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    #35666 01/20/09 09:23 PM
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    inky Offline OP
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    I came across this report tonight and thought it was an interesting read. I've considered how the problems of obesity and diabetes have cut deeper and wider through the lives of lower income Americans. It looks like there is a similar relationship when it comes to lack of services for high achieving students and the gifted.

    http://www.jkcf.org/assets/files/0000/0084/Achievement_Trap.pdf

    It's long but these parts stood out.

    Quote
    At the K-12 level, educators should view the findings in
    this report as a wake-up call, a signal that we are failing
    not only low-income students scoring below proficiency,
    but millions of students poised to achieve excellence.
    These findings raise a provocative question: Have we as a
    nation actually set our sights too low in our recent education
    reforms?
    Quote
    Because the core achievement goal established by NCLB requires
    schools to meet certain objectives regarding the number of students
    assessed to be proficient, the law does not set any standards related
    to students performing at advanced levels. As a result,
    NCLB creates no incentives for schools to maintain or
    increase the number of such students or to collect data on
    advanced learners.

    Quote
    As policymakers, educators, civic leaders, and business
    leaders consider whether, and how, to strengthen and continue
    NCLB and related educational policy, they should
    pay close attention to research demonstrating that improving
    the academic environment for high-achieving students
    can benefit the entire student population.


    Quote
    The time is ripe in the United States
    for a discussion about whether schools
    should be held accountable not only
    for meeting proficiency standards but
    also for the performance of students
    at advanced levels.

    inky #35668 01/20/09 09:25 PM
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    Inky, you find the most interesting articles! Thanks for posting this sort of stuff here. I really appreciate it because I'm too lazy to go looking for it, but it's stuff I ought to be reading.

    Thank you! smile


    Kriston
    Kriston #35670 01/20/09 10:41 PM
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    Thanks for the article Inky. The information is not shocking. I think we all knew that was the case. But I wonder who was the report created for? Is this organization in a place to have a voice where it matters? That is my curiosity because reports at the best if not viewed or given much weight because of who produced it tend to just be paper wasted. So since I am not familiar with the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. Could someone enlighten me on them?

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    inky Offline OP
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    I appreciate being able to find people to discuss this with! smile


    I hadn't heard of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation before either.

    Quote
    About the Foundation
    The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation established by Jack Kent Cooke to help exceptionally promising students reach their full potential through education. Launched in 2000, the Foundation focuses in particular on students with financial need. The Foundation's scholarship and direct service programs support the education of approximately 650 remarkable students each year, while our grantmaking allows thousands more to engage in challenging educational experiences.

    The advisory board for the report had people from some high profile organizations: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Harvard University, National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, The Education Trust, former Deputy Secretary, US Department of Education.


    Even though there was a short article in Time magazine, it doesn't seem to have made any obvious impact in shaping the debate on changes to NCLB.

    I really liked how this article ended since I'm currently frustrated with the lack of gifted services for young children.

    Quote
    Says deputy superintendent Antoinette Dunbar of the decision to start testing every first-grader for giftedness: �Sometimes we overlook the very obvious.�

    http://www.jkcf.org/news-knowledge/media-coverage/no-child-left-behind/

    Reading the report, I kept thinking of the heartbreaking story of Chris Langan that Malcolm Gladwell described in Outliers. The report helps me frame the debate about the tough decisions Barack Obama mentioned in the inaugural address. Cutting funding for gifted education is seen as an easy choice when it's viewed as an elitist attempt to preserve power among the higher income groups. We know it's not that simple but I struggle with the gap between knowing this and being able to put it into words that will change another person's perception.


    inky #35717 01/21/09 01:48 PM
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    I think very few of the teachers in our school district care about students reaching their potential. One of the few who did care has gifted sons who are now adults. She told me she thought my son was highly gifted and it was my duty as a parent to homeschool my child because he would not get an appropriate education at that school. Our town still doesn't have a library and just voted against building one. The school library is not very big. I don't know what would happen to a gifted low income child in our town. Teachers would not let them read anything above their grade level at school. They would still make them do busy work for homework to use up a lot of their free time and this would make it harder for them to learn anything beyond grade level.

    Last year I talked to a retired teacher at my church about it. She said it was too bad that kids like my son would fall through the cracks at our school. The attitude here is that this is just the way it is, that we have a small town school and they shouldn't have to change for anybody and if we don't like it, we can leave. I learned if you complain about the school in a small town, people don't like it, especially retired school teachers. They don't like people moving in from the city, trying to change things. They like things the way they are. They like the fact that they are really good in football. They once produced a Heisman Trophy winner. That is certainly more important than academics as far as they are concerned. They seem to think that all boys are supposed to play football or at least basketball and that there is something wrong with you if you like to read, don't do sports, and instead like musical theatre.










    Lori H. #35765 01/22/09 08:51 AM
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    Quote
    The attitude here is that this is just the way it is, that we have a small town school and they shouldn't have to change for anybody and if we don't like it, we can leave.
    frown
    Unfortunately, this attitude isn't limited to small town schools. It probably goes a long way in explaining the continued rise of homeschooling... 1.5 million in 2007. Thanks for sharing your story Lori.


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