SAVANNAH-CHATHAM COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION Internal Audit Department

Transcription

1 SAVANNAH-CHATHAM COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION Internal Audit Department TO: Board of Education THROUGH: Dr. Thomas B. Lockamy, Jr., Superintendent Sharon Sand, Chief Academic Officer Dave Feliciano, Chief Data & Information Officer Linda Olson, Executive Director, Curriculum Implementation Michelle Longaberger, Gifted Education Program Teacher Specialist FROM: Kelly Crosby, Senior Director, Internal Audit DATE: May 23, 2013 SUBJECT: Report on Audit of the Secondary Gifted Education Program We have completed our Audit of the Secondary Gifted Education Program. Our audit report is presented in the sections listed below: I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY II. SUMMARY OF AUDIT CONDITIONS III. AUDIT OBJECTIVES IV. AUDIT SCOPE V. BACKGROUND VI. AUDIT CONDITIONS VII. OTHER MATTERS VIII. BEST PRACTICES Management s response to our report is attached in its entirety. In addition, the specific action that management has agreed to take in response to each recommendation is included in the Management Action Plan, along with who is responsible for the action and when it will be completed. 1

2 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Overall, the delivery of instructional services in the middle/high school Gifted Education Program appears to be effective in providing gifted education to the District s gifted-eligible students. Internal Audit identified four conditions where improvement is needed in order for the Gifted Education Program to better meet the gifted education students needs. These conditions relate to the use of the Secondary Lead Gifted Education Teachers, differentiated instruction, Honors courses in the Advanced Content Class Delivery Model, and reliability of student data. Internal Audit reviewed research in the area of gifted education, analyzed SCCPSS data, conducted unannounced observations in all District middle and high schools, observed District-level Gifted Education Program trainings and meetings, and interviewed District management staff, administrators and teachers. Details of each identified condition and recommendations for improvements in that condition are listed below. II. SUMMARY OF AUDIT CONDITIONS Our Audit of the Secondary Gifted Education Program has identified four conditions where improvements are needed. These conditions are stated below with identified pages where details of the condition are presented. Condition A. Use of Secondary Gifted Education Lead Teachers (Pages 7-18) The duties and responsibilities of the Secondary Gifted Education Lead Teachers need to be reviewed and revised to serve the gifted education students more effectively and to manage the Gifted Education Programs at their schools more efficiently without affecting their instructional responsibilities to all students in their assigned courses. (DAS Goal I) Condition B. Advanced Content Class Delivery Model Honors Courses (Pages 19-22) Criteria need to be developed for Honors gifted education courses in order to meet State and District requirements. (DAS Goal I) Condition C. Use of Differentiated Instruction in Secondary Gifted Education Program (Pages 23-28) There is a need for clear understanding of what constitutes differentiation in secondary gifted education and how it should be implemented in secondary gifted education. (DAS Goal I) Condition D. Reliability of Student Data (Pages 28-33) Improvement is needed in the recording and monitoring of gifted education student data, and 2

3 implementing sufficient internal controls to ensure that the data recorded are accurate and reliable. (DAS Goal I) Other Matters. (Pages 33-34) We determined an additional area of risk that may impact the delivery of gifted education services related to a job description for District s gifted education management. Best Practices. (Pages 34-35) We identified two areas of activities/ operations in the SCCPSS Gifted Education Program related to the District Gifted Education Program management s attention to communication and the use of TIENET as best practices in providing education services to gifted education students and in the operation of the District s Gifted Education Program. III. AUDIT OBJECTIVES Our audit was designed to meet specific objectives. Within those objectives, we focused on areas where we identified opportunities for improvement in the Secondary Gifted Education Program. The objectives of our audit were as follows: 1. Determine if the District is meeting all local, State and Federal requirements for secondary gifted education. 2. Determine if District policies, administrative regulations and guidance related to secondary gifted education provided adequate and appropriate direction to achieve the District goals. 3. Determine if District funds for secondary gifted education are spent according to District guidelines and policies. 4. Document the process for counting and reporting secondary gifted education students to the State to maximize State funding. 5. Document the process to identify secondary gifted education students. Compare our demographic results to other similar districts to determine that our process is equitable and transparent. 6. Document the process to remove secondary students from the Gifted Education Program. 7. Document various delivery models for secondary gifted education services. Observe classrooms to verify that the instruction provided matches the models chosen by the school. Document how secondary gifted education students are served through advanced learning programs and opportunities, such as Honors, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Governor s Honors Program (GHP), etc. 8. Review professional development opportunities for secondary gifted education teachers. 9. Determine obstacles to providing appropriate delivery of secondary gifted education instruction. 3

