STUDY "GIFTED-IN-FIELD" TEACHER ENDORSEMENT

HM 53
Page 1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
A MEMORIAL
REQUESTING THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO STUDY THE
CREATION OF A "GIFTED IN-FIELD" ENDORSEMENT FOR SECONDARY
SCHOOL GIFTED EDUCATION TEACHERS.
WHEREAS, the needs of gifted students attending
secondary school, who are ready for greater independence and
development of their talents and expertise in specific areas
of study, are often substantially different from those of
gifted students attending elementary school; and
WHEREAS, while gifted students at the secondary school
level can benefit from beginning to develop expertise through
accelerated coursework delivered from sources such as dual
enrollment, advanced placement and the international
baccalaureate, those programs often do not consistently
address the social, emotional, creative and leadership
development needs of those students; and
WHEREAS, rules promulgated by the public education
department require teachers obtaining a gifted education
endorsement to have demonstrated competency to deliver
content area instruction to gifted students from a position
of expertise, to apply pedagogy appropriate to the content
area being taught and to apply higher-level thinking and
meta-cognitive models to those content areas; and
WHEREAS, the public education department's rules require
HM 53
Page 2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
that individual education programs for gifted students in the
state produce advanced outcomes, develop the strengths and
interests of gifted students and address other educational
needs; and
WHEREAS, the public education department's rules allow
students to be identified as gifted in a wide range of
fields, including all subject areas for which educational
standards for students have been adopted, but teachers with
gifted education endorsements often do not possess content
expertise in all of those subject areas; and
WHEREAS, the public education department currently
allows special education teachers without expertise or
endorsement in gifted education to teach gifted education
classes because of an ongoing lack of gifted education
teachers; and
WHEREAS, secondary school teachers with advanced
knowledge in a subject area in addition to knowledge about
the needs of gifted learners could provide advanced
instruction to students with advanced readiness who are not
identified as gifted;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the public
education department be requested to collaborate with the
state's public post-secondary educational institutions and
gifted education organizations to study the creation of a
HM 53
Page 3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
"gifted in-field" endorsement for secondary school gifted
education teachers and to consider courses available from the
state's public post-secondary educational institutions and
other criteria necessary to establish advanced content
knowledge that could fulfill endorsement requirements for
those teachers; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department be requested
to study and evaluate criteria to determine the amount of
expertise necessary in various subject areas for the state to
develop a gifted in-field endorsement teacher workforce that
can both deliver advanced coursework in various content areas
and serve the needs of secondary school gifted students to
develop expertise in those subject areas; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
transmitted to the public education department and the
governor.