School for Advanced Studies
SCHOOL FOR ADVANCED STUDIES (SAS) and GIFTED AND TALENTED (GATE)
SAS stands for School for Advanced Studies. This program was designed by LAUSD to support educational options for gifted and talented students. In order for Lockhurst Drive Charter to receive this designation we had to go through an application process that required us to provide information on how we are identifying and meeting the needs of students who are gifted. There was a lot of time and paperwork involved! As an SAS school our responsibility is to meet the following student outcomes. (This is taken directly from the LAUSD website.)
*Continuous progress based on ability and performance
*Accelerated student performance
*Development of independence and self-direction
*Acceleration across disciplines
*Increased use of technology for research and multi-media presentations
How are we going to meet the above outcomes? What are you doing for my gifted child? How are you differentiating the curriculum? Those are questions we get a lot at Lockhurst Drive Charter.
Let me start by saying differentiation is NOT more homework, it's NOT more home based projects, and it's NOT just clustering all the bright children in one class.
Beginning in Kindergarten students are introduced and familiarized with the Depth and Complexity prompts. Critical and creative thinking skills are developed through the year to supplement and enrich the core curriculum. Students are introduced to technology and are taught basic computer and word processing skills.
In first grade students continue to utilize Depth and Complexity prompts and are given the opportunities to use critical and creative thinking skills in tiered assignments according to their interest and capabilities. Students are taught how to use technology to access information through appropriate sites on the internet.
Second graders are taught to utilize critical and creative thinking skills to research fossils and dinosaurs, and how animals camouflage. The use of the icons flows into all areas of study.
Third grade students are taught to utilize the icons of Depth and Complexity. The goal of all students is that they increase rigor by developing their own ability to create their own analytical, factual, and evaluative questions with the icons.
Fourth grade continues to make students more actively involved and responsible in their learning. Students are pre-assessed in order to compact the curriculum in order to focus on individualized projects.
Fifth grade students independently research and study topics of their own interest to develop PowerPoint presentations according to rigorous criteria that they develop together that parallel the state standards.
Our progressive program strives to improve learning for all students. Therefore all students are exposed to the program but this is a must for our gifted students. If we clustered only the bright students in one class we are denying other students the opportunity to excel.