Talent Development and Gifted Services

Talent development as a framework for services intends to be more inclusive by providing opportunities for students to explore and demonstrate talents. Albemarle County Public Schools recognizes that talents and strengths may manifest themselves in different ways, across a variety of domains, and throughout a child's educational career (VanTassel-Baska, 2022). Talent development resource teachers (TDRTs) along with their colleagues in the schools work to support the developing talents of strengths of students by providing opportunities for growth and exploration. TDRTs collaborate with their fellow educators to provide opportunities for children to develop the mental and social emotional skills to reach their potential and beyond. This may be through co-teaching, co-planning, supporting differentiated instruction, and engagement with the school professional learning communities. The shift to a talent development framework ultimately allows TDRTs and educators to be more intentional in supporting students through their growth and development by recognizing strengths in all students, and being responsive to those strengths. 

The purpose of Talent Development is to :

• Recognize all students’ potential

  • We conduct professional learning opportunities with colleagues, partner with PLCS, and engage in training around the Teacher Observations of Potential in Students (TOPS) tool, as well as conducting on-going data collection around student interests and engagement.

  • We work to help educators, families, and community members understand that ability is malleable, presents itself in a variety of domains,  and is on-going throughout a child’s educational career.

  • Understanding potential is about impacting educator and student mind-sets through a culturally responsive lens.

• Develop teacher’s confidence to meet students’ needs

  • We partner with teachers to integrate differentiated instruction in their pedagogy. This may be through collaboration, co-teaching, coaching, or co-planning. 

  • The goal of Talent Development as a division-wide approach is to build capacity in our colleagues so that they are able to instruct the students they have through an assets-based lens.

• Match students’ needs to opportunities and services

  • Talent development is grounded in students having access to opportunities and services (Olszewski-Kubilius & Thomson, 2015). Services with the Talent Development Resource Teacher are available to all students. 

  • TDRTs work with colleagues and community partners to provide opportunities or engagement within the school setting. 

  • These opportunities differ based on the age level, grades, and community resources. Some common opportunities that are across the division include:

    • Independent studies at the HS and occasionally at the MS.

    • Interest groups, clubs, and passion projects at elementary, middle, and high school. 

    • K2ABLE (Kindergarten-2 assets based learning experiences) for the early grades to introduce critical thinking skills, creative thinking skills, and problem solving. 

  • As students develop and move throughout the K12 continuum their needs and interests change, as well as how they are served. In elementary school, for instance, the TDRT may be the person who leads “genius projects” which are available to all students. In middle school , the TDRT may be the advisor to the Model UN experiences, or enable a Math Mentor to support children in a math focused club. In high school, the TDRT may be the person who connects the student with other educators in the building who may best support their interests and passions. 

• Build partnerships with families and community members. 

  • Since talent development is about opportunities, the community and families of ACPS students are valuable resources. Opportunities to mentor, coach, volunteer, and lead are available through our community engagement department. 

  • Parents are the best advocates for their children, and it is imperative that parents understand the shift from the gifted child paradigm (old model) to a talent development framework.

  • Parents along with the school partners are the best line of communication when ensuring their students are getting what they need, when they need it. Parents know what their children’s strengths and interests are. 

  • The TDRT works to ensure that all families, especially those who have been either excluded from school engagement because of linguistic diversity or other access issues, are able to have the knowledge of the opportunities available to their children. Talent development and gifted services are available to all families.

“Identification should be viewed as a way to respond to the need for instructional settings that succinctly meet the students’ needs” (Wells, 2020, p. 37)

Currently we identify students around a general intellectual ability designation, and we focus on creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, and performance.  As we move forward with a Talent Development framework, we will examine how to recognize and serve students with domain-specific talents.  Domain specific talents include, but aren’t limited to: visual and performing arts, leadership, and technology. The concept of “domain specific talents” aligns with the new career pathways model that is a state-wide initiative. We are also working to align identification with the Response to Intervention (RTI) services. In this model, a gifted label is because the student’s needs are not being met in the traditional classroom, the label will help better serve the student (for instance: in the case of Twice Exceptional, where a child’s diagnosis may shade or prevent strengths from being noticed). We are considering how to include “progress monitoring” in the RTI model of gifted identification, to systematically address the idea that abilities are not fixed.