This is a bit of a rant and also a hope for some relief of feeling bitter. Also ideas are very welcome or BTDT solutions. My dd13 goes to an alternative school which has a cool philosophy. The students are given a lot of freedom and are suppose to be responsible for their own learning. My DD has been bored in class. When I approached the school I think I was to blunt. However we have a gifted middle school program. All the paperwork has been cleared for her to be enrolled in the school (at least I believe it has) however when I asked if my DD could shadow a student I was told that the coordinator did not have enough time to organize this. One of the teachers at my DD's current school use to teach in the gifted program and says the classes are not any harder or different than the classes at her current school. So my next rant has to do with calling the High School and trying to find out about what test scores they use for entrance into the gifted program there. The woman was quite rude. She explained that they use such and such tests. I asked if they could use SAT scores and she said something to the extent of, "I just told you we use such and such tests." She then goes on to say that there is no way that she could see my DD's SAT scores. She has access to my DD's file. I was a bit dumb founded at that point as I can't imagine that people working in gifted education coordination would not know about talent searches etc. I met with the head of the gifted department and he was a great guy. I felt like he gets gifted kids and when I mentioned SAT scores for entrance into the high school program he thought it was completely possible to use the scores if we needed it. I could contact him and explain that I want my kiddo to shadow at the middle school program and I am sure he would make it happen. However, if she goes there I do not want her to have a negative relationship with the coordinator of the program. I like the woman and do feel that she is over-worked and under paid and I do think that she likes the kids. At my DD's current school she advocated for herself and got a different advisor who has implemented some changes to her program which has helped a little but I am not sure it is enough and it requires my DD to do independent study in two of the four core subjects. But I am not sure that it does not meet or outdo the gifted middle school.... I am just frustrated with the whole thing and wish the teachers and coordinators were as nice as the head guy was. I really do not like the way I feel after I have spoken with most of the people involved. Thanks for "listening"

And let me guess, the alternative school has limited spaces so there's no going back? Well, no advice, but take your time. Persistence overcomes resistance. So the head of the gifted dept was the highschool and the lady that brushed you off was the middle school? Even if she didn't pay you attention and then he told her to pay you attention as long as you're cool, sweet, and serene the next time she has to see you she'll probably look at you with a fresh set of eyes. She's probably just overworked and not seeing you clearly. Well, I'm really not sure. I was just trying to make you feel better. Good job with the shadowing idea and not just making a decision based on the brochure and school motto.

Hi La Texican - It is so hard to write posts that are clear and don't ramble too much. There are two women, one at the middle school level and one at the high school level. There is a gentleman who oversees all the programs, elementary, middle and high school. He is new and seems to really get it. Thanks for the support. It was Grinity's idea for the shadowing idea. Hard to really know what a program is unless you get to see inside it. We know a few students who attend the middle school program and their parents are happy with the program. I am thinking that my kiddo will attend it for eighth grade. I wonder if others have trouble with the gifted personnel?

I wonder if you just ask the principle if you could let your daughter meet her prospective teachers sometime. That might help in decision.

"gifted personnel"


Hmmmm.... how do I say this?

Does the word "titular" mean anything? How about "nominal?" LOL.

Our experience has been that we have to produce a "solution" in order to GET a solution to any problems. We have to consider why they may balk, and address those concerns as a part of pitching both problem and solution... and most of the people associated with "gifted" programming are entirely clueless about either: a) how gifted learners actually differ from students who are highly motivated/proficient but optimally intelligent, and/or b) unclear about practical applications regarding GT 'theory' of education.

So we get people who are interested in our problems-- but have no solutions to them... or those who are interested in providing solutions that quite simply are not real solutions for HG+ students.


I guess the short version is that I'm not entirely surprised, Flower.

It is what it is. This woman may not be much of a resource-- but that isn't unusual.

"titular"

I had to look that up. Thanks for the new vocab. I plan to have fun with that one.

It's a great word to use in the right company, and a really funny word to use in the wrong company.

Its hard to believe and stomach that things can be this way..... I am still amazed, dumbfounded and I think just plain in shock that the high school gifted coordinator thinks that she can not see my DD's SAT scores. Her information was very different from the top guy who oversees the whole program. I know I keep repeating this but I just can't believe it.

