School wide enrichment program

Reading Resource Miller, Mrs. School Counselor Morgan, Ms. Special Education Petrarca, Mrs. Grade 3 Pickell, Mr. Band Rauber, Mrs. Grade 2 Rodgers, Miss C. Grade 2 Scandrol, Ms. Music-Strings Solomon, Mrs. Grade K Stack, Mrs. Grade 4 Strauch, Mrs. General Music Zinn, Mrs. Grade 1. By interest? By both ability and interest? How does acceleration fit into the SEM? If we are using SEM do we still need a gifted program? Is it true that the SEM is just a way to save money? Is it true that SEM programs are far more expensive than other kinds of programs?

Is the SEM just for elementary schools—what about pre-school? Middle school? High school? The list goes on and on. And critics of the SEM have taken more than a little liberty in adding their own surplus interpretations to the purpose and meaning of the model.

The answers to these questions and interpretations are both simple and complex. An attempt was made to address some of the above questions and commentary by other writers in an article entitled Reflections, Perceptions, and Future Directions Renzulli, b. This brief article discusses what the model is and the major goals toward which the SEM is directed—the big picture, so to speak!

These larger concerns are important for both current users of the model who need to answer questions such as the ones raised above, and for prospective users who should consider the big picture before making decisions about whether or not SEM is the best choice for their school or program.

We will begin by briefly describing, then describe schoolwide enrichment and conclude by examining how the SEM relates to total school improvement. An Integrated Continuum of Special Services The Schoolwide Enrichment Model is an organizational plan for delivering enrichment and acceleration through an integrated continuum of services see Figure 1. Services provided by the model range from general enrichment for both wide-ranging and targeted subgroups to highly individualized curriculum modification procedures for rapid learners and first-hand investigative opportunities for highly motivated individuals and small groups.

The model also includes a broad array of specific grouping arrangements based on commonalities in abilities, interests, learning styles, and preferences for various modes of expression. Figure 1. Services based on the Enrichment Triad Model form the core of the enrichment dimension of the SEM, but the model also includes various acceleration options e. Other components of the model include performance-based assessment of student strengths, individual and group counseling, and various special placement options within and outside the school based on high degrees of proficiency and potential.

Figure 1 provides a graphic overview of the integrated continuum of services. The arrow on the left-hand side of the figure, Continuum of Potentials Input is intended to convey the broad range of abilities, interests, and learning styles that exist in any population and subpopulation of students. Even in highly targeted groups e. The arrow on the right hand side of Figure 1, Continuum of Performances Output is intended to illustrate the range of performances and modes of expression that will result from differentiated learning experiences.

When considering this range of performances, we should take various modes of expression into consideration as well as levels of ability. Graphic, dramatic, artistic, spatial, and other forms of expression should be considered in addition to traditional written and spoken expression styles.

We should also take into consideration various levels of evaluation criteria when providing feedback related to student achievement and creative productivity. Traditional, norm-referenced evaluations e. Placing value on internal criteria helps students develop a sense of what they think is important and unique about their work. We would not, for example, foster the uniqueness of a writer such as Langston Hughes if his writing was evaluated with the external criteria typically used to evaluate standard prose.

The center section of Figure 1 Process represents many of the organizational methods for delivering services to students. An important consideration is that any and all services provided through various organizational approaches are integrated or interconnected so that an experience in one organizational setting can be capitalized upon by connecting it with options from another organizational component. Let us assume for a moment that one component of a comprehensive program offers general enrichment for all students in the regular classroom.

Let us further assume that two or three students have had a remarkably positive reaction to, for example, a Type I general exploratory presentation and demonstration on robotics.

We might want to form a special enrichment cluster for these students, or arrange for a mentorship experience, provide them with Internet access to explore robotics, or information on a national or international robotics competition. The most advanced students might subsequently be provided with a summer mentorship experience on a college campus or in an internship at a robotics manufacturing company. Another example of integrated services deals with the most advanced students in a particular subject area.

Let us assume that there are eight or ten primary age students across two or three grade levels that have demonstrated extremely high achievement in mathematics.

Classroom teachers should ideally be providing curriculum compacting services for such students, and teachers should be using the time gained through compacting to provide within-class acceleration and mathematics enrichment opportunities. But equally important is the need to arrange a special grouping situation that allows these students to interact with their mathematically able peers on a regular basis.

Both compacting and cluster grouping will be further enhanced if the classroom teachers and the person s providing instruction to the special group are in close communication about the respective activities in classroom and special group situations.

These few examples of integrated services from the continuum presented in Figure 1 are little more than common sense; and yet a good deal of the time and energy of previous decades has been devoted to arguments about the supremacy of one approach over all others. It is our hope that emphasis in the future be devoted to answering questions about how we escalate learning options for our most potentially able students within and among interconnected services rather than what is the one best approach to providing for the gifted.

It is also our hope that there will be an integration between and among the three main considerations of special programming—identification Input , programming Process , and output Product. The most recent research on the SEM has focused on the application of instructional communication technology to enrichment learning and teaching.

Individual computer generated student profiles are used as the basis for matching personalized resources from a data bank that contains thousands of carefully selected enrichment resources. These resources and students' electronic portfolios can be used for curriculum planning, differentiating instruction, and individual and small group project based learning.

Don't forget to check out our extensive information on SEM-Reading. Schoolwide supports equitable access to literature that reflects and celebrates the lives of all people. Each library includes a wonderful selection of mentor and leveled texts across a range of genres, including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Schoolwide offers an array of comprehensive literacy solutions aligned to federal funding sources and designed to support you in meeting learning standards. Speak with a Program Consultant.