4 10. Identify best practice strategies in secondary gifted education and determine if these strategies can be implemented at all secondary school sites. IV. AUDIT SCOPE The Audit of the Secondary Gifted Education Program was conducted in SY 12/13 as the second step in auditing the District s Gifted Education Program. The audit of this program was scheduled as the result of Internal Audit s annual risk assessment process in 2011, which determined that the Gifted Education Program, as a whole, had never been reviewed by Internal Audit. An audit of the Elementary/K-8 Gifted Education Program was conducted during SY 11/12. The Audit of Secondary Gifted Education Program was a District-wide performance audit, not an audit of individual schools. Our audit was performed to determine if the District is providing the most effective education to eligible students in the District s middle and high schools receiving instructional services through the Gifted Education Program; we used the laws and regulations under the Georgia State Department of Education (GaDOE), the Georgia State Board of Education (SBOE), and Savannah-Chatham County Board of Education policies and administrative regulations as guidance. Internal Audit did not identify or name any individual school in the audit report. Our recommendations are made to District management in order to improve gifted education at all secondary District schools. We based our opinions on interviews, surveys and observations conducted during the course of our audit work. We reviewed financial budgets and expenditures for FY 2011 and FY 2012 for the Gifted Education Program. We also conducted tests and analyses of data recorded in the District s student information systems (PowerSchool and TIENET) for SY 12/13. These software systems have specific modules designed to electronically record, maintain and report current data for all SCCPSS students, including those with identified exceptionalities who receive specialized services. We interviewed District and site administrators, gifted education teachers, GaDOE staff and parents of District gifted education students. We surveyed the District s Lead Gifted Education Teachers in middle and high schools. Many of the surveys contained written comments, and we refer to those comments as appropriate throughout this report. We also conducted a total of 52 unannounced classroom observations in 20 secondary sites within the District in order to observe the instructional gifted education services provided to gifted education students through the State- 4

5 approved delivery models used in SCCPSS secondary schools Cluster, Collaborative, and Advanced Content. Each classroom observation lasted for the entire class period. We observed trainings, meetings and workshops provided by the District Gifted Education Program management for gifted education teachers. Our fieldwork was conducted during the period of August 2012 through February We designed our audit with specific strategies to gather the necessary information to identify areas where improvement is needed to more effectively provide instructional services to the District s identified secondary gifted education students. We have identified conditions and have made recommendations to District management for consideration in making the necessary improvements. We also identified best practices used in the District. The Board s District Accountability System (DAS) lists four goals: I. To Improve Academic Achievement. II. To Ensure Fiscal Responsibility and Effective Resource Stewardship. III. To Provide a Safe and Secure Environment for Students and Employees. IV. To Engage Parents and Other Community Stakeholders. At the end of each Condition statement, we have identified the DAS goals that are most likely affected by the findings identified in the Condition. Internal Audit has made recommendations to help support the achievement of these goals. We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. V. BACKGROUND History and Legislative Support Georgia was the first State in the country to require all public school systems in the State to offer programs for gifted education students. In January 1958, Georgia passed legislation recognizing gifted students as a population with special needs and providing funds and technical assistance for programs to increase educational advantages for gifted children in the public schools of Georgia. 5

6 There are currently three sources of information that provide the authority and the specific requirements for gifted education in the State of Georgia. They are found in State law, the State Board of Education (BOE) rules, and State BOEapproved regulations. The current definition of gifted education is found in State Board of Education (BOE) Rule Education Program for Gifted Students which states: A gifted student is one who demonstrates a high degree of intellectual and/or creative ability(ies), exhibits an exceptionally high degree of motivation, and/or excels in specific academic fields, and who needs special instruction and/or special ancillary services to achieve at levels commensurate with his or her abilities. SCCPSS Gifted Education Program Based on data recorded in PowerSchool as of October 15, 2012, there were 2,020 gifted education students in the District s secondary schools. As of March 20, 2013, this total was 2,025, indicating a net growth of five students during that time period. Level Total Gifted Ed Students as of October 15, 2012 Total Gifted Ed Students as of March 20, 2013 Middle School High School These numbers do not include any students tested in the spring of The Gifted Education Program s budget for secondary schools for FY 2011 was $5,805,149; for FY 2012, $5,435,182. All funds are earned from the State through Full Time Equivalents (FTE). Our review of all the secondary schools showed 100% of the budget was spent. Gifted students are identified, tested and placed as required by the criteria established by GA Laws, SBOE Rules and Regulations, and SCCPSS Policies and Administrative Regulations. Our review did not determine any risks or improvements needed in the areas of identification, testing and/or placement of gifted education students. Gifted education services are delivered to gifted education students in the District s secondary schools through three State-approved delivery models Cluster, Collaborative, and Advanced Content. Advanced Content may also include Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and Honors classes if the teacher holds the appropriate gifted education certificate. While we may have observed these classes to observe the instruction provided to gifted education students, we did not audit the standards required of Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) programs. 6

