Guidance for schools
Guidance for schools - Supporting highly able learners Many approaches currently advocated as good learning and teaching can be used to meet the needs of highly able learners. However, highly able learners can also have unique needs which need to be considered and addressed through evidence-based instruction. Like all learners they need a carefully planned curriculum and instruction that will allow them to continually progress. Carol Ann Tomlinson (1997) imagines this concept as an escalator, continually moving to higher levels, as opposed to a staircase, which asks them to wait on a landing before moving up. Like all learners, highly able learners need ongoing sufficient levels of challenge, individually tailored to their abilities. The following activities and guidance offer a whole school approach, so that expectations and policies are clearly understood, agreed upon, and communicated to the wider community. It also suggests some resources and activities for all staff working with highly able learners and ten key things to remember adapted from a list developed for teachers in the USA featuring examples drawn from practice and experiences in Scottish schools. Finally it offers four case studies that demonstrate how support for highly able learners can be incorporated into practice.