One method for assessing gifted students’ efforts in GATE classes is cross-referencing exit standards with content standards.
When GATE teachers attempt to integrate core content into their programs, the question arises as to how to assess those curricular strands. Is the standard evaluated in the regular classroom, or in the GATE class? If a history lesson is acted out in the GATE class to support that section being taught in social studies, where does the assessment (and grade) come from? Since these standards need to be observable and measurable, teachers need to take special care when constructing the scope and sequencing of the programs. This is the phase where several districts around the country might have some questions. Exit outcomes for all courses, and especially gifted programs need to be defined in curricular terms and not as goals in and of themselves. As they are developed, the curricular content standards can be cross-referenced to the District's exit-level standards assuring a level articulation between program designs and exit outcomes.
The first step in this process is moving the emphasis away from developing curriculum standards and more towards content standards. In this respect, through the use of rubrics, we can authentically assess if the student can do the things he or she should be able to do by their displaying an understanding of a piece of the content standard.
Specifically, by asking the student to demonstrate a skill, we can observe, record, and assess the content piece. The students can also be asked to display small subsections of the content standard in benchmarks. For example, a gifted student may be asked to display three out of five benchmarks under a certain content standard as an exemplar to be assessed as understanding the standard on a quality, or mastery, level – which is then recorded and reported as the assessment.
