Jane M. Jarvis

Case Studies of Success Supporting Academic Success for Students With High Potential From Ethnic Minority and Economically Disadvantaged Backgrounds

The underrepresentation of ethnic minority and economically disadvantaged students in gifted education must be understood in terms of broader school contexts and practices. This qualitative study investigated how teachers and schools contributed to the academic success of minority students of high potential from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Researchers collected observation, interview, and documentary data for 2 years at each of three case study sites with a reputation of effectiveness in supporting academic success of minority students from low-income backgrounds. Data indicated that (a) teachers and schools can positively affect achievement without being exemplary in all facets of their practice, (b) teachers’ and schools’ definitions of success shape students’ opportunities for achievement, (c) developing the capacities of high-potential students necessitates supported access to challenging curriculum for all minority students, and (d) educators who foster academic success in minority students support students to comfortably navigate dual cultural worlds.

Planning to Unmask Potential Through Responsive Curriculum: The “Famous Five” Exercise

Barriers to the identification of gifted students from traditionally underserved groups have been well documented. Although contemporary definitions of giftedness give heed to both performance and potential, the literature provides little concrete direction for how “potential” can be recognized, particularly in underperforming students who have lacked access to the kind of high-quality, personally relevant, and appropriately challenging curriculum likely to bring their talents to the fore. It is argued that high-quality curriculum can serve as an effective catalyst for the emergence of diverse talent but that such an objective must be a deliberate focus of curriculum planning. The “Famous Five” exercise presented in this article is a heuristic procedure that has been used with experienced educators and is designed to stimulate the thinking of curriculum developers as they design opportunities for unmasking diverse gifted potential.

Leadership for differentiated instruction: teachers’ engagement with on-site professional learning at an Australian secondary school

ABSTRACT Increasing numbers of students with identified special needs and disabilities attending Australian schools have enhanced the expectation that mainstream teachers will demonstrate competence in planning and teaching for an academically diverse range of students. A qualitative action research study explored how teachers at an Australian secondary campus understood and addressed learner diversity in the context of a whole-school effort towards more inclusive practices. Data were collected over a one-year period as the principal researcher, acting as participant/observer, sought to identify how engagement with professional learning influenced teachers’ understandings, attitudes and practices related to differentiated instruction. Findings highlight the role of school leaders in providing sustained, contextual professional learning and shifting a school culture towards more inclusive teaching practices.

Differentiated Pedagogy to Address Learner Diversity in Secondary Physical Education.

This article discusses the challenge of addressing student diversity in secondary physical education (PE) classes. Contemporary curriculum documents and teacher standards emphasize differentiated pedagogy in order to engage and challenge all learners. However, the reality of designing effective learning experiences for diverse students represents a departure from traditional approaches to secondary PE teaching, and research indicates that secondary teachers often feel ill-prepared to make the necessary adjustments to plan and teach in a differentiated manner. This article employs the example of a team sports unit (volleyball) to make plain a general approach to planning for and teaching diverse learners.