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The State Gifted Advisory works together to advise the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) about trends, issues, and policies related to gifted education. Among these are legislation, teacher preparation, counseling and guidance, support of HiCap students and families, training for all school personnel, and increased public awareness and support of programs for advanced learners. Members include teachers, program administrators, higher education staff, parents, and organizational representatives. Advisory committee members will be a combination of selection by lot and prior experience in gifted education in order to give continuity to the committee.
If you are interested in applying to be a member of the State Gifted Advisory, please send a cover letter and current resume to OSPI Highly Capable Programs, PO Box 47200, Olympia, WA 98504-7200 or email to Faith.Rackley@k12.wa.us.
Please join the virtual open Office Hour hosted by K–12 HiCap on Thursday, November 19, 2020, from 9 to 10 am. This is an opportunity for HiCap coordinators, teachers, and administrators to share ideas with each other.
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Information to Share With Students & Families
The Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) sends regular messages to partners and stakeholders with resources and information about college planning, financial aid, and more. Please consider sharing this with students and families in your community.
Student & Family Messaging
Not Eligible for Federal Financial Aid? Get State Aid With the WASFA.
Washington State offers financial aid programs to students who cannot file, or do not wish to file a federal Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) financial aid application.
The Washington College Grant and College Bound Scholarship are available to students who are not U.S. citizens but who meet state residency and program requirements. Complete the WASFA to see if you are eligible.
There are various reasons a student or family might complete a WASFA instead of a FAFSA, including:
- Immigration status, or student is undocumented
- Undocumented parents or family members do not wish to file a FAFSA
- Defaulted federal loans
- Repayments owed on federal grants
- Inability to provide selective service confirmation
The WSAC, which administers the WASFA, is committed to protecting the confidentiality of the information and privacy of students and families. Washington is a state committed to providing opportunities to students and protecting the rights of families.
There are affordable college and career training opportunities for everyone. The first, best step is to apply for financial aid. Learn more at wsac.wa.gov/apply.
Related Resources
Educators and advocates are well-positioned to support families in their communities and encourage students to dream big regardless of their immigration status or country of origin. To that end, WSAC produces some key resources in multiple languages:
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GEAR UP’s family newsletters include targeted college readiness and financial aid information for students in 7th through 12th grade. The newsletters are designed to be delivered from schools directly to families in their communities. Each edition is available in English and translated into Arabic, Chuukese, Marshallese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
- The Financial Aid Toolkit includes several resources translated into multiple languages, including:
WASFA promotional flyer (English | Español)
Use of Local Norms: Scott J. Peters, Ph.D.
https://sites.google.com/uww.edu/peterss/gifted-identification-resources?authuser=0
Scott shares his expertise about use of local norms to address equity: “At the bottom of my faculty website I have three things to help with local norms. The first is a preprint of an article I have coming out in Gifted Child Today that is really written as the how-to guide for local norms. It also spends a lot of time on FAQs. Then I have a spreadsheet that my friend Matt McBee created that walks people through how to “do” local norms using multiple criteria. And finally, there’s about a 15min video of me explaining that spreadsheet. I should also say that the article includes several examples of places that have used local norms and the effect on equity.”
U.S. Department of Education Releases Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide
WASHINGTON–The U.S. Department of Education released a new Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide, a resource to help parents and guardians understand how digital tools can provide tailored learning opportunities, engage students with course materials, encourage creative expression, and enrich the educational experience.
“As technology continues to iterate and benefit every part of our lives, all students need more opportunities to leverage the potential of technology in education,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. “We hope families can use the information we release today as many of them are relying on technology more so than ever before and are navigating learning from home.”
Digital learning can help families and educators meet the specific needs of individual students, understand a child’s progress, and connect families and students with resources in their school community and beyond. As an increasing number of school systems implement digital learning both inside and outside of the traditional classroom, this guide demystifies digital learning for parents and empowers them to be effective advocates for high-quality digital learning.
The Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide includes guidance and best practices for caregivers around topics including:
- How to leverage flexibilities and innovations technology and digital tools provide, such as accessibility options, to meet the unique needs of every learner -- including students with disabilities and English language learners.
- Simple steps parents can take to keep their children safe online and foster safe online behavior, such as accessing security features on a child’s device, keeping track of log-in information, and keeping children safe while videoconferencing. The guide also discusses the importance of digital citizenship and offers parents resources to help their child navigate online bullying or encounters with troubling content.
- How a competency-based learning approach, which measures a student’s knowledge of a subject rather than time spent on the subject, can harness technology for the benefit of students. Digital resources like online assessments, periodic check-ins, and more can update parents on their child’s learning progress, and they can provide instructional flexibility in the event of a school disruption.
- Easy-to-understand primers on major federal laws governing student privacy and safety, such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
The Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide was informed by the feedback and contributions of digital learning experts representing researchers, parents, educators, and school leaders, as well as Digital Promise and Learning Heroes. This publication is the first in a series that will ultimately provide digital learning knowledge and resources to educators and school leaders in addition to parents and students.
The guide can be viewed here.
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