Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Easing Pressure on Students Bares Ethnic Divide

Interestingly, the participation ratios are not so skewed as many other programs when you consider that Asian Americans comprise about two-thirds of their student body and make up nine-tenths of the program.

The article can also be somewhat misleading as to the particulars once you read Aderhold's letter, which you can link through the article. For instance, the "no homework nights" were actually supported by 80% of the parents in the survey. Of course, the "no homework nights" were 5 specific nights tailored to give kids a break.

I would agree that some of the measures are designed to lower the ceiling on high ability kids and make lower ability and/or lower achievement kids feel better since they can now say they are also at/near this new artificially lowered ceiling as well. This is really sad for those of our high ability kids who can excel under the old system with one hand tied behind their backs.

I understand they are focusing on the kids who are so stressed but they are disregarding the kids (actually majority of the middle school kids they surveyed) who are never, rarely or only sometimes stressed. Perhaps those always or often stressed kids are the ones who are over competing and need to change rather than changing the opportunities for all the other kids. Having said that, high school appears to be more of a problems as two-thirds of those students are often or always stressed.

Interestingly, they are moving the entry point of their GT math program from 4th grade to 6th grade ostensibly because only 10% qualified under the existing criteria and more would and should qualify if they move the entry point to middle school. On the one hand, Mr. Aderhold describes the math program as intended for the "rare" student, in which case 10% is more than generous. I would think that multiple entry points would make more sense. Our district starts GT math in 3rd grade but some students (granted not that many each year) have entered the program in 4th, 5th, 6th, and even 7th.

Their "right to squeak" initiative gives me the chills. I agree that even students without talent should have the right to continue instrumental music. However, they should be required to put in some minimal effort to practice. Furthermore, they should not have the right to perform every single piece simultaneously alongside talented and hardworking students and destroy the whole concert for everyone else. Yes, these students and their parents should have the right to perform in the concert too but it should not be at the expense of the talented and hard-working students. Before I entered high school, I had to audition to determine which class, part, chair - everyone got to participate but at the level they have earned. I guess our children are so fragile now that we have to guarantee them equal placement regardless of talent and/or achievement or risk them becoming over stressed.