EBL Home
SALTA
Supporting Advanced Learners Towards Achievement
Mission
To support teachers and administrators with rigorous curriculum, instruction, and assessment focusing on depth, complexity, higher-order thinking skills, and creativity to meet the needs of gifted and advanced learners by providing a continuum of extended learning activities, enrichment opportunities, and appropriately challenging curriculum.
Philosophy and Beliefs
Canyons School District administration and teachers believe that gifted and talented students have unique cognitive, academic, creative, and social needs. Students have a right to varied programming which is appropriate to their potential, thus optimizing learning opportunities at levels commensurate with their abilities. Programming must strive to offer a challenging learning environment that focuses on high achievement and is responsive to individual student needs. Canyons School District supports the use of research and evidence-based learning strategies, which provide a stronger correlation between delivery of instruction and student learning outcomes. With these values at the forefront, Canyons School District continues to develop a continuum of SALTA services ranging from district-wide programs, school-specific services, and magnet schools.
SALTA Goals
Goal 1: Meet the needs of “gifted and talented” students.
Goal 2: Offer advanced learning opportunities at every school and grade-level.
Goal 3: Prepare all students with the skills necessary to be college and career ready.
Goal 4: Provide opportunities for students to focus on application of materials being learned, depth and complexity of those materials, and provide students with extended learning opportunities using the grade level Common Core State Standards as the foundation.
Goal 5: Ensure that ALL students are ready to begin higher-level courses in the secondary setting.
SALTA Focus
DEPTH
Refers to approaching or studying something from the concrete to the abstract, from the known to the unknown.
Requires students to examine topics by determining the facts, concepts, generalization, principles and theories related to them.
COMPLEXITY
Complexity is the why and how approach that connects and bridges to other disciplines to enhance the meaning of a unit of study.
Complexity encourages students to:
· Relate concepts and ideas at a more sophisticated level
· See associations among diverse subjects, topics or levels
· Find multiple solutions from multiple points of view
Complexity has three major dimensions:
· Relationships Over Time: Between the past, present and future, and within a time period
· Relationships From Different Points of View: Multiple perspectives, opposing viewpoints, differing roles
and knowledge
· Interdisciplinary Relationship: With, between and across the disciplines
HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILLS
Higher order thinking skills include critical, logical, reflective, metacognitive, and creative thinking.
Higher order thinking skills are activated when individuals encounter unfamiliar problems, uncertainties, questions, or dilemmas.
CREATIVITY
The ability to generate ideas, products, or solutions that are considered novel and useful for a given problem, situation, or context.
-Supporting Framework for Depth, Complexity, and Higher Order Thinking Skills
taken from “Hess’ Cognitive Rigor Matrix.”
Refers to approaching or studying something from the concrete to the abstract, from the known to the unknown.
Requires students to examine topics by determining the facts, concepts, generalization, principles and theories related to them.
COMPLEXITY
Complexity is the why and how approach that connects and bridges to other disciplines to enhance the meaning of a unit of study.
Complexity encourages students to:
· Relate concepts and ideas at a more sophisticated level
· See associations among diverse subjects, topics or levels
· Find multiple solutions from multiple points of view
Complexity has three major dimensions:
· Relationships Over Time: Between the past, present and future, and within a time period
· Relationships From Different Points of View: Multiple perspectives, opposing viewpoints, differing roles
and knowledge
· Interdisciplinary Relationship: With, between and across the disciplines
HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILLS
Higher order thinking skills include critical, logical, reflective, metacognitive, and creative thinking.
Higher order thinking skills are activated when individuals encounter unfamiliar problems, uncertainties, questions, or dilemmas.
CREATIVITY
The ability to generate ideas, products, or solutions that are considered novel and useful for a given problem, situation, or context.
-Supporting Framework for Depth, Complexity, and Higher Order Thinking Skills
taken from “Hess’ Cognitive Rigor Matrix.”
“In teaching for thinking, the concern is NOT how many answers students know, but what they do when they do NOT know; the goal is not merely to reproduce knowledge, but to create knowledge and grow in cognitive abilities.” (Best Practices in Gifted Education: An Evidence-Based Guide, 2007)
Canyons School District Principles for Student Achievement
- All CSD students and educators are part of ONE proactive educational system.
- Evidence based instruction and interventions are aligned with rigorous content standards.
- Data are used to guide instructional decisions, align curriculum horizontally and vertically, and allocate resources.
- CSD educators use instructionally relevant assessments that are reliable and valid, including screening/benchmarking, diagnostic, and progress monitoring.
- CSD educators make decisions based on student needs.
- Quality professional development supports effective instruction for ALL students.
- Leadership at all levels is vital.
Contacts
Eden Steffey, Ph.D. - Elementary Lead
Rachel Hill - Secondary Lead
Sharee Jorgensen
Susan Henrie
Julie Winfree
Rachel Hill - Secondary Lead
Sharee Jorgensen
Susan Henrie
Julie Winfree
