|
Curriculum compacting, developed
by Dr. Joseph Renzulli and Linda Smith in 1978, is a differentiation strategy
that is extremely beneficial to many gifted and high ability students. It is
a process by which students are pre-assessed to determine what parts of the
curriculum they have already mastered. When those areas of knowledge and
skills are identified, these students are not required to complete the
grade-level work. Instead, they work on alternate activities.
Curriculum compacting is a
particularly important strategy for gifted and other high-ability students
because they often come to school already knowing much of the grade level
material. If these students are not challenged with new or different content,
they waste time in school, do not learn important study skills, and do not
grow as learners.
How
Does Curriculum Compacting Work?
First Step- identify what the
student has already mastered. This works well in subjects that are easily
tested, like math, in which questions usually require one right answer.
Prior to the pre-assessment, the
teacher determines the requirement for mastery. For example, mastery might be
90% or higher on a pretest or no more than one mistake in a writing sample.
Pre-assessment: pretest, classroom
observation, a short discussion with the student, a checklist of what the
student knows, or brainstorming session.
Choose an alternate activity. This
could be independent study..
'Nuts
and Bolts' of Compacting
* The teacher meets with
compacting students to decide with them on which alternate activity or
activities they will work.
* Some type of a time line is
established, including when the students will meet with the teacher again and
when the alternate activity is due. Compacting students can work
independently or together, but it is important that they touch base with
their teacher often.
* The score that determines
mastery is also the score that goes in the grade book. Students may receive
extra points, if necessary, for compacting activities, but they should not be
penalized with a lower grade if they work on a more challenging activity and
do not get a high score. Gifted students are sometimes reluctant to work on
alternate activities because they think a possible lower score will
negatively affect their grades.
* Each student should be
responsible for keeping his/her own compactor folder with the work in it.
This is a good way for disorganized gifted students to learn skills in
organization, and it gives them practice in taking responsibility for their
own work and their own learning.
* Parents need to discuss and show
interest in their child's compactor activities. However, parents should not
pressure their child to compact out of the grade-level work every time. Even
gifted students have some academic weaknesses. Most gifted children compact
out some of the time and usually in a specific subject.
|
