Balanced clusters of TAAP identified students in Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science classes
"Stretch and Challenge" TAAP classes: all TAAP students participate in a TAAP Stretch and Challenge Class each year.
Flexible grouping continues for grade 5 Math. Accelerated Math classes for students who qualify are offered in 6th and 7th grades
7th grade students who qualify are placed in an Advanced Language Arts class. These students have scores that place them in the top 10% of the student population using LOCAL norms
Identification of TAAP Students
New students to MEHMS who come with a Gifted Identification from a previous school are placed in the TAAP program on a provisional basis. These students receive TAAP services throughout the year and are formally identified using FCCPS criteria at the end of the school year
Any student at MEHMS can be referred to the Screening, Identification, and Placement Committee (SIP) for possible identification. Referring agents may be teachers, parents, or self-referrals
Identification Instruments
Reading Comprehension on the Stanford-10 Achievement test or other nationally standardized tests
Teacher Observation Rating Scale (TORS)
Portfolio of Student Work
Differentiation in the Regular Classroom
Curricula begins with a core content to be mastered by students.
Curricula can be accordioned to meet the needs of individual students
As student achievement indicates, teachers have a variety of techniques to insure all students are challenged
We
believe that education for the gifted must foster achievement,
enhance aptitude, and nurture creativity in order to help each child
realize his or her potential as a learner. Instruction must be
designed and paced to challenge each learner at the appropriate level
and to stimulate complex thinking and problem solving.
MEHMS Gifted/Talented Specialist
Pamela Wilkie
Ms. Wilkie has worked with Falls Church City Schools since 1996 as a middle school Gifted/Talented Specialist. She received a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Education and Special Education from the University of Kentucky and a Masters of Education degree from Middle Tennessee State University. She holds a Gifted Education endorsement from the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Ms. Wilkie has worked with gifted programs in the public schools since 1983. She taught in Kingsport, Tennessee; Nashville, Tennessee; and Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin before coming to Falls Church.
Ms. Wilkie has presented workshops at national and state conferences on various topics of gifted education. She has also collaborated with the Library of Congress to become an "Ambassador" for teaching with primary sources. She is currently on the Regional Board for "Odyssey of the Mind".
In conjunction with her work with "The Stock Market Game" Ms. Wilkie was awarded the S. Buford Scott Award by the Virginia Council for Economic Education in 2007
Ms. Wilkie can be reached by phone at 703-720-5743 or email at wilkiep@fccps.org
