Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy How do you feel about the public school system?

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Yeah, I don't really care about the label either-- but the point is that in any district that is identifying 10-20% (or more, as in my own) as "gifted" but then doing nothing for those students (because apparently regular programming is "sufficient" for all of them), well, that seems to be about parents and not student needs.

What does that kind of district do with students who NEED to be 3-4-5 years ahead in math (or anything else)?

And are they actually working +1y? Or is it just lip service? Because I've seen that particular bait-and-switch, too. Here, it is mostly about letting Tiger Parents feel tigerish. On the plus side, I suppose that it does do some nice things in terms of protecting MG and bright-MG-ish children from their well-meaning parents without actually engaging in harming those children as much as their parents (evidently) would like.

So there is that.

Personally, I think that I would rather that they just educated all the kids according to their evident needs, and forgot about labeling altogether. Same difference.

On the one hand, this sounds reasonable and quite natural. On the other hand...
- it may be strictly achievement based therefore a kiddo who may be underachieving may never receive a challenge worthy of their potential?
- is there a cap at working one year ahead? Or may children progress at their own pace?
- do children work alone or become acquainted with intellectual peers with whom they may sometimes work?
- a gifted kid with their own unique (often quite complex) way of seeing things may have unusual questions... to accommodate children working in various levels, are the lessons computer based?
- if lessons are computer based, are there accommodations/modifications/supports for LD/2e, or do all children work through the same curriculum? (is the computer seen as providing the accommodations/modifications?)
- is this a flipped classroom?
These are just a few questions which parents may wish to know to the answers to before committing.

Some might say a weekly parent-volunteer-led pullout is not a cluster?

Agreed. Focusing on meeting student needs, rather than seeking prestige, status, or elitism may benefit many students.

Disillusioned! Absolutely!!!! You would think educators would be better trained in dealing with both ends of the bell curve, and we naively thought they would be happy to work with someone on the high end - how fun should that be to really be able to challenge a bright kid; a kid that loves to learn? We were wrong - they don't get it at all! We always hope someone will appear that "gets it", but so far that person hasn't arrived. Our gifted teacher is close. She is obviously gifted herself, and raised her own gifted children, but she isn't one to speak up and suggest things, even if she knows it would help. If we suggest something she will jump on board, but she wants to keep a good working relationship with the administrators and teachers, so she won't ever rock the boat. She also has a strong concern about making DD stand out too much and then end up an outcast. I agree to an extent, but DD still has educational needs, that I don't think can be completely fulfilled through her gifted pullout alone.

I think it is a matter of educating the educators and it can't come from us parents because we have too big a stake to be neutral and believable. If someone could teach them that gifted kids do have needs beyond what regular education can give them, then I think we might see a difference. Educators have been actually taught that those at the lower end of the curve need help and accommodations, but they aren't taught about the upper part of the curve. I went through a very good teacher ed program and received my degree and certification, and I don't ever recall hearing anything about gifted ed. We have had NCLB for so long now, giving the lower end the most significance, and I have no problem with that, but the higher end needs some attention now too!

I also have to be completely honest and admit - if I was not the parent of gifted children, and had not been through all that we have been through, I would not really care about gifted education and would not understand the need for anything different than what was already in place. That is just the honest truth. I see that as another issue entirely - parents of "regular ed" children don't get it either and don't really care. Most of them would not be on our side in a fight for change, but I bet some of them would stand up for the kids at the lower end just because it seems more obvious that they need the help. We have had several fundraisers in our area this school year already for different causes (again I don't have an issue with this and my family freely participates in whatever is going on in our community) but can you imagine what kind of a turnout we would get if we did a fundraiser for gifted education?

I don't know if that came out right or not and I hope I didn't offend anyone - just my thoughts and opinion. Maybe I'm wrong, or maybe I am just disillusioned.

We started our DS 10 in 5th grade in a private school this year. So far it is wonderful, just a few snags we ironed out. It is a school for gifted kids and they are pretty serious about their responsibilities.

Our story is not unlike many here. We just thought the risk was to high to trust the public schools. They did a wonderful job with us for the first 3 years. They subject accelerated 2 years ahead. But they ran out of resources. They were all for skipping grades, subject acceleration, compacting, but that is not always the answer.

So for my DS and for now I do not feel good about the public education system in our area.

I bought 4 years with the private school. I can take a breath for now. I hope.

Indigo-
Something you said, really hit home with me: how if the school challenges only on achievement, an underachiever may be missed.

My ds hates simple math computation, and makes careless mistakes. Thus, on his achievement tests, his score is lower in this area. That means no math differentiation. Trying to get him to understand that is very hard. I had hoped the teacher would realize this, but she hasn't.

The more I think, the more I am coming to terms with our local public school is not going to work out for my ds.

You've nailed it. It's as though the gifted brain seeks challenge and thrives on complexity, turning "on" in the presence of a challenge worthy of its potential, "off" for routine, mundane, mind-numbing repetition. These kids may pick up on higher level concepts, almost able to see the patterns and finish the teacher's sentences, or they may ask unusual questions about applying what they are learning, different ways or methods which may work for solving the problem, finishing a story, etc... they may seem truly out-of-step and be forced to "hide" their thought processes in the classroom. They need their families to be a soft place to land, a place where they can receive validation and affirmation.

Teachers may sometimes over-rely on these kids to answer questions when the rest of the class is lost, and even to tutor other students. Teachers may also sandbag these students, making an example of them by calling on them in class while the child is working ahead in attempt to keep their mind engaged and active without disrupting the class, talking with others, etc.

Even the best behaved, most composed, outwardly compliant, and self-disciplined gifted students may exert tremendous effort to remain so, often by learning to keep their mind occupied: They may be multi-tasking, strategizing, and making mental connections while monitoring the class or performing rote tasks.

Rather than being assessed for the reach of their depth/breadth of knowledge, comprehension, and their ability to explain things in other terms which builds a bridge of understanding for students the teacher was unable to make things clear to... they may often be assessed according to a careless mistake on the simplest of items.

They may receive low placement and pacing, and be locked-in and labeled for careless errors, beginning a downward negative spiral in performance/achievement and self-esteem. These kids may be at risk for dropping out of school and society. This is why we advocate for gifted kids: They simply deserve a chance, an opportunity to learn at a level of challenge worthy of their potential.

Despite careless mistakes.

Here is an interesting article from the Maryland Coalition for Gifted and Talented Education (MCGATE) about one individual's preconceptions and even misconceptions in identifying gifted kids http://mcgate.org/103/, and an article from Duke TIP mentioning careless errors and underachievement http://tip.duke.edu/node/723. Many more articles may found with search engines.

Indigo- wow. Thank you for this. I am looking forward to share with my dh.

You may also like the book, "A Parent's Guide to Gifted Children" if you are not already familiar with it.