• Overview of Program
• Identification Process
• Program Implementation
  • Elementary - Differentiation in Class
  • Middle School - Advanced Level Classes
  • High School - Honors and Advanced Placement Classes
• Students New to CUSD/Student Transferring to Other Districts
• Parent Support/Resources
• District Contact Information

Advanced Learner Education is what Carlsbad Unified School District has named its GATE program. The District's #1 goal is to deliver a curriculum that ensures that every student makes significant progress. The Advanced Learner Education Program is designed to meet this goal, that each high level student maintains his/her high level of achievement.

A differentiated curriculum model is in place for all students at the elementary, middle, and secondary levels. The GATE program focuses on the advanced level component of the general education curriculum and is delivered during the regular school day.

Currently, the District uses cluster grouping for language arts and mathematics in grades 3-6. Assignments in these classes are more open-ended, long-term, and complex, and require a balance of independent and collaborative thinking with like-peers than in non-clustered classes.

At the middle school level, part-time grouping is used in English and mathematics in order to compact, extend and exceed the core curriculum. These courses are designed to specifically address the needs of advanced learners with tiered assignments and differentiated resources that require more depth and complexity than the regular grade level curriculum. Flexible scheduling is also available for advanced students who qualify to take advanced levels of math or science at Carlsbad High School.

Gifted and talented students at the high school are served by a strong honors and advanced placement (AP) program. Enrollment in these classes is dependent upon successful completion of course prerequisites; though there are provisions for enrollment by challenge exam or administrative placement

Carlsbad Unified School District does not have a pull-out program. Students are placed at their home schools.

• At the elementary school level, students are clustered and placed in heterogeneous classes. Teachers provide challenge/enrichment curricula. Classes may be self-contained, or teachers may team teach certain subjects.
• At the middle school and high school levels, high achieving students are placed in homogeneous, advanced level classes (if they meet course prerequisites).

These students demonstrate abilities, critical thinking, problem-solving skills and achievements considerably higher than those of their chronological peers. Some of the most common traits are:

• Quick to grasp ideas
• Intense interest in one or more subjects
• Evidences originality, creativity, and flexibility in thought and action
• Shows unusual maturity in the ability to verbally express themselves; uses an extensive vocabulary
• Understands complicated concepts and relationships

There are several steps in the Identification Process:

• The GATE Facilitator reviews assessment data of all students, grades 3 – 8, each year.
• Teacher and parent referrals are solicited.
• A parent permission form and parent survey is mailed for each candidate. Parents may request non-participation for their child. This decision can later be reversed by contacting the District GATE Facilitator.
• A teacher survey is given to teachers for each candidate.

2. Assessment Process / Data Collection and Review

Multiple criteria are reviewed which include:

• Standardized test scores
• Classroom performance
• Teacher recommendation surveys
• Parent surveys of student behavior
• Raven Progressive Matrices test (for 2nd graders and referral students)
• California English Language Development Test scores (if applicable)

Students are identified in the following categories:

• Intellectual Ability
• High Achievement
• Specific Academic Ability in Language Arts or Math

• Parents are notified of student's identification
• Student classifications are entered into Aeries, the District student database.
• Teachers are instructed to begin offering Differentiated Instruction to all newly identified students.

• Intellectual Ability: Students who demonstrate exceptional intellectual development
• High Achievement: Students who consistently produce ideas and products of excellence as measured by classroom performance and/or achievement tests
• Specific Academic Achievement – Language Arts: Students who are consistently high functioning in Language Arts over a two-year period
• Specific Academic Achievement – Math: Students who are consistently high functioning in Math over a two-year period

Yes. "Twice-exceptional" students are difficult to identify because they possess the characteristics of gifted students and the characteristics of students with disabilities. These learning disabilities may include AD/HD, Asperger Syndrome, Autism, etc. Their special needs often hide their giftedness. The District GATE Facilitator and classroom teachers work with the student's Learning Center/Special Education teachers to identify these students and incorporate enrichment/challenge-level materials into their IEPs where appropriate.

• University of Connecticut: http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/SEMR/summer%20reading.html
• Hoagies Gifted Education Page: http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/reading_lists.htm
• California Department of Education: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/rl/ll/

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