7 VI. AUDIT CONDITIONS Condition A. Use of Secondary Gifted Education Lead Teachers The duties and responsibilities of the Secondary Gifted Education Lead Teachers need to be reviewed and revised to serve the gifted education students more effectively and to manage the Gifted Education Programs at their schools more efficiently without affecting their instructional responsibilities to all students in their assigned courses. (DAS Goal I) Details of Condition A According to a listing from the gifted education management, there were 17 teachers identified for SY 12/13 as Secondary Lead Gifted Teachers at the District s middle and high schools. The Savannah Chatham County Public School System s Gifted Program Handbook refers to these teachers as Lead Gifted Specialist. In our audit of the Elementary Gifted Education Program, we were told that the position is no longer called specialist. This position is now known as teacher. The Duties and Responsibilities of a Lead Gifted Specialist, listed on pages in the SCCPSS Handbook, are as follows: Serve gifted identified students through a State-approved delivery model as required by the Georgia Department of Education. Review and report gifted FTE segments twice a year. (Fall/Spring) Collect all information and data required for the nomination process on each student prior to attending the district nomination meeting. Attend all district nomination meetings. Participate in District Juried Panel process to score, norm, and place students in the Gifted Education Program. Compile and report gifted eligibility data to Information Specialist on gifted identified students for placement in PowerSchool. Maintain accurate student records in TIENET. Collaborate with gifted cluster teachers on differentiated instruction contracts and Annual Review of service forms, and submit logs to the district office. Attend all district gifted education meetings and trainings. Consult with parents, teachers, and the community on questions or concerns related to school site Gifted Education Program. Assist with gifted student scheduling to work toward maximizing allowable FTE segments and meet the State requirement of a minimum of 5 FTE segments per gifted student per week or its equivalent. Facilitates and provides enrichment and acceleration to non-gifted students enrolled at school sites when time is available. Serve as a resource for Cluster and Advanced Content teachers who are working with gifted students at the school site. 7

8 Participate in collaborative planning and discussions as part of a Professional Learning Community with other Gifted Education Specialists at school sites. Serve on System-level Gifted Education Committees when appropriate. Act as a mentor and role model for new Gifted Education Specialists on a system-level when assigned. Assists in preparing gifted education progress reports on all students enrolled in the Gifted Program each marking period (Elementary). Monitor and collect data concerning student classroom performance and program continuation, probation, and termination from gifted services. Initiate and manage the acceleration review team process for any student considered for whole grade acceleration. Initiate and manage the improvement plan process for any identified gifted student who is being placed on probation. Create and send a newsletter to the parents of the school s gifted students. (Elementary/K-8 each marking period, Secondary annually) Explore current trends and research concerning gifted education issues. The Role of the Lead Teacher in Secondary Schools The duties and responsibilities listed in the SCCPSS Handbook are for all Gifted Education Lead Teachers, with the noted exception related to preparing gifted education progress reports specifically for Elementary. During our audit of the Elementary/K-8 Gifted Education Program, we found that these duties appeared to be fulfilled appropriately and managed appropriately during the elementary Gifted Education Lead Teachers planning times. The Elementary Leads Teachers are primarily the Gifted Ed Resource Teachers who provide gifted education services through the Resource Delivery Model. This model provides pull-out instruction during specific times of the student s school week. The Resource Delivery Model is only used in one SCCPSS middle school; therefore, most Secondary Lead Teachers have additional teaching responsibilities and less flexibility in their schedules. One of the Secondary Lead Gifted Education Teachers is an itinerant Lead Gifted Education Teacher who is responsible for one middle school and four high school sites. This position does not teach any regularly scheduled classes during the school day. One middle school identified two individuals as Lead Gifted Education Teachers; however, we were told that one is new in this position and is being trained by the experienced Lead Gifted Education Teacher (Lead Teacher). Other than the itinerant Lead Teacher, who does not teach any regularly scheduled classes during the school day, there is a difference in the amount of instructional responsibility these teachers have. The middle school Lead Teachers teach one to six classes a day. The two Lead Teachers who only teach one class a day told us that they have other administrative duties for which they are responsible. Five of the seven high school Lead Teachers teach five or six classes each day. Some of these teachers have four separate course preparations for each day. While we were not able to determine the reason that 8

