The Cluster Grouping Handbook: A Schoolwide Model: How to Challenge Gifted Students and Improve Achievement for All [Paperback]

Susan Winebrenner (Author), Dina Brulles (Author), Bertie Kingore (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2008

Book with CD-Rom

In today’s standards-driven era, how can teachers motivate and challenge gifted learners and ensure that all students reach their potential? This book provides a compelling answer: the Schoolwide Cluster Grouping Model (SCGM). The authors explain how the model differs from grouping practices of the past, and they present a roadmap for implementing, sustaining, and evaluating schoolwide cluster grouping. Practitioners will find a wealth of teacher-tested classroom strategies along with detailed information on identifying students for clusters, gaining support from parents, and providing ongoing professional development. Special attention is directed toward empowering gifted English language learners.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"With this one book alone, you could revamp a whole school system, one school at a time. With this concept of cluster grouping, a school district could save all the costs of a self-contained or pull-out gifted program. And if you take this flat out declaration seriously, The Cluster Grouping Handbook will do all the thinking, all the planning, all the charting, and all the predicting you will ever need...to the ultimate meticulous detail. This is not an exaggeration. Every finite element for planning has been accomplished...buy the book! It has wonderful ideas." —Gifted Education Communicator

“The spark for academic achievement and motivation to learn ignited by the gifted students is becoming contagious within the cluster grouping classrooms. Using SCGM throughout the entire Tulpehocken elementary learning community is increasing success for all students.” —Lisa Kiss, director of Special Education, Tulpehacken, Pennsylvania

“This book has been a valuable resource in setting up our GATE Clusters to meet the needs of all students. Cluster grouping has proven to be very successful in building the programs required to challenge and enrich our classrooms.”—Tony Peterson, principal, Russell Ranch School, FCUSD (Folsom Cordova, CA)

About the Author

Susan Winebrenner is a full-time consultant in staff development. She presents workshops and seminars nationally and internationally, helping educators translate educational research into classroom practice.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing; Book with CD-ROM edition (April 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575422794
• ISBN-13: 978-1575422794
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan Winebrenner is a full-time consultant in staff development. She presents workshops and seminars nationally and internationally, helping educators translate educational research into classroom practice.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Winebrenner and Brulles ... unbeatable!, July 28, 2010

By 

Carolyn K. "Mrs. Hoagie" (Hoagies' Gifted Education Page) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Cluster Grouping Handbook: A Schoolwide Model: How to Challenge Gifted Students and Improve Achievement for All (Paperback)

Susan Winebrenner and Dina Brulles give us a red-hot winner in The Cluster Grouping Handbook. The Handbook is a guide for schools with limited budgets to create a workable, defensible gifted program, and for schools with tons of funds (are there any?) to simplify their teachers' jobs and maximize all student lea, not just gifted student learning.

The book begins with the "whys" of Cluster Grouping, with a PowerPoint to present the explanation to teachers, school board members and parents provided on the included CD. Winebrenner and Brulles explain how today's Cluster Grouping differs from yesterday's tracking, and what makes it a good option instead of a bad one. Research details are provided for all the statistics and conclusions drawn in the book, backing up all the claims made about Cluster Grouping... it really is a great option for any school and every student!

Next, The Cluster Grouping Handbook details the "hows" of setting up Cluster Grouping in your school, with detailed plans and all the training materials you'll need to bring your faculty up to speed. Winebrenner and Brulles explain how this strategy works for all your students, and how it simplifies the job of all your teachers. At the same time, they demonstrate how Cluster Grouping improves education for all students, including the gifted student, the high-achieving student, and the low-achieving student in any given subject.

The Cluster Grouping Handbook is a one-stop solution to a variety of the education challenges of today, and Winebrenner and Brulles' easy-to-read, easy-to-use guide is a winner that should be implemented in every school to save money and improve education for all students. This book shouldn't be on your school's bookshelf; it should be in the hands of your teachers, coordinators and administrators, as they train and implement Cluster Grouping using this guide!

8 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be considered by all educational professionals and community library education collections, June 7, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cluster Grouping Handbook: A Schoolwide Model: How to Challenge Gifted Students and Improve Achievement for All (Paperback)

Students who are not challenged become bored and uninterested in the subject they're studying - they need to be challenged in some way. "The Cluster Grouping Handbook: How to Challenge Gifted Students and Improve Achievement for All" is a deftly compiled guide to doing just that. Seeking to improve all student's improvements but focusing on those who are especially gifted, and the challenges that come for educators in keeping them interested and nurturing their talents. Enhanced with a bonus CD-ROM, "The Cluster Grouping Handbook: How to Challenge Gifted Students and Improve Achievement for All" should be considered by all educational professionals and community library education collections.