5.4.7 Depth and Complexity in Gifted Students: Understanding and Simplifying Differentiated Assessment

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) notes in its student diversity literature that ‘Gifted and talented students are entitled to rigorous, relevant and engaging learning opportunities drawn from the Australian Curriculum and aligned with their individual learning needs, strengths, interests and goals’. Students world-wide, whose readiness-to-learn necessitates a more complex and rigorous curriculum, also require differentiated assessment aligned with their level of instruction. This presentation will detail the connection between pre-testing, curriculum delivery and assessment for gifted students, and provide practical resources and examples for differentiating formative and summative assessment through direct and indirect measures.

Differentiating assessment for gifted learners is not a stand-alone task and does not begin at the final assessment. It is essential that educators gather information from pre-testing, use that information to design and inform curriculum delivery, and differentiate assessments in line with the results of the initial pre-testing and the curriculum that has been delivered. The results of the pre-testing will contribute to determining if an individual should access the general class activities or if they should access extension activities designed for gifted students. This process will ensure that students who may not have been formally identified as gifted and/or may have under-achieved in prior testing, can still have access to an engaging and rigorous program. Analyses of the pre-testing results prior to commencement of the program will also provide opportunity for the teacher to modify and/or further differentiate the program. Gaining accurate data on individual students’ needs will lead to a higher potential for effective differentiation in a mixed-ability classroom (Franklin-Rohr, 2012).

Built on Kaplan's (2013) principals of Depth and Complexity, this presentation will encourage educators to start with their current education programs, and equip them with practical and transferable examples in making progressive positive change in appropriate differentiated assessment.Aligning culturally relevant differentiated assessment with curriculum-led outcomes directs evidence-guided practice in the 21st century.

Franklin-Rohr, C. (2012). Differentiation and the Twice-Exceptional Student. Understanding Our Gifted, Volume 24 (2) Open Space Communications: USA. pp. 25-27

Kaplan, S. (2013). Depth and Complexity. In C. Callahan & H. Hertberg-Davis (Eds.), Fundamentals of Gifted Education: Considering Multiple Perspectives. Routledge: New York, USA pp. 277-286

Stephens, K.R., Karnes, F.A. (2016) Introduction to Curriculum Design in Gifted Education. Hawker Brownlow: Australia

Webber, C.L., Behrens, W., Boswell, C. (2016) Differentiating Instruction for Gifted Learners. Hawker Brownlow, Australia

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