9 the instructional responsibility varies, especially from middle school to high school, teaching assignments, as well as other duties and responsibilities in the daily schedule, are determined by each school s principal. Secondary teachers are responsible for instruction in semester or year-long courses during regularly scheduled periods of the school day. They receive one release period during the school day as required to plan instruction. With the seven period schedule used in the majority of our secondary schools this year, this planning period is 50 minutes long. In previous years, using the block schedule, each planning period was 90 minutes. At some middle and high schools, the Lead Teacher is provided a second planning period for gifted duties and responsibilities; however, this decision is up to the site administrator. As we also saw with Elementary Gifted Education Lead Teachers, the Secondary Gifted Education Lead Teachers may also have additional responsibilities at their schools, such as AP Coordinator, IB Coordinator, FTE Coordinator, GHP Coordinator, Testing Coordinator, grade level and/or department chair, REP coordinator, club sponsor, specialty program coordinator, New Teacher Induction Coordinator, RtI Coordinator, as well as serve on numerous committees in their schools. In our interviews with the Secondary Lead Teachers, we were told that the major concern they all have is having enough time to complete the required gifted education documentation in a timely manner, especially if their school has a large number of gifted education students and uses the Cluster Delivery Model to provide those services. The five sites assigned to the itinerant Secondary Lead Teacher were selected because of a low number of gifted education students at each site. Each of these sites had less than 50 gifted education students during the audit period. This Lead Teacher told us that she generally spends one day a week at each school managing the gifted education documentation when needed. Other times, she is able to help teachers identify students who may qualify for gifted education services; she will also screen and test these students. She also teaches model lessons for teachers who provide gifted education services to gifted education students in the Cluster or Collaborative Delivery Models. She told us that with the amount of documentation and course preparations that secondary teachers have to manage, along with the frequent turnover of the Secondary Lead Teachers, students who may benefit from gifted education services may have not been identified early in their secondary education experience and may be at risk of not being served through gifted education services. She works closely with the Guidance Counselors at her schools to ensure that gifted education students remain in the courses taught by gifted education 9

10 teachers. This teacher indicated that, at the beginning of the school year or semester, some high school students may request a transfer based on their personal opinions of teachers or other students comments. Not realizing that this student is supposed to be receiving gifted education services, the person responsible for student schedule changes may allow the transfer. The Lead Teacher does not always know that the schedule has been changed until she/he verifies FTE. In these situations, schools are at risk of not earning FTE because the student was placed in another class not coded for gifted education FTE. Completion and Management of Gifted Education Documentation Many of the specific processes related to the Gifted Education Program must be planned, implemented and documented by the Lead Teachers. Some of these processes include: Obtain and compare the PowerSchool listing of gifted education students to the listing in TIENET at the beginning of the school year. Resolve any discrepancies. Review student schedules for each gifted education student and verify that each gifted education student is being served a minimum of five segments per week as required by the State. Obtain a list of Gifted Endorsed teachers in your school to facilitate FTE verification. For high school, identify the teachers that have Gifted In-Field endorsement or have the AP/IB 10-hour course endorsement. AP/IB 10- hour course endorsed gifted teachers can only be counted toward FTE on AP/IB classes. (In most schools, this information is only known by the administrator.) Gifted education documents are maintained in TIENET, the electronic records management system. While some of these forms are cumulative, such as the eligibility tests and consent for testing, some forms require annual updates. Several of these documents require the parent s signature. Secondary Lead Teachers told us that they have to print out the document; send it to the teacher who is providing the gifted education services for completion; meet with this teacher if there is any plan of improvement needed; schedule a meeting with the parent and teacher, if needed; locate the student to have the student take the document home for parent to sign; scan the returned document and record all data in TIENET. One Secondary Lead Teacher told us that she had calculated 17 clicks on the computer to complete the entire electronic process for one Cluster Contract document. There are other required specific processes related to the duties and responsibilities of the Secondary Lead Teacher. Some of these processes include documenting gifted education student transfers from other Georgia school districts and other states; obtaining gifted education records from other districts and states; weekly meetings with teachers providing the Collaborative Delivery Model and completing the weekly documentation; maintaining documentation in the students permanent records; maintaining nomination 10

