Curriculum
Grade 7 English Language Arts
Grade 8 English Language Arts
High Ability Education at Westville MS/HS
The MSD New Durham School District recognizes that regardless of student
socio-economic, cultural, or ethical backgrounds, some students will perform, show the
potential to perform, or display an outstanding level of performance in the core
academic areas of math and/or English Language Arts. It is our mission to
appropriately identify these students using systematic, on-going procedures and deliver
challenging, engaging learning opportunities. These enhanced learning opportunities
will allow for the maximization of their potential academically, socially, and emotionally
and help support the development of healthy, contributing citizens in a global society.
The MSD New Durham School District is committed to the following:
1. Students will be unbiasedly identified using research based, reliable, and valid
procedures.
2. A range of evidence based instructional strategies will be provided to meet the
diverse needs of high ability students.
3. A variety of programming options will be utilized to ensure that high ability
students are provided advanced instruction in an environment that supports
maximum growth in the following areas: academic, social, emotional, leadership,
and communication skills.
4. Professional development is necessary and will be provided for staff to ensure
that the academic, social, and emotional needs of both the general education
and high ability students’ needs are being met.
The identification process used to identify our high ability students, is
as follows:
CoGat Cognitive Test scores (Grades Kindergarten, 2nd and 5th)
iReady Inform scores (Grades K-2)
Teacher recommendation (Grades K-6th)
Scales for Identifying Gifted Students (SIGS) scales are available to teachers for
students who are showing characteristics of giftedness in the areas of ELA and math
who are not identified by CogAT and NWEA assessments. (K-6 As needed)
All students in grades 7-12 are monitored annually for high ability identification,
especially students new to the district
Specific parameters for eligibility are available in the school office.
Programs for High Ability Students and additional enrichment
In middle school (grades 7-8), High Ability (HA) students are placed into honors Math
and ELA classes; The curriculum targets higher level thinking and utilizes the UBD unit
templates. Participation in these classes is achievement based and all identified HA
students in math and ELA are placed accordingly. These courses offer accelerated
curriculum and in 8th grade, students in honors math are taking a HS Algebra 1 course
where they are able to obtain HS math credits.
In HS, HA students are enrolled in courses such as: honors biology, advanced math
courses, AP (Biology, Chemistry, Government, Calculus, English Literature and
Composition) and dual credit courses (ELA Reading Writing and Inquiry, Literature
Interpretation, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Food Science, Plant Science, Animal
Science, Principles of Agriculture, Precalculus) which allow for earning college credits.
In addition, extracurricular opportunities at this level include opportunities such as:
Economic Challenge, DECA, Academic Super Bowl, and Continental Math League.
At Westville Schools, we are committed to identifying and supporting students with high
ability in a fair and thorough manner. We understand that there may be questions or
concerns about placement decisions, and we offer an appeals process for families who
wish to request a review.
If you would like to submit an appeal regarding your child’s eligibility or placement in the
High Ability program, please complete the following form:
➡High Ability Appeals Form
All appeals must be submitted by the posted deadline in order to be considered. Once
submitted, the appeal will be reviewed by the High Ability Committee, and a written
response will be provided.
If you have any questions about the process, please feel free to contact our office.