It's INSTEP Season

Are you concerned that your MMSD K-12 student is not being adequately challenged in one or more academic content areas? Perhaps s/he needs an INSTEP.

An INSTEP is an "Individualized Student Education Plan." It's like an IEP ("Individual Education Plan"), except that it's for high performing students. (IEP's are for students with special education needs.) For any given student, an INSTEP can be done in a single curricular area or in multiple curricular areas. Now is a good time to request an INSTEP because it will insure that no time will be lost in meeting your child's educational needs next year.

It's been said that the INSTEP is one of the District's best kept secrets. Find out all there is to know at http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/tag/html/

To request an INSTEP -- or to simply explore the possibility that your child may need one -- all you have to do is contact the appropriate District TAG ("Talented and Gifted") staff:

Rosy Bayuk -- rbayuk@madison.k12.wi.us -- 663-5230
(Emerson, Franklin, Leopold, Lincoln, Mendota, Midvale)

Kerry Berns -- kberns@madison.k12.wi.us -- 663-5230
(Elvehjem, Gompers, Hawthorne, Kennedy, Lakeview, Lindbergh)

Leah Creswell -- lcreswell@madison.k12.wi.us -- 663-5221
(Allis, Lowell, Nuestro Mundo, Orchard Ridge, Randall, Thoreau)

Rebecca Finnerud -- rfinnerud@madison.k12.wi.us -- 442-2152
(Glendale, Lapham, Marquette, Sandberg, Schenk)

Bettine Lipman -- blipman@madison.k12.wi.us -- 442-2153
(Chavez, Crestwood, Falk, Huegel, Muir, Stephens, Van Hise)

Ted Widerski -- twiderski@madison.k12.wi.us -- 663-5221
(all middle schools and all high schools)

Welda Simousek -- wsimousek@madison.k12.wi.us -- 663-5245
(District TAG Coordinator)

The TAG staff are an invaluable resource for the entire District. They are the only educational professionals in the District who are trained and experienced in both the appropriate assessment of advanced learners and in curriculum differentiation (theory and practice). They also know a lot about the social and emotional needs of academically talented children.

Uncomfortable with the word "gifted"? No need to be. No need to even use it. Just think of a performance distribution (one for each academic content area) and ask yourself if your child is in the top 15-20% of the distribution (the top 16% is one or more standard deviations above the mean). Ask yourself if they are advanced by two or more grade levels? Finally, ask yourself if you think your child is truly being challenged at school. Don't forget to ask your child a few questions -- Are they learning new material? Does the pace of learning feel about right for them? Are they regularly bored in class because they already know the material, it goes too slowly or there's too much repetition? Etc.

Posted by Laurie Frost at March 10, 2006 12:41 PM
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