11 packets and a spreadsheet for students nominated and not referred for testing; completing all documentation for voluntary termination, probation/termination from the program; completing documentation required by the continuation policy; as well as developing required parent communication, such as the gifted education newsletters. The amount of time that a Secondary Lead Gifted Education Teacher needs to spend with these processes depends on the number of identified students in the school. In the District s secondary specialty schools, the time may be significant, especially if many of the students were tested in the current year. One district high school, which has 461 gifted education students, tested 50 students who were newly referred for gifted education testing as of February 14, This school also processed 738 gifted education documents (Gifted Services forms and Cluster Contracts) for these 461 students. As of 2 nd semester, 61 of these students were on probation, which meant processing additional gifted education documents required by the State s continuation policy. The Georgia Resource Manual for Gifted Education Services States under Requirements Notification. The LEA shall notify parents and guardians of identified gifted students being considered to receive gifted education services in writing of information related to the Gifted Education Program including, but not limited to the following: 1. Referral procedures and eligibility requirements adopted and applied by the LEA. 2. Notification of initial consideration for gifted education services. 3. Evaluation guidelines and documentation of training procedures utilized and maintained by the LEA. 4. The type(s) of gifted services to be provided, academic standards to be met, the teaching methods employed, and the manner in which students will be evaluated annually. 5. Performance standards gifted students are to meet to maintain their eligibility and receive continued services in the program. 6. A description of the probationary period applied to students in jeopardy of losing their eligibility for services. The description shall include the length of the probationary period and the criteria. 7. Termination of services when students on probation have failed to meet criteria for continuation of services. To accomplish this notification, SCCPSS requires annual completion of the Gifted Services document; it details the student s strengths, delivery models used for the student, contact hours, and curriculum focus. Management determined this form was needed so that parents would be aware that their children were receiving services in gifted education. We were told that some secondary parents thought gifted education services ended at the elementary school level. 11

12 In our interviews with District management in other Georgia counties, we determined that there appear to be differences in how the school districts manage the documentation of gifted education services. From our discussions with several of the other GA school districts, we learned: One GA district (Gwinnett) uses the scheduling process with the student s course schedule and transcript as documentation for providing annual gifted services. There is no separate documentation for annual gifted services for each student. In another GA district (Bibb) middle and high schools use the report card and progress report for documentation of gifted services provided. There is no other paperwork. One GA district (Fulton) requires gifted education data to be entered into the master system for all student records. Lead teachers are responsible for updating testing/eligibility data, but no scanning is done. Several of the districts we spoke to maintain the gifted education records for the gifted education students in their central office. However, only SCCPSS scans the actual hard copies of Cluster Contracts, Gifted Services forms, etc. into a database. One district (Gwinnett) uses a home grown electronic eligibility database into which each school s gifted education contact is responsible for entering the data. The database is populated with student information from the Student Information System, but the gifted education contact maintains the gifted education data. Electronic signatures are used when necessary. While the use of the SCCPSS Gifted Services document may be a best practice for parent communication in our District s schools, it does not appear that this particular document is required by the State. It also appears that other GA districts use other methods of documentation to meet the criteria. If the time involved in completing, recording and scanning this paper document into TIENET impacts the Secondary Lead Gifted Education Teachers other instructional duties and responsibilities, then we recommend District management research a more efficient way of meeting the State s criteria. Other gifted education documentation that requires additional time on the part of the Secondary Lead Gifted Education Teacher is the development and management of the Cluster Contract which is required when gifted education services are delivered through the Cluster Model. The Georgia Resource Manual for Gifted Education Services states: The teacher must document the curriculum differentiation for the gifted student(s) by completing individual or group contracts which include the following requirements: a. A description of the course curriculum which is based on Georgia standards that very clearly show how the advanced course content, 12

13 teaching strategies, pacing, process skills, and assessments differ from courses more typical for student(s) at that grade level. b. Separate lesson plans which show reason(s) why the gifted student(s) need an advanced curriculum in the content areas of English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and world languages and c. Dates and amount of time (in segments) the student(s) will be engaged in the higher-level activities and how the students will be evaluated (formative and summative). Several of the Secondary Gifted Education Lead Teachers told us developing and managing the Cluster Contract for each gifted education student served through the Cluster Delivery Model requires additional time, especially if the Lead Teacher does not know the student and relies on the classroom teacher to complete the Contract. In another GA district (Richmond), the Cluster Delivery Model is not used in high schools because of the amount of time required to complete the required contract and document the delivery of services. Only the Advanced Content and Collaborative Delivery Models are used. Contracts are not required for gifted education documentation in the Advanced Content Delivery Model. Teachers of Advanced Content courses are required to have a current gifted endorsement issued by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC), as well as appropriate content area GaPSC approved certification in the specific content area in AP and IB, and appropriate content area GaPSC approved certificate in the specifics Honors course. Gifted Education Screening and Testing The SCCPSS Handbook states for all the Gifted Education Lead Teachers Lead gifted teachers must have scheduled time to complete gifted documentation, screen students, work with small groups and complete gifted testing. We noted that the list of duties and responsibilities did not specifically include screening and testing students referred for the Gifted Education Program. However, the Lead Teachers told us that this may be a very time-consuming process, especially if the Lead Teacher only has one daily planning period in which to test a student. The Georgia Resource Manual for Gifted Education Services provides guidance to school districts related to all aspects of the Gifted Education Programs, including referral and eligibility criteria consistent with the State rule. However, the Local Education Agency (LEA) may develop the procedures and testing windows to determine if each student candidate meets the eligibility criteria. The SCCPSS Gifted Program Handbook identifies testing windows during each school year. During SY 12/13, four testing windows were conducted: 13