Does one have to be gifted to teach and/or coordinate in a gifted program to get it? Or have a kiddo who is?

I think I would try a "saving face" approach and go to the lady who said she couldn't see your DD's SAT scores, assuming that the gentleman has had time to talk to her since then, and ask if you could have the SAT scores sent to her so that she would have them. "I'm sorry, I thought you had those, where can we have them sent so that you will receive them?" That lets her off the hook if she would like to work with you and be more helpful.

So is it pronounced "tight"ular or "tit"ular

Depends on the effect you're looking for, I suppose.



PS-- it's (I think, anyway) "TITCH-yoo-lar." The ch phoneme at the end of that syllable is important there. LOL.

GT coordinators are supposed to have a certificate that says they complete the required coursework and are therefore qualified to do the job. It has nothing to do with their personal IQ or their childrens.

Just like any other profession, there are good ones and bad ones. I tend to overwhelm them with information, laws, statuates and the like until they cry UNCLE and give me my way!

We have definitely had the experience of nominally "gifted" personnel (not that they themselves must be gifted, of course, but that they have an implied specialty or training) who were pragmatically anything but.

I'm not sure what sort of training some of those people have had, but it clearly isn't much, since most of what I was saying to them left them responding with bafflement.

I'm recalling the summer program director that didn't understand why my child wouldn't be "just fine" with MG same-age peers. They wanted to place my child chronologically in spite of her public school's placement (GT programming and +3 acceleration). When I attempted to ascertain whether or not there were any children like my daughter enrolled in the program by asking for a ballpark distribution of scores in typical enrollees (ie-- roughly what percentage of children in the program are 95%+, what percentage are 99%+, etc.); I was informed rather crisply that there simply aren't any functional differences between kids at the 90% percentile and those at the 99.5%+ one. It was implied that I was being elitist and obnoxious for even asking. I was told that my child would probably find one of the Aspie children in the program to be a reasonable peer because they are generally a little awkward, too-- and this was supposed to be reassuring to me. (Amazing... in so many ways, really. Not the least of which was this woman's assumptions about Aspies.)


What a rude surprise that was; the director clearly had a chip on her shoulder about kids like mine and felt that they were merely the result of hot-housing and needed to be 'cut down to size' or something. NO WAY was I going to leave my DD with her, because it wasn't hard to figure out that she was going to make it her mission to "show us" that we were wrong. (Of course, I still can't quite wrap my head around why someone so obviously hostile to HG+ people would be in such a position...hmmmmm)


It turned out that the regular "summer program" offered by the science/engineering schools was a better fit for my gifted child. They were willing to do ability- and interest-based placement with little fanfare about her age.

Anyway. Long story-- but just because someone has a certificate on the wall or a title on their e-mail doesn't mean that they have some basic level of proficiency, I have discovered. Even with teachers, we've found that there is a tremendous amount of variability. I'd say that only one of them (of more than 14) has been anything like a true 'partner' in crafting solutions for DD educationally.

nautigal - I like the idea of saving face for the woman specially saying my kiddo maybe her charge for three years.....

Howlerkarma - You have a great way of stating things!

BWBShari- I am glad to hear you overwhelm them with information. I have done that and felt like I was just toooo intense. However it did help them cry uncle. I get lonely with all the stored up information though.

I think our requirement is 6 credits in gifted education. However, we do not have any classes formally taught anywhere near, so I think a teacher becomes an adjunct professor at one of the local universities and teaches a class. Now everyone who took the class has three credits.

I feel better with these replies.
Thanks for the support! I feel ready for the next go round!

Six credits, huh?

Semester or quarter?

Wow. I think that makes me 'credentialed' in any number of things... German... French... Western Civilization... Calculus, certainly...

<snicker>

In all seriousness, yes, it's generally a good idea to not burn bridges if you don't have to. I like the face-saving strategies myself most of the time, too.

Yeah me to.... Not only that I maybe even able to teach the course!

Yeah, because 1 in 10 is clearly the same as 1 in 100 or 1 in 1000. It's all just a bunch of ones and zeroes. Hmm ... binary ... must be high-level stuff.