Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 11, August 30, 2024
(1)
Unconditional Admission to a Gifted Program. The program must meet
the requirements in Rule
290-3-3-.41. Initial
certification in Gifted is at the Class A level. Requirements for unconditional
admission to the program include at least a valid
bachelor's-level professional educator certificate in a teaching field. If an
individual is unconditionally admitted to an Alabama Class A program based on a
valid bachelor's- or master's-level professional
educator certificate from another state, completes a Class A program, and
subsequently applies for Alabama certification at the Class A level, then the
individual must hold at least a valid Class B certificate before applying for
Class A certification.
(2)
Program Curriculum. These rules have been aligned with the teacher
preparation standards of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and build
upon the Alabama Core Teaching Standards.
(a)
Learner Development and Individual Learning Differences.
Candidates understand the variations in learning and development in cognitive
and affective areas between and among gifted individuals and apply this
understanding to provide meaningful and challenging learning experiences for
gifted individuals. Candidates:
1. Understand
how language, culture, economic status, family background, and/or area of
disability can influence the learning of individuals with
exceptionalities.
2. Use
understanding of development and individual differences to respond to the needs
of gifted individuals.
(b)
Learning Environments.
Candidates create safe, inclusive, and culturally responsive learning
environments so that gifted individuals become active and effective learners
and develop emotional well-being, positive social interactions, and
self-determination. Candidates:
1. Create
safe, inclusive, culturally responsive learning environments that engage gifted
individuals in meaningful and rigorous learning activities and social
interactions.
2. Use communication
and motivational and instructional intervention to facilitate understanding of
subject matter and to teach gifted individuals how to adapt to different
environments and develop ethical leadership skills.
3. Adjust their communication to an
individual's language proficiency and cultural and linguistic
differences.
4. Demonstrate
understanding of the multiple environments that are part of the continuum of
services for gifted individuals, including the advantages and disadvantages of
various settings and teach them how to adapt to the expectations and demands of
differing environments.
(c)
Curricular Content
Knowledge. Candidates use knowledge of general and specialized curricula
to advance learning for gifted individuals. Candidates:
1. Understand the role of central concepts,
structures of the discipline, and tools of inquiry of the content they teach,
and use their understanding to organize knowledge, integrate cross-disciplinary
skills, and develop meaningful learning progressions within and across grade
levels.
2. Design appropriate
learning and performance modifications for gifted individuals that enhance
creativity, acceleration, depth and complexity in academic subject matter and
specialized domains.
3. Use
assessments to select, adapt, and create materials to differentiate
instructional strategies and general and specialized curricula to challenge
gifted individuals.
4. Understand
that gifted individuals demonstrate a wide range of advanced knowledge and
performance levels and modify the general or specialized curriculum
appropriately.
(d)
Assessment. Candidates use multiple methods of assessment and data
sources in making educational decisions about identification of gifted
individuals and student learning. Candidates:
1. Understand that some groups of gifted
individuals have been underrepresented in gifted education programs and select
and use technically sound formal and informal assessments that minimize
bias.
2. Use knowledge of
measurement principles and practices to differentiate assessments and interpret
results to guide educational decisions for gifted individuals.
3. Collaborate with colleagues and families
in using multiple types of assessment information to make identification and
learning progress decisions and to minimize bias in assessment and
decision-making.
4. Use assessment
results to develop long- and short-range goals and objectives that take into
consideration an individual's abilities and needs, the learning environment,
and other factors related to diversity.
5. Understand the various child-find
processes and strategies to elicit gifted behaviors in the strength areas and
minimize bias.
6. Engage gifted
individuals in assessing the quality of their own learning and performance and
in setting future goals and objectives.
(e)
Instructional Planning and
Strategies. Candidates select, adapt, and use a repertoire of
evidence-based instructional strategies to advance the learning of gifted
individuals. Candidates:
1. Know principles
of evidence-based, differentiated, and accelerated practices and possess a
repertoire of instructional strategies to enhance the critical and creative
thinking, problem-solving, and performance skills of gifted
individuals.
2. Apply appropriate
technologies to support instructional assessment, planning, and delivery for
gifted individuals.