14 Time Frame Who is Tested September 7-19, 2012 Transfers from private school Identified as gifted in another state October 25 November 28, 2012 New to SCCPSS Re-evaluations Grades 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9-12 January 25-February 15, 2013 Re-evaluations New to SCCPSS Automatic referrals (ITBS 3 rd, 5 th, 8 th ) March 1-27, 2013 Re-evaluations New to SCCPSS Automatic referrals (Kindergarten Planned Experience) When the Secondary Lead Teacher tests referred students, the students are pulled from their classes during the Lead Teacher s planning period. If the test takes over 50 minutes, the student comes for testing on multiple days during the same class period. If the student s class period is an academic core class, there is the risk that the student will miss instruction for several days. We were informed that some of the Lead Teachers were granted professional leave from their assigned classes to complete testing. When this happens, these teachers students are at risk of missing meaningful instruction. One GA district (Bibb) told us that testing is completed on gifted education candidates at the beginning of the school year, as well as during two weeks in January. There are no other scheduled testing windows. There may be a time when individual testing may be done on a student that transfers during the year and evidence has been determined to warrant gifted education testing. In this county, guidance counselors are responsible for conducting the testing. Required Time Away from Instructional Duties and Responsibilities Secondary Lead Teachers also miss time away from their instructional responsibilities due to required attendance at the District-level gifted education meetings. The Gifted Education Lead Teacher Calendar for SY 12/13, created by District Gifted Education management, established dates for informational meetings, training for gifted education testing, and meetings required for the gifted education selection process nomination committee meetings and jury panel meetings. These meetings were held three times during the school year. Other than the first informational meeting during preplanning week of the school year, meetings were held during the school day. 14

15 The majority of the Secondary Lead Teachers are hired as teachers. Any meetings held during the school day require a substitute teacher to cover students supervision and instruction. For SY 12/13, these meetings required Lead Teachers to miss up to 11 days of school. If the Lead Teacher was new to the Lead Teacher position, he/she also spent an additional school day in Torrance Test Training, which is mandatory for new Lead Teachers. In our discussions with District staff, we were told that not all Lead Teachers attend all of the meetings; most Lead Teachers only attend nominations and jury panel meetings when students from their schools are being nominated. Twelve days out of the classroom may have a significant effect on student achievement, especially if the teacher s substitute is not knowledgeable in the course curriculum area in which he/she subs. One of the Secondary Lead Teachers told us that the teacher needs to be in the classroom. In our discussion, the teacher described how necessary it is to stay focused on daily instruction with high school students, especially when the teacher has these students for only 50 minutes each day. In this particular instance, the classes that were missed when this teacher attended the District gifted education meetings were an IB math course, an Advanced Content upper-level math course, two Common Core Georgia Performance Standard (CCGPS) math courses, and the Instructional Focus class in which the teacher provided individualized instruction for students remediation. Developing the Master Schedule One of the Lead Teacher s duties and responsibilities included in the SCCPSS Handbook states: Assist with gifted student scheduling to work toward maximizing allowable FTE segments and meet the State requirement of a minimum of 5 FTE segments per gifted student per week or its equivalent. In our interviews with the Secondary Lead Teachers, we determined that several of them were on their school s scheduling team and responsible for helping to create the master schedule. One of the high school Lead Teachers told us that being at the front end of developing the master schedule ensures that Advanced Content courses, including AP and IB, are offered at times which will not conflict with gifted education students course selections. For example, if AP U.S. History and AP Calculus are only offered once a day and both of these classes are taught 3 rd period, then the gifted education student is not able to take both of these courses. If this student s strengths are in the areas of verbal and quantitative abilities, the master schedule does not allow this student to be able to access the classes which may offer the most appropriate instruction to best meet his needs. 15

