Cedar Cliff Gifted Program

Personalized Learning & 

Renzulli Enrichment Triad Model

Teacher- Mrs. Angela Kamps, M.Ed. Gifted

Personalized Learning Principles 2, 3 & 4

Lessons are designed with student input

Students have a say in what they learn and courses they choose

Real world opportunities to learn

Project-based authentic assessments

Gifted Programming Based on the 

Renzulli Enrichment Triad Model

Students self-select projects based on their strengths and interests. A list of possibilities, which include community outlets and real-world opportunities to learn, are presented.  Students are not limited to these suggestions and may offer their own ideas for study. 

• Type I-Students have opportunities for general exploratory activities
• Type II-group training activities- creative problem solving
• Type III- individual and small group investigation of real problems.

Retrieved directly from University of Connecticut The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented

An Overview of the Enrichment Triad Model

The Enrichment Triad Model was designed to encourage the creative productivity of young people by exposing them to various topics, areas of interest, and fields of study, and to further train them to apply advanced content, process-training skills, and methodology training to self-selected areas of interest. Accordingly, three types of enrichment are included in the Triad Model (see Figure 1).

• Type I enrichment is designed to expose students to a wide variety of disciplines, topics, occupations, hobbies, persons, places, and events that would not ordinarily be covered in the regular curriculum. In schools that use this model, an enrichment team consisting of parents, teachers, and students often organizes and plans Type I experiences by contacting speakers, arranging mini-courses, demonstrations, or performances, or by ordering and distributing films, slides, videotapes, or other print or non-print media.
• Type II enrichment consists of materials and methods designed to promote the development of thinking and feeling processes. Some Type II training is general, and is usually carried out both in classrooms and in enrichment programs. Training activities include the development of (a) creative thinking and problem solving, critical thinking, and affective processes; (b) a wide variety of specific learning how-to-learn skills; (c) skills in the appropriate use of advanced-level reference materials; and (d) written, oral, and visual communication skills. Other Type II enrichment is specific, as it usually involves advanced methodological instruction in an interest area selected by the student.
• Type III enrichment involves students who become interested in pursuing a self-selected area and are willing to commit the time necessary for advanced content acquisition and process training in which they assume the role of a first-hand inquirer. The goals of Type III enrichment include: 
  • providing opportunities for applying interests, knowledge, creative ideas and task commitment to a self-selected problem or area of study,
  • acquiring advanced level understanding of the knowledge (content) and methodology (process) that are used within particular disciplines, artistic areas of expression and interdisciplinary studies,
  • developing authentic products that are primarily directed toward bringing about a desired impact upon a specified audience,
  • developing self-directed learning skills in the areas of planning, organization, resource utilization, time management, decision making, and self-evaluation, and
  • developing task commitment, self-confidence, and feelings of creative accomplishment

Cedar Cliff Gifted Program

Personalized Learning 

Special Interest Gifted Flex Enrichment

Teacher- Mrs. Angela Kamps, M.Ed. Gifted

Personalized Learning Principles 2, 3 & 5

Be individualized

Be student-centered

Teacher acts as facilitator

Include relationship building 

Helping the student choose how to present evidence of his/her own learning

Flex enrichment: Students prioritize chosen activities and write goals for Special Interest flex time for enrichment. Students complete self-evaluations and conference with Mrs. Kamps to receive feedback.

Mrs. Kamps provides ongoing feedback. Students self-evaluate their projects and conference with Mrs. Kamps concerning their final evaluation. Mrs. Kamps facilitates by providing direct instruction, small group instruction, and materials when necessary. Mrs. Kamps acts as a project manager for students. 

Cedar Cliff Gifted Program

Personalized Learning

Special Interest Independent Study Course

Teacher- Mrs. Angela Kamps, M.Ed. Gifted

Personalized Learning Principles 2 & 3 

Be Individualized 

Be Student-Centered

Description of the High School Special Interest Independent Study elective course in the course selection guide:

SPECIAL INTEREST INDEPENDENT STUDY I 
 888604

.5 Credit      1.01 Weight

Prerequisite(s):  Available to students in the Special Interest program

This course enables gifted students to collaborate with the gifted support teacher to customize their educational experiences. Students may design the course to align with their academic strengths and interests to help them fulfill GIEP goals. The course encourages the development of transferable skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, communication, leadership, and project management. This personalized-learning curriculum may include completing in-depth studies and/or projects that may culminate in presentation, publication, competition, original products, or solutions to real-world problems. The student and teacher develop plans, timelines, and benchmarks for evaluation.

Cedar Cliff Gifted Program

Personalized Learning

Teacher- Mrs. Angela Kamps, M.Ed. Gifted

Personalized Learning Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Have flexible learning and teaching environments

Be individualized

Be student-centered

Use 21^st century skills

Include relationship building 

Principle 4- Use 21^st century skills. 

Students utilize technology in creative aspects through art production, computer robot design, and movie making, to name a few. In addition, students use technology in collaborative settings with schoology assignments. Commendably, since 2013, Cedar Cliff Special Interest students taking the Independent Study course have completed 54 online courses from professors who are experts in their fields via MOOC options such as coursera.org. These courses are specialized and varied. “Students have the opportunity to go ‘deeper,’ learning more about subjects that interest them.” Students also have the opportunity to expand upon their economic and financial literacy and entrepreneurialism by participating in the PA Stock Market Simulation and the Titan Business Challenge. Students learn about global awareness, multicultural literacy, and humanitarianism through outlets offered through the National History Day organization and the World Affairs Council.

Cedar Cliff Gifted Program

Personalized Learning

Teacher- Mrs. Angela Kamps, M.Ed. Gifted

Personalized Learning Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Have flexible learning and teaching environments

Be individualized

Be student-centered

Use 21^st century skills

Include relationship building 

Students in the Special Interest Independent Study Course receive a grade and credit for the class. 

If there are five students in class, all five may be working on different projects of interest in different content areas.

Examples include: self- selection of projects, including but not limited to the options listed on the S.I. beginning of the year questionnaire; prioritization of projects and goals in a Special Interest Record (for flexes); completion of a Special Interest Independent Study Plan (for Special Interest Independent Study); creation of individualized rubrics for each student unit, which include unit essential questions; and lesson plans, which are linked to standards. Students use metacognition to document goals and progress weekly in the Special Interest timeline as well as monitor progress and self-adjust; and students self-evaluate projects in a conference with the teacher at the conclusion of a unit of study.