For the grandchildren...If you were on the school board and developing a gifted education plan, what would it entail? You'd have to be careful because there are limitations to what you'd commit to because of budgetary constraints (which IS one of your responsibilities as a board member). If students were allowed to work on online courses or independent study (say there was not an available teacher for every level and those two options were more affordable than hiring addl staff), how does a school make sure the student's not goofing off or floundering while working "independently"? If the school paid for the online stuff and the kid never completes it, are there consequences (repayment?). Does the kid get to come back next semester and enroll in another? Ideally real life instruction is better than online, but schools have real money concerns and may not be able to do that. What is to stop every student who wants to enroll in an advanced course from asking for it--how does the school discern which ones it's appropriate for?
I'm asking these questions because I'm on a charter school governing council and the school is just developing their gifted ed plan. Specifically, for my DS 9 who will go there next year and hopefully have a modification for math & L.A., I'm trying to figure out what is realistic for the school to offer. If the Alg 1 class conflicts with his schedule, then online coursework. How does the school select the provider and what responsibility does the school have for successful completion or monitoring online work? Is that the best solution for Jr high (are those age students really independent enough to work like that or are there better options?)
The school currently uses SEM (Schoolwide Enrichment Model) so that every student (not just gifted) has lots of hands-on projects, field trips, guest speakers, critical thinking exercises, etc. They have a talent search coordinator, encourage above-level testing, offer participation in lots of competitions/contests. I'm just not sure what's realistic to expect the schools to provide for HG in terms of differentiation. Current population of gifted (all levels) is 34%.