16 Another Lead Teacher told us when the master schedule is developed, gifted education students should be assigned to Advanced Content classes first to ensure that their gifted education services are delivered in the most appropriate classes. After those assignments have been made, then the gifted education students should be placed with gifted education endorsed teachers in the classes where instruction is delivered through the Cluster Model. This Lead Teacher is on the scheduling team at her school, along with special education personnel. In former audits, we were told that in master schedule development, a school needs to schedule the courses needed by the exceptional education students (both special education and gifted education) first; then complete the schedule with other courses. When interviewed, Secondary Lead Teachers made these comments: Lead Gifted Education Teacher must be on the scheduling team when master schedule is developed so that scheduling priorities for Advanced Content Delivery Model courses are considered. The entire scheduling team at the school needs to take PowerScheduler training. The Gifted Education Lead Teacher, as well as the Lead Special Education Teacher, need to be a part of the scheduling team. The school needs to have a scheduling team, including the Gifted Education Lead Teacher. The master schedule should not be developed only by one assistant principal. Providing Professional Learning Opportunities The Lead Teacher s list of duties and responsibilities also includes the following: Facilitates and provides enrichment and acceleration to non-gifted students enrolled at school sites when time is available. Serve as a resource for Cluster and Advanced Content teachers who are working with gifted students at the school site. Participate in collaborative planning and discussions as part of a Professional Learning Community with other Gifted Education Specialists at school site. In the responses from our survey of the Secondary Lead Teachers, we determined that the majority reported the need for improvement in the delivery of professional learning opportunities in the following areas: 67% - Differentiated instruction in the secondary gifted education classroom. 67% - Motivation of secondary gifted education students. 53% - Building awareness among other certified educators of the needs and behaviors of gifted education students. In our interviews with these Lead Teachers, we were told that they would like to provide training in these areas to the other gifted education endorsed teachers at their schools. However, lack of District-wide teacher duty days during the school year, lack of common planning times, and other commitments to school-wide, 16

17 mandatory professional learning have prevented them from implementing any gifted education training. We were also told that helping regular education teachers learn the gifted education behaviors in order to identify gifted education eligibility in their students is another area where professional learning opportunities are needed. One Lead Teacher told us that sometimes a teacher will not complete the teacher referral form because she has the perception that the student should not be gifted. In our interviews with Lead Teachers, they all stated they wanted to do more with providing professional learning opportunities at their school sites. The number one reason stated for not being able to fulfill this task was lack of time. There appear to be several causes which increase the time that Secondary Lead Teachers must spend completing and managing gifted education documentation. These causes are: Maintaining a full instructional load for their students, some or all who may not be gifted education students; Increased numbers of gifted education students in their school; Requirements for all gifted education documentation, including meeting with teachers and parents, if necessary, obtaining parent signatures, scanning documents and recording gifted education data in TIENET, as well as other necessary spreadsheets. Number of testing windows used in SCCPSS; Three or more preparations for assigned courses that they teach; Lack of enough planning time during the day; Number of District Gifted Education required meetings held during the school day; Performing other duties and responsibilities assigned by the school principal. The effect on the Secondary Lead Teachers roles and responsibilities may lead to frequent turnover in the teachers who serve as Lead Teachers. When there is no stability in this position in the secondary schools, gifted education students may not be served effectively and gifted education services may not be managed completely and efficiently. Recommendations for Condition A Internal Audit recommends to Academic Affairs Gifted Education Program Management: 1. Revise the document for Duties and Responsibilities to create separate documents, one for Elementary and one for Secondary Lead Gifted Education Teachers. 2. Consider revising the document for Duties and Responsibilities to reflect specific guidance for middle and high school Lead Gifted Education Teachers. 3. Review the SCCPSS Gifted Handbook, update and revise where necessary: 17

18 a. Change the term specialist to teacher where needed. b. Add the responsibility of screening and testing students who have been referred for gifted education to the list of duties and responsibilities. 4. Consider creating additional itinerant Secondary Lead Gifted Education Teachers to provide gifted education services to schools that have less than 50 gifted education students. 5. Consider a.5 position for Gifted Education Program management for the Secondary Lead Gifted Education Teachers at schools with over 75 gifted education students, as well as a.5 position for instruction. 6. Consider streamlining the required paperwork for gifted education documentation by replacing the hard copies of the Gifted Services form with the necessary data recorded in PowerSchool and TIENET, as is done in several GA school districts. This data would roll over to the next year if there are no changes in the delivery of gifted education services for the student. 7. Determine if scanning Cluster Contracts, Gifted Services forms, and other documentation for gifted students is an efficient use of time. If documentation is simply scanned for storage and never reviewed, it could be more efficient to store the hard copies in a pre-determined location (at the school site or the Central Office) in case of future needs. 8. Consider reducing the number of testing windows during the school year for secondary schools, which would automatically reduce the number of nomination meetings and juried panel meetings. 9. Consider sharing responsibilities with Guidance Counselors at secondary schools. For example: a. Individual student who needs testing on an as needed basis may be given the test by a Guidance Counselor. b. Identify and assign a specific Guidance Counselor to all gifted education students at each school site; this provides a go to contact for students to discuss course offerings. This Counselor could help provide support to these students by reviewing their course history and ensure that the student is matched with the right course based on the student s areas of gifted strengths. The Counselor could also be the contact to provide articulation between the feeder school (elementary or middle) to the receiver school (middle or high). Working together, the Guidance Counselor and Secondary Lead Gifted Education Teacher would be able to provide better communication and networking opportunities to the gifted education students and their parents. The Secondary Lead Gifted Education Teacher should consult with the school s scheduling team to assist in the development of the master schedule. 10. Consider ways to encourage additional secondary teachers to earn the GaPSC issued gifted endorsement. 18

