Gifted Bulletin Board

Welcome to the Gifted Issues Discussion Forum.

We invite you to share your experiences and to post information about advocacy, research and other gifted education issues on this free public discussion forum.
CLICK HERE to Log In. Click here for the Board Rules.

Links


Learn about the Davidson Academy’s online campus for profoundly gifted students living anywhere in the U.S.

The Davidson Institute is a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted students through the following programs:

  • Fellows Scholarship
  • Young Scholars
  • Davidson Academy
  • THINK Summer Institute
  • DITD FaceBook   DITD Twitter   DITD YouTube
    The Davidson Institute is on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube!

    How gifted-friendly is
    your state?

    Subscribe to the Davidson Institute's eNews-Update

    Who's Online
    0 registered (), 0 Guests and 306 Spiders online.
    Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
    Newest Members
    Otters, premuimpharmacy, Robyq, John T, SP3D
    11384 Registered Users
    December
    Su M Tu W Th F Sa
    1 2
    3 4 5 6 7 8 9
    10 11 12 13 14 15 16
    17 18 19 20 21 22 23
    24 25 26 27 28 29 30
    31
    Page 3 of 6 < 1 2 3 4 5 6 >
    Topic Options
    #191841 - 05/20/14 03:36 PM Re: When Everyone Loves the School, but You?? [Re: blackcat]
    Mom2Two Offline
    Member

    Registered: 09/30/07
    Posts: 99
    Originally Posted By: blackcat
    I think that parents of average kids are going to find schools like this great. The 60 percent (or maybe even 80 percent) of the kids right in the middle are served well. As for the other 20 percent....the parents have either accepted the situation, or they don't want to talk about it because then they will look like one of "those" parents. The parents who brag about how smart their kid is, or the pushy tiger parent. I have told very few people how I feel because generally they are one of those 80 percent and they cannot relate to my concerns at all. Our area does have a gifted chapter where parents can discuss things more openly, and that helped me to realize that I'm not the only one with frustrations.


    Yes, I agree that it is probably a great school for most. I think I posted to get some perspective and yours and everyone's responses have helped so much.

    Top
    #191842 - 05/20/14 03:37 PM Re: When Everyone Loves the School, but You?? [Re: 22B]
    Val Offline
    Member

    Registered: 09/01/07
    Posts: 3296
    Loc: California
    Originally Posted By: 22B
    Sometimes a "good school" is one where almost all students are "proficient" (i.e. meet some mediocre minimum level on academic tests). This just means that one way or another, they have managed to keep out academically weaker students.


    Ouch! We have a high-performing lottery school in our district. When DS12 was 4, I was thinking of putting his name in for the drawing, and I called them to ask about the school. The woman I spoke to admitted to me that "We don't take special ed. students. They are better-served in the other schools in this district."



    Edited by Val (05/20/14 03:38 PM)

    Top
    #191843 - 05/20/14 03:39 PM Re: When Everyone Loves the School, but You?? [Re: master of none]
    Mom2Two Offline
    Member

    Registered: 09/30/07
    Posts: 99
    Thanks MON,

    You're correct that I need to be a supporter, then ask for the tweaks. I like this board. It is helping me keep everything in perspective.

    Top
    #191844 - 05/20/14 03:44 PM Re: When Everyone Loves the School, but You?? [Re: Val]
    Mana Offline
    Member

    Registered: 12/17/12
    Posts: 882
    Originally Posted By: Val
    The woman I spoke to admitted to me that "We don't take special ed. students. They are better-served in the other schools in this district."


    mad

    Top
    #191847 - 05/20/14 04:13 PM Re: When Everyone Loves the School, but You?? [Re: Mom2Two]
    Val Offline
    Member

    Registered: 09/01/07
    Posts: 3296
    Loc: California
    It's a game. Student learning is incidental to winning the high-stakes testing rounds, and lack of learning is irrelevant unless it directly affects scores on high-stakes tests.

    IMO, most of the US K-12 education system should be pillaged of anything of value in it, with the rest being burned to the ground and buried under a two-foot layer of salt.

    Top
    #191849 - 05/20/14 04:36 PM Re: When Everyone Loves the School, but You?? [Re: cmguy]
    Tallulah Offline
    Member

    Registered: 07/25/10
    Posts: 480
    Originally Posted By: cmguy
    Yup. Got this situation too. Great neighborhood school within walking distance. After testing we were advised not to use it ... ever. In fact we were advised not to use most schools in our area ever.

