Instruction: Gifted and Talented
Master of Education
About This Program
The Master of Education in Instruction: Gifted and Talented degree program is designed for educators interested in teaching and developing programs for gifted and talented students. Candidates study research-based practices to acquire the knowledge, skills, and experiences needed to enhance student learning and to ensure their effectiveness as teachers and leaders in the field of gifted and talented education. The program addresses research-based practices relating to curriculum development, promoting cognitive, social, and emotional development, and encouraging creativity, innovative and critical thinking.
The standards and program competencies adopted for the Master of Education in Instruction: Gifted and Talented degree program are the National Gifted Education Standards issued by the National Association for Gifted Children, Council for Exceptional Children, and The Association for the Gifted (2013). The M.Ed. in Instruction: Gifted and Talented degree program is designed to enable candidates to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in the following program competency standards.
- Learner Development and Individual Learning Differences
Beginning gifted education professionals understand the variations in learning and development in cognitive and affective areas between and among individuals with gifts and talents and apply this understanding to provide meaningful and challenging learning experiences for individuals with exceptionalities.
- Learning Environments
Beginning gifted education professionals create safe, inclusive, and culturally responsive learning environments so that individuals with gifts and talents become effective learners and develop social and emotional well-being.
- Curricular Content Knowledge
Beginning gifted education professionals use knowledge of general and specialized curricula to advance learning for individuals with gifts and talents.
Beginning gifted education professionals use multiple methods of assessment and data sources in making educational decisions about identification of individuals with gifts and talents and student learning.
- Instructional Planning and Strategies
Beginning gifted education professionals select, adapt, and use a repertoire of evidence-based instructional strategies to advance the learning of individuals with gifts and talents.
- Professional Learning and Ethical Practice
Beginning gifted education professionals use foundational knowledge of the field and professional ethical principles and programming standards to inform gifted education practice, to engage in lifelong learning, and to advance the profession.
Beginning gifted education professionals collaborate with families, other educators, related-service providers, individuals with gifts and talents, and personnel from community agencies in culturally responsive ways to address the needs of individuals with gifts and talents across a range of learning experiences.
Multiple assessments are used to determine candidate growth toward achievement of the knowledge and skills described in the Master of Education in Instruction: Gifted and Talented degree program competencies and the college-wide graduation competencies. Performance-based assessments are used to evaluate fieldwork, projects, assignments, and research papers. Goals, learning outcomes and activities, external assignments, and assessment strategies are linked directly to program and graduation competencies as stated on each course syllabus. Other assessment strategies may include observations of performance-based projects in authentic settings and mentoring sessions. A standards-based presentation portfolio completed during the program will show the candidate’s level of expertise in acquiring the knowledge, skills, and dispositions described by the National Association for Gifted Education Standards. An exit PRAXIS II examination [Test Code 5358, Gifted Education, with a passing cut score of 157] is required to be taken, passed, and scores on record at Wilmington University prior to graduating.
This information applies to students who enter this degree program during the 2016-2017 Academic Year. If you entered this degree program before the Fall 2016 semester, please refer to the academic catalog for the year you began your degree program.