Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy gifted program picture in the yearbook

I just found this to be weird. In my son's yearbook, they have a page for the gifted program (which is just 2x a week enrichment fluff). The way it's portrayed, it looks like an extracurricular club (which it pretty much is, I guess). Funny, I looked for the special needs page and didn't find any pictures of those kids.

Yeah-- weird.

Weird because it's not about meritocracy.... is it? I thought that special educational placement was about meeting student's needs, not about making parents "proud" of their kids for having those needs in the first place.


But what do I know?

Honestly-- I'd say something about this. It's not a very inclusive practice, and IMO it's likely to drive pressure on the school/district to over-identify among the kids of particularly status-oriented, pushy parents. It also sends a converse message that.. um... kids in the special ed classrooms, what, ought to be embarrassed about that? If not, then why aren't they identifying THOSE kids in the yearbook as well, eh?

~HK, who lives in a district with 1 in 3 parents claiming the mantle of 'my child is in the gifted program...'

That seems very strange to me. Then again, one of the many reasons I'm uncomfortable with the gifted pull out program that has been suggested for my HG+ son is that he honestly does not need any more attention called to the fact that he is different from others in his grade.

Not only does this inappropriately identify students with special needs to their schoolmates, it also seems to minimize the needs of gifted students by making the program look like an extracurricular program.

Just my two cents out of the HUNDREDS I have to offer.

That seems inappropriate if it's honouring kids based on ability pure and simple. Now, if they were featuring a project that a gifted child had done, not using a label and with emphasis on the student's effort and the final product, I think that sort of content would be acceptable.

Right...if it just labeled the picture by the teacher's name...Ms. Smith's class and a project they completed...built a pioneer village complete with dug out canoe. Various pictures of students, village, canoe and guest speaker from the historical society. Everyone would know (because everyone knows) she is the gifted teacher.

It's interesting, here I've been pushing to go back TO a pull out program for about 4 years and it's finally happening to a greater extent. I've experienced both pull out and push in programs, the GT kids always seem to get more out of the pull out programs as their with their peers, the school doesn't try to use the GT teacher as simply a second hand in a regular class room, and the students feel more comfortable and inspired around those of like mind. Each to their own though, you may have had a different experience.

My high school yearbook had a photo of those in G.A.T.E.
Yes, it stood for Gifted and Talented Education, but really it was just a club that went on a couple of field trips a year. Anyone could join. I think the photo only had 5-6 kids in it.

Think I'm going to disagree here. What's so bad about being honest about having a talent? A lot of people here complain that the schools don't want to recognize that their kids have abilities that make their educational needs different. Seems to me that this is an example of a school taking a step in that direction. The photo is saying that it's okay to be gifted. So I'm having trouble understanding the negative reactions here. Could it be conditioning to hide high cognitive abilities so that people don't get upset?

I don't agree with bragging about having any kind of talent. But simply acknowledging that it exists with a single yearbook photo isn't a bad thing IMO. Actually, I think it's a good thing.

Personally, I don't see the parallel with low achievers. A yearbook wouldn't have a picture of the kids who needed to boost their skills before they could qualify for the field hockey team. Why would they have a photo of kids with learning disabilities?

I agree, Val.

i'm going to agree as well. Lately, I've begun to think more about the damage done to gifted kids by hiding their giftedness so "that others won't feel badly." We don't hide atheletic giftedness. Then again, kids are generally invited into a gifted program, however, small, because of who they are more than what they do. Other clubs, athletic clubs, chess clubs, debate team, tech club, etc., it's more about what they do, no?

Still, I've become aware of and sensitive to, the many ways in which we pass on the message to hide intelligence or at least downplay or dismiss.