Student Guidance Policy program
Does your school policy address the needs of cognitively high-functioning students?
While cognitive giftedness is a gift for many students, some still face challenges due to inadequate support in schools. Recognizing and addressing the needs of cognitively gifted students is increasingly recognized as an essential aspect of overall student guidance policy. But how do you initiate the development of such a policy with a focus on cognitive high functioning? How do you ensure buy-in from the entire team and prevent resistance? And how do you ensure the policy is practical and not just a document?
Teachers encountering cognitively high-functioning students in their classrooms often attempt to provide tailored support and challenges. However, to ensure consistency and effectiveness, coordination at the school level is crucial. It's vital to establish clear guidelines and consensus on best practices for supporting cognitively high-functioning students.
As a result, the need arises to incorporate cognitive high functioning into your student guidance policy. Such a policy plan typically outlines procedures and strategies for identifying and supporting gifted and high-performing students effectively.
We offer guidance to schools in developing such policies.
Intake discussion
First of all, a- free - intake discussion is held with the school administration where several questions are clarified:
- What constitutes a policy on student guidance focusing on cognitive high-functioning?
- What purpose does this serve?
- What existing knowledge exists regarding cognitive giftedness at your school?
- What is the school's potential capacity?
- Who wishes to collaborate in a team focusing on cognitive high-functioning?
- Who has already received training in this regard?
Meetings
Following this, the school administration assembles a task force comprising management members, representatives from the support team, and three or more eager and engaged educators (including those from early childhood education, primary, and secondary education, or subject-specific teachers in secondary schools). This task force, in collaboration with the facilitator, deliberates on the different facets of the policy plan, with the facilitator guiding possible decisions. Each session typically spans 1.5 to 2 hours.
Introduction to Cognitive High-Functioning
- What constitutes a policy on student support with a focus on cognitive high-functioning?
- What is cognitive giftedness and cognitive high-functioning? What scientific models are available that apply to the school?
Screening and Identification
- How can you identify cognitively high-functioning children within the school?
- What distinguishes learning traits from non-cognitive personal traits?
- Which resources can be employed within general support and specialized care?
- What screening instruments are accessible for detecting potential cognitive high-functioning in a classroom?
- How can these suspicions be validated through a screening protocol?
Compacting and enrichment
- What are the learning and thinking processes of cognitively high-functioning students?
- How can you integrate these learning traits into the standard curriculum?
- What approaches should be adopted to provide adapted education within the regular classroom?
- What is compacting and how is it implemented?
- What are the essential criteria for quality enrichment material?
- What are the various types of enrichment resources available?
Acceleration
- What are the different types of acceleration available?
- Which factors need to be considered in the decision-making process?
- How is this implemented in practice?
- What are the potential challenges or risks?
- Are there standardized methods to assess a student's readiness for grade skipping?
- How do we integrate this procedure into our policy?
School policy report
- What information is currently crucial for the school?
- What approach or protocol is currently being delineated in the policy plan?
- How do you disseminate this plan to parents and external parties?
- When is the plan scheduled for implementation?
- How will the plan be elucidated to other educators?
Evaluation
Approximately six months after the implementation of the school policy, an additional meeting is scheduled to evaluate the plan. In this session (optionally with the entire team or with the task force alone), the issues that emerged during the initial phase are discussed.
Additional options
The following options are not included in the price of the guidance program and need to be compensated for separately. Contact us for customized pricing.
Mindset and motivation
- What motivational theories exist?
- What constitutes mindset? What differentiates a growth mindset from a fixed one?
- How do you instill in cognitively gifted children the ability to take risks, embrace failure, and engage in productive work?
- What strategies can be employed to guide a student in the classroom towards adopting a growth mindset, fostering the courage to take risks, the resilience to learn from setbacks, and the understanding that perseverance is integral to success?
Organizing an enrichment class
- What are the criteria for establishing an enrichment class?
- How do you prevent it from becoming mere busy work?
- What steps should you take to initiate an enrichment class?
- How can you integrate mindset development, strategy training, Bloom's taxonomy, successful intelligence, mindfulness, creative thinking, and philosophical discussions into it?
Underachievement
- What constitutes underachievement?
- How do you identify it?
- What are its root causes?
- How can it be reversed?
- How do you motivate underachievers?
Feedback to the teaching team
Once the policy plan is drafted, it's essential to acquaint all other school team members with its content.
This integration can occur during the process itself through the task force: following each session, feedback can be shared during the school's team meeting, presenting a summary of the discussed elements.
Alternatively, Hoogbloeier® can present the policy plan in one or two training in-service sessions, delving into various aspects of the plan.
Pricing
- (Telephone or Zoom) introductory conversation: free
- Total standard guidance package for student support policy: €2100,- (excluding 21% VAT)
This includes an initial session with a Hoogbloeier® facilitator, 4 sessions of approximately 2 hours each, the school policy report session, and an evaluation session. - Options: Contact us for a customized offer.
- Feedback via teacher in-service training: €550,- (including 21% VAT)
- Transport reimbursement: €1,-/km
If you would like more information or to schedule an appointment, please contact us by phone at +32 465 00 92 09 or by email at onderwijs@hoogbloeier.be.
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