakout sessions

11:15 – 12:00 Networking lunch

12:30 – 4:00 Breakout sessions

October 17, 2022

7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Zoom session: national standards and themes derived from sessions attended at the conference, with a focus on achieving equity (day/time may be re-scheduled based on participant schedules)

Participants will receive two research-based readings assigned based on invidual participant goals

October 24, 2022

7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Zoom session: discussion of readings and potential programmatic changes (day/time may be re-scheduled based on participant schedules)

October 27, 2002

7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Zoom session: overview of strategies to identify diverse learners (e.g., use of local norms and overview with Dr. Scott Peters), as well as comparing school populations of subgroups with gifted program populations of subgroups in the school (CLED, twice-exceptional, low SES). Comparison of local school information and goals for the future. (day/time may be re-scheduled based on participant schedules)

** Attention: If you wish to use this course for licensure renewal credit, make sure to check with your school district for approval prior to registering for the course.