HWES Gifted and Talented
Mrs. Hiser
What are gifted and talented service at the elementary level?
Maryland has educational regulations for gifted and talented services, more commonly known as GT Comar. In Maryland, "A gifted and talented student is identified as “having outstanding talent and performing, or showing the potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared with other students” (Maryland Annotated Code § 8-201)
In Harford County Public Schools, students are identified for services in Reading and/or Math. These services begin in third grade.
At Homestead-Wakefield Elementary School, gifted and talented services include a combination of co-teaching, consultative, and pull-out services. Consultative and co-teaching are services that require homeroom and the GT resource teacher to work closely together for planning and to maintain a continuum of services. In a consultative model, the homeroom teacher is providing the GT services to students, after planning and support from the GT specialist. In most cases, the GT teacher plugs into classrooms once per week to support instruction beyond the grade level curriculum.
Meet Mrs. Hiser
Hello Wildcats! I am Verna Hiser. I am a National Board-Certified teacher in Exceptional Needs Specialist- Gifted and Talented and a 2023 Amazon Future Engineer Teacher Ambassador. I earned my elementary teaching degree from the College of Notre Dame of Central Maryland in 2003 and my master’s degree in reading education from Towson University in 2015. I have worked in Harford County for 20 years, 9.5 years in 4th grade and then as a GT specialist. I have been at HWES for 6 years. My passion is neurodivergent students, especially gifted and twice exceptional. My goal is to bring enriching and engaging experiences to as many students as possible.
How are students identified for Gifted and Talented services?
All students are initially screened for Gifted and Talented Services during their second-grade school year. This is known as universal screening, which is a gifted education best practice.
Students are identified for services in Reading, Math, or both, and these services begin in third grade. Multiple measures are used, which is another research-based best practice in gifted education. Some of the multiple measures for our universal screening include reading Lexiles and/or Fountas and Pinnell levels, Math Inventory, Primary Talent Development, and Cognitive Abilities Test Screener. Students who are identified demonstrate above average ability and thus the need for more challenging work, beyond the HCPS general curriculum. Identified gifted students are grouped with like ability students and receive differentiated curriculum daily in regular classes with the support of the GT teacher. The services include compacted curriculum, an increase in the pace of the lessons, and project-based learning.
Data is analyzed each year to determine how to best meet the needs of gifted and highly able learners. Students who transfer from other HCPS schools keep their identified services, although the services may look different. If students transfer from outside of HCPS, Mrs. Hiser may ask for permission to complete additional testing.
Math Olympiads
Maryland Engineering Challenge
The Learning Pit
This image is share with students to help them understand why they are being challenged to do hard things.