Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Ugh! Went to GATE meeting...

Our public elementary school had its GATE meeting for parents tonight. The principal stood up to tell us about the program and in essence her speech went like this:

1. We can't be expected to provide any differentiated instruction because it's just too complicated in a heterogeneous classroom.

2. GATE kids are "clustered" in groups of 4 to 8 within heterogeneous classrooms.

3. The kids are identified in 3rd grade. They are not allowed to be identified sooner.

4. The screening test is the CogAT which is administered en masse in the board room at the district office. She says the test is 2+ hours long and she doesn't think it's appropriate to test 8 years olds under those conditions. Very few pass.

5. We (parents) should rely on the teachers to recommend our kids for testing because the teachers know best. However, she says the teachers are reluctant to refer anyone for testing because of the high stress test conditions.

6. It doesn't really matter if your kid is identified anyway because the only type of differentiated instruction the school can provide is to extend the core curriculum. High achieving kids can get into the honors courses whether or not they are GATE identified. The GATE kids are guaranteed a spot.

7. You probably wouldn't want your kid to take honors classes anyway because the AP classes are better (more standardized, she says.)

8. The school doesn't send anyone information about CTY talent search because some people wouldn't be able to afford to send their kids.

What does it all mean? It sounds like the GATE program is lip service only! Or is she just trying to let people down easy when their kids don't get in?

On top of all this, an aquaintance was in tears at pickup time because her son (who is a 4th grader and newly identified GATE student) is miserable in the 4th grade GATE class. He doesn't want to go to school anymore, hates his teacher. His mom tried talking to the teacher who said the problem is that the boy is "too young". He is young for grade, but still within the regular age brackets.

Do I really want my daughter to be assigned to that teacher next year? There is only one GATE teacher in each grade. Do I want her to take this test? Is this just some kind of intimidation tactic so the district will have fewer GATE students to serve?

It sounds like it will be next to impossible to get any kind of differentiated instruction for my son (who is in K). I am feeling bitterly disappointed.

I'm sorry. I completely empathize with you. The disappointment is just killing, isn't it?

I'm with Dottie. Decide how much stomachache and heartache you can bear, and advocate/educate the school that much (and no more). Meanwhile, be investigating other educational possibilities so you're ready to yank your daughter out of that school quickly if it gets to be too much. There are other options.

Here's an even better one:

When I was 16, we moved to a school district that had a GATE program. They gave me the test and I passed.

My mother and I went to the next GATE meeting and it was packed with angry people. They were all parents of disabled kids and/or slow learners, and they were furious and DEMANDING that the school district do something for their kids.

It turned out that the school district was responding to the parents of the disabled kids by moving the GATE money to the disabled account and using it for individual attention for disabled kids.

We were pretty unhappy about it at the time. The school was wrong to do that.

But now I look back on it and I see that those parents were taking a great approach: they were advocating for their kids AS A GROUP. They were angry, and they had a right to be angry, because the schools were ignoring their kids.

We've become conditioned to accept that we aren't allowed to talk about our kids' abilities, so we keep quiet. Just because our kids have more innate ability does not mean that it is unfair to others to let them work to their potential. And we spend a fortune on private schools, tutors, or whatever. It's time to say, as a group, "hey, wait, this is wrong!"

Yet we don't make a fuss, as though being bright is some kind thing that has to be hidden, or as though being honest about a person's abilities equals bragging.

Well, it is possible to have humility and be honest about talent at the same time.

Do athletes hide their talents? Of course not! They develop them in full view of the world and with its full support. Everyone just accepts that some people can run faster, and no one in 4th grade feels emotionally damaged or whatever because some 9 year old can run the 100 in 10 seconds.

The system won't change until it is forced to change. It's that simple. Parents of bright kids have come out of the closet and advocate, TOGETHER, for their kids. We can use anger *constructively* just like all the other activists: "Why are you ignoring our children's needs?? We DEMAND that you do something for them!"

One parent advocating alone can be dismissed as a pest, yet we all continue to advocate alone. So we get frustrated. If we're all advocating alone anyway, why not just advocate together?

SILENCE = WASTED MINDS

Cheers,

Val

Hi Dottie,

Nice analogy. I'll use that. But I disagree your estimation of the population.

The top 10% of kids aren't learning at their level. Some are more frustrated than others, but they all share the problem, and they would ALL benefit from acceleration.

There are almost 74 million children under age 18 in the US; 10% of that number is 7.4 million. That's a lot of unchallenged kids! If your school only has 300 kids, there are 30 very bright kids and maybe 45 special ed kids. That's not a huge difference.

We have to remember that if something like this was easy, it would have been done long ago.

Val

I took my own advice today and talked to one of the other parents at the school. She's willing to approach the teachers with me about her child.

So, that's one more....

Val

Thanks for the support, guys!

I'm having deja vu because we faced similar conditions when advocating for our kids on the allergy front. I don't know if I have it in me again. Then, their safety was at stake. Believe me, we made some enemies during that battle. I don't know how many more enemies I can stand to have. I want to move.

Cathy

Thank you Dottie! It's good to know I have friends I'm a little crazy myself these days, so don't worry about that...

Cathy