    In our district the "GT" population is something like 10% of the kids (maybe this is political - it would be hard to get support for programs for 2% of the kids I guess).


    It could easily be true that 10% or even 20 or 30% of the kids are over 130 FSIQ. In these small towns with 'great schools' it's not a random sample, but one selected for high income and interest in education. So it could be that because of the skewed population 30% of the kids are over 130 and 2 or 3% are PG. But instead of having more than one level of enrichment they are so caught up in how well they cater to 'the gifted' that they forget kids are on a spectrum.

    Top
    #191852 - 05/20/14 05:08 PM Re: When Everyone Loves the School, but You?? [Re: Mom2Two]
    HowlerKarma Offline
    Member

    Registered: 02/05/11
    Posts: 5181
    Exactly, Tallulah. The result is such myopic rigidity that the schools really DO NOT work for the HG+ kids in them. Which can be, as you note, a fairly sizeable percentage of the kids.

    Our town's district ID's a full 30% as "gifted." I don't know that it's wrong, since the major employers in town are a fortune 25 hi-tech company, a regional medical complex, and a state flagship uni. So yeah, there ARE a lot of ideally bright and probably MG kids in town. No question.

    But what gets aimed at that group doesn't suffice for the kids who are actually EG or PG, and it's all the more maddening to listen to the administrators, teachers, and school board patting themselves on the back for doing such a bang-up job of it all when you ask them questions ABOUT that minority group of students.

    It's as though it doesn't compute, your question-- as though you couldn't POSSIBLY have actually asked it, because you don't understand how Super Awesome their program is.

    frown
    _________________________
    Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.

    Top
    #191861 - 05/20/14 08:00 PM Re: When Everyone Loves the School, but You?? [Re: Mom2Two]
    aeh Offline
    Member

    Registered: 04/26/14
    Posts: 4039
    So this reminds me of the old rule of thumb in education (plastered all over RTI/MTSS guides, for those of you up on educational fads/buzzwords): no matter what you do, as long as you do it consistently, it will work for 80-85% of your population...be "meh" for 10-15%...and fail for 5-10%. Regardless of the composition of your student body, 15-20% will need something other than/in addition to your regular programming. And that last 5-10 will need something really different.


    Edited by aeh (05/20/14 08:01 PM)
    _________________________
    ...pronounced like the long vowel and first letter of the alphabet...

    Top
    #191865 - 05/20/14 08:23 PM Re: When Everyone Loves the School, but You?? [Re: aeh]
    22B Offline
    Member

    Registered: 02/10/13
    Posts: 1228
    Originally Posted By: aeh
    So this reminds me of the old rule of thumb in education (plastered all over RTI/MTSS guides, for those of you up on educational fads/buzzwords): no matter what you do, as long as you do it consistently, it will work for 80-85% of your population...be "meh" for 10-15%...and fail for 5-10%. Regardless of the composition of your student body, 15-20% will need something other than/in addition to your regular programming. And that last 5-10 will need something really different.


    That sounds like someone patting themselves on the back. The reality is some educational practices are a failure for the overwhelming majority of students.

    On the other hand, they shouldn't dismiss 10-15% of students as inevitably unservable (as if to say, why bother anyway).

    Top
    #191867 - 05/20/14 08:27 PM Re: When Everyone Loves the School, but You?? [Re: Mom2Two]
    Val Offline
    Member

    Registered: 09/01/07
    Posts: 3296
    Loc: California
    Well, it all depends on how you define "it works." If they don't complain and can pass the high-stakes test, it works!

    Oh dear, I'm feeling extra cynical today. shocked Or maybe I'm just filling the void created by lack of JonLaw.

    Top
    Page 3 of 6 < 1 2 3 4 5 6 >


    Moderator:  M-Moderator, Mark D. 
    Recent Posts
    Society for Science, 2023 winner Shanya Gill
    by indigo
    Yesterday at 12:25 PM
    recognizing people and faces
    by indigo
    Yesterday at 12:13 PM
    Broad Interests and Academic 4-year program advice
    by 13umm
    Yesterday at 11:12 AM
    KTEA-3 vs. WIAT-IV vs. WJ-IV Ach
    by aeh
    12/04/23 08:20 PM
    Unable to access testing scores
    by aeh
    12/04/23 08:03 PM