Term

Summer 2017

Capstone

Thesis

Degree Name

MAEd

Primary Advisor/Dissertation Chair

Margot Galt

Secondary Advisor/Reader One

Laura Hauer

Peer-Reviewer/Reader Two

Natasha Leach

Abstract

The research question addressed in this project was, “How can I take an English curriculum and enrich it to better challenge gifted 8th grade students?” It documents the process one teacher went through to create a curriculum for a class of enriched and gifted students, that was to be based on the curriculum already being used. The modification of the curriculum was based on best practices for gifted students based on research done by Renzuli, Guthrie and Dalzell, among others, and focuses on not just academic needs but affective needs as well. The author offers ways to modify existing curricula and gives examples of assignments he has created for his enriched and gifted students. These are often directly compared to regular classroom assignments so the reader can see them side by side. He describes both successes and frustrations of serving this population in an outer-ring suburb of a major metropolitan area. Ultimately the author concludes that: 1) Modifying a curriculum to serve gifted students can be done without purchasing expensive programs, and 2) Serving the gifted and enriched population is important once a district identifies the need and which students to serve.

Research Methodology

Curriculum Development, Observation

Keywords

Curriculum, Learning Styles, Gifted education

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