19 Condition B. Advanced Content Class Delivery Model Honors Courses Criteria need to be developed for Honors gifted education courses in order to meet State and District requirements. (DAS Goal I) Details of Condition B In our reviews of gifted education students schedules, we noted that some gifted education students took Honors courses. We also conducted unannounced classroom observations in Honors courses. In our discussions with District gifted education management, we were told that course rigor and requirements for Honors courses were being reviewed and revised as needed. However, we noted that criteria for course curriculum and placement of students who will be successful in the Advanced Content classes were not available as stated in the SCCPSS Gifted Program Handbook Honors courses are considered Advanced Content classes. SCCPSS students, both gifted education students and regular education students who meet the course criteria, may take Advanced Content classes which include Honors, Advanced Placement (AP), and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. AP and IB courses are courses with established standardized national/international criteria. Honors courses may be locally developed by LEAs with established criteria for a more rigorous course offering. We also noted in our data reviews gifted education students were taking Honors courses; however, the teacher of record for the Honors course may not hold the gifted endorsement certification. Using our audit sample of gifted education students, we identified a group of these students who were enrolled in one or more Honors courses at each of the 11 high schools/programs during SY 12/13. We analyzed the GaPSC certifications of the teachers of record for these classes to determine if there were any teachers teaching Honors courses who did not have the GaPSC issued gifted education endorsement. Of the 97 unique teachers in our sample, 33 (34%) did not have GaPSC issued gifted education endorsement. The teacher in an Honors class must have GaPSC issued gifted education endorsement for this class to be counted for gifted FTE. There were 29 gifted education students in our sample who were enrolled in these courses taught by these 33 teachers. The District was not able to claim gifted FTE for these 29 gifted education students in these classes. When teachers who do not have the GaPSC issued gifted education endorsement are assigned to teach Honors classes, Gifted FTE for the gifted education students in those Honors classes cannot be reported to the State. Therefore, the District did not earn all the potential FTE funding available based on placement of students and staff. When teachers who teach gifted education students do not have the GaPSC issued gifted education endorsement, there is the risk that these students may not reach their gifted education potential. Gifted education endorsed teachers 19

20 who plan and implement research-based instructional strategies for gifted education students have had more in-depth training in differentiated instruction and the needs of gifted education students. In our discussions with a District Gifted Education Teacher who teaches the gifted education endorsement cohort classes, we were told that some of the teachers in the classes complained because they did not want to take the gifted education course and said that they were only doing it because the principal is making me. We were provided an communication from a teacher who had completed a gifted education cohort class. This teacher stated how his/her students test grades were the best grades that I have had on this test in 3 years. This teacher referred to how well the students performed after he/she implemented a strategy that was taught in the gifted education endorsement cohort class as a best practice for working with gifted education students. The District Gifted Education Teacher who teaches the gifted education endorsement cohort class also told us that more than one teacher has mentioned on their post course evaluations that they felt it was one of the most worthwhile courses they had ever taken not just for Gifted, but for overall teaching. For the use of the Advanced Content Class (K-12) Delivery Model, the SCCPSS Gifted Program Handbook states: Students are homogeneously grouped on the basis of achievement and interests (CTAE, English language arts, fine arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and world languages). Students may be included in the class who are not identified as gifted, but show strong academic abilities in the content area. Criteria are established for placing students who will be successful in the Advanced Content classes. These criteria will be kept on file with the district gifted teacher specialist. Course curriculum is available from the district gifted teacher specialist upon request. Curriculum clearly shows how the content is advanced, teaching strategies, pacing, process skills and assessments that all differ from course more typical for students at that grade level. Identified gifted and high ability students in the Advanced Content courses have a class maximum of 25 students for secondary and 21 students for elementary. Students in the Advanced Content class may only be counted at the gifted weight for FTE purposes if they have been identified as gifted. The SCCPSS Handbook also states: Students who participate in the Advanced Content model of services will receive instruction that is well defined, based on Georgia Common Core Standards, with a level of pacing and rigor that is not typical for an average student on that grade level. 20