ADVANCED ACADEMICS & AIG

🎯 Intended Use:

Inquiry based instruction for all K-2 students led by the school’s AIG Specialist. Investigations in STEM is part of the AIG Talent Development and is interdisciplinary instruction with a focus on science, technology, engineering, and math. 

🪜 District Level Implementation Support:

• Required talent development program for students in grades K-2 as outlined in the DPS Local AIG Plan following the North Carolina AIG Program Standards 

• Led by the school’s AIG Specialist 

📋 Program Use Requirements:

• Professional Development on program implementation for all AIG Specialists.

• Lesson plans provided by the Advanced Academics department to be used as a framework for instruction

• Minimum of four whole group quarterly sessions for a minimum of 30 minutes each 

• Minimum of three small group sessions based on Investigations Matrix each quarter 

🎯 Intended Use:

AIG Specialists working with grades 3 - 5 should be using the resource books, Mindset Mathematics: Visualizing and Investigating Big Ideas, and shared lesson plans aligned with the resource.    The resource supports engaging questions and open-ended tasks organized around nine big ideas which emphasize the connections within the NC Standard Course of Study. 

🪜 District Level Implementation Support:

• All AIG Specialists working with grades 3 -5 have copies of Mindset Mathematics: Visualizing and Investigating Big Ideas and shared lesson plans aligned with the resource.

• Time is provided for AIG Specialists to collaborate on lessons during monthly PLCs. 

📋 Program Use Requirements:

Students in grades 3 - 5 served through Advanced Academics should have extension lessons when concepts align with Eureka Math’s pacing guide.

🎯 Intended Use:

AP Classroom is an online platform that provides flexible instructional resources for each AP course to support student learning of all course content and skills. The format of online assessments in AP Classroom helps students prepare for the digital AP Exam because it closely matches the Bluebook testing experience 

🪜 District Level Implementation Support:

AP teachers receive training in AP Classroom through AP Summer Institute or other professional development through the office of Advanced Academics. 

📋 Program Use Requirements:

• AP teachers should utilize AP classroom weekly

• School administrators can run teacher usage reports to monitor the use of daily videos, custom assessments, etc.

• Reports are available for teachers to see different views of student performance, analyzing both class-level and individual assignment results and progress toward learning all course content and skills.

🎯 Intended Use:

Making Thinking Visible is a research-based approach to teaching thinking, begun at Harvard's Project Zero, that develops students' thinking dispositions, while at the same time deepening their understanding of the topics they study.

🪜 District Level Implementation Support:

• All AIG Specialists have access to the Making Thinking Visible book and a shared resource folder with instructional strategies and additional resources.

• Thinking routines are modeled for AIG Specialists during Professional Learning Days.  

• Ideas for implementation are shared during collaborative work time.  

📋 Program Use Requirements:

AIG Specialists should embed Thinking Routines with K-12 students to deepen critical thinking and structure classroom discussion.