3. Collaborate
with families, professional colleagues, and other educators to select, adapt,
and use evidence-based strategies that promote challenging learning
opportunities in general and specialized curricula.
4. Emphasize the development, practice, and
transfer of advanced knowledge and skills across environments throughout the
lifespan leading to creative, productive careers in a multicultural society for
gifted individuals.
5. Use
instructional strategies that enhance the affective development of gifted
individuals.
6. Develop and
implement state documents and regulations, (i.e., Gifted Education Plans [GEP]
and Standards and Student Outcomes).
(f)
Professional Learning and Ethical
Practice. Candidates use foundational knowledge of the field and
professional ethical principles and programming standards of the Council for
Exceptional Children and the National Association for Gifted Children to inform
gifted education practice, to engage in lifelong learning, and to advance the
profession. Candidates:
1. Use professional
ethical principles and specialized program standards to guide their
practice.
2. Understand how
foundational knowledge, perspectives, and historical and current issues
influence professional practice and the education and treatment of gifted
individuals in school and society.
3. Model respect for diversity, understanding
that it is an integral part of society's institutions and impacts learning of
gifted individuals in the delivery of gifted education services.
4. Are aware of their own professional
learning needs, understand the significance of lifelong learning, and
participate in professional activities and learning communities.
5. Advance the profession by engaging in
activities such as advocacy and mentoring.
6. Are familiar with and use state documents
and regulations (i.e., Second Grade Child Find Procedures, Help Document, and
advanced curriculum guides).
(g)
Collaboration. Candidates
collaborate with families, other educators, related-service providers, gifted
individuals, and personnel from community agencies in culturally responsive
ways to address the needs of gifted individuals across a range of learning
experiences. Candidates:
1. Apply elements of
effective collaboration.
2. Serve
as a collaborative resource with colleagues.
3. Use collaboration to promote the
well-being of gifted individuals across a wide range of settings, experiences,
and collaborators.
(3)
Requirements for Certification for
Teachers of Gifted Students. Readiness to serve as a teacher of gifted
students shall include:
(a) An official
transcript from a regionally accredited institution documenting an earned
master's degree.
(b) A survey of
special education course is required unless that course was taken for prior
level certification. [See Rule
290-3-3-.01(51)] . An individual who completed a survey of special education course prior to
the semester when the individual met meeting requirements for unconditional
admission to a Class A program July 1, 2017, and thereafter, must take a course
focused primarily on one of the following categories: methods of accommodating
instruction to meet the needs of students with exceptionalities in inclusive
settings, multicultural education, teaching English language learners, rural
education, or urban education. A diversity course used to meet this requirement
for one level of certification may not be used to meet the requirement for a
higher level of certification.
(c)
Satisfactory completion of a State-approved program with a minimum GPA of 3.0
on all courses in the Alabama State Board of Education approved educator
preparation program. Effective for candidates unconditionally admitted to a
Class A Gifted program July 1, 2017, and thereafter, satisfactory completion of
a State-approved program with a minimum GPA of 3.25 on all courses in the
Alabama State Board of Education approved program.
(d) Competence to teach gifted students as
demonstrated in an internship of at least 300 clock hours that complies with
Rule
290-3-3-.03(6)(e)2.(i) and Rule
290-3-3-.41(5)(e).
(e) A valid Class B Professional Educator
Certificate in a teaching field.
(4)
Testing for Certification of
Teachers of Gifted Students. Applicants for initial certification in
Gifted through the completion of a Class A program must meet the Praxis
requirements of the Alabama Educator Certification Assessment Program (AECAP)
as a precondition for certification. Additional information is in Rule
290-3-3-.41(6).
(5)
Interim Employment
Certificate. An Interim Employment Certificate (IEC) allows a
superintendent or administrator to employ an applicant who is completing
requirements for initial Class A certification in some teaching fields through
a State-approved Class A program at an Alabama institution. Additional
information, including requirements and restrictions, is provided in the
current Educator Certification Chapter of the Alabama Administrative
Code.
Previous Rule.43 was renumbered.44 per certification
published August 31, 2021; effective October 15,
2021.
