Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy When Everyone Loves the School, but You??

This happens all over our district. Kids are a commodity to be shuffled around so that "failing" schools aren't taken over or shut down by the government. It's not just bussing gifted kids to bad schools (which definitely happens). In one twist in our district, there is a school in a bad neighborhood already containing a full time gifted program, and this school was performing enough above "failing" level that they could ship in a bunch of the worst kids from a "failing" school in a different bad neighborhood to try to even the schools out and keep them both above "failing" level. Upon mixing the kids from two different bad neighborhoods, gang warfare ensued.

Our district has full time gifted programs. (They also have busywork sweatshops where the low performers are kept out, but no gifted programs, because the gifted programs are all in the ghetto.)

For some reasons we're going to stick with homeschooling.

Well, actually what it means is that 80-85% of students will manage in spite of whatever craziness you throw at them, as long as they know what the rules of the game are. (Are some practices much better than others? Of course, but these 80-85% will learn what they are taught, regardless of how it is taught, and generally survive the school experience adequately.) The remaining 15-20% require specific thought to be put into their education. Ideally, a small amount of tweaking (ability grouping, differentiation, etc.) will take care of 10-15%. The last 5-10% will need intensive/radical modifications. It is not supposed to mean that anyone gives up on the last few percent, just that there should be an awareness of the need for a range of services in any given population of students, no matter how high- or low-performing they may appear to be compared to the general population.

Of course, the reality is often far otherwise...

AS long as parents and teachers keep playing the game it will continue. Take away the players or the big red ball and the game will end.

What would happen if schools refused standardised testing? No legislature can close down every single school country wide if they refuse to do testing and stick to these "requirements". Surely in your consitution (as it is in the WHO "rights of a child") is a clause about a child's right to an education?

Therefore they cannot shut down all the schools. All it takes is one district to decide to stand against the tide. And then the next one and the next one etc.

Look, I do believe it's a universal issue - I have made many many observations and comments about our local education system here in South Africa.

As even my 7 year old figured about standing by while "bad" things happen, "you have to do something different to get a new result"

Nope.

The best US constitutional argument for education rights we have is in the 9th Amendment, which can be paraphrased as, "Just because the constitution doesn't specifically say you have a right, doesn't mean you don't have it."

Right-- and in addition, schools that try to swim against the tide need to be prepared to no longer have operating funds provided.

So yes, in that sense, it is quite easy to "shut down" a non-compliant school. Even from far away. Just quit signing the checks.

In the autism world, we have a maxim: "presume competence." That is, you can't always tell on first glance or even a casual acquaintance what a person can do or understand. I'd say it's extra true for children.

There exist, for example, gifted nonverbal autistics. Humans are uneven: lacking one particular skill or capacity does not mean there are no other skills or capacities, even really advanced ones, right there in the same person.

Without other information, I'd choose to believe that the school folks have decided that nonverbal child is getting something real out of their experience in that classroom (because otherwise they wouldn't "inconvenience" the teacher by placing the child there). I would certainly not presume incompetence.

This matters to me because presuming incompetence is often hurtful to people.

I believe something like this is going on in the Seattle area. I've not been following it closely, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I apologize. When I volunteer in the classroom this child does not appear to make purposeful movements (aside from walking when the para guides their shoulders) or focus a gaze on things or people; it is hard to imagine what is going on inside a child's head when the child does not have access to any form of communication or even the usual sorts of body language. Now I am curious - I will watch more closely. Thank you for the reminder.

Thanks, ljoy!

The problem is a lot more complicated than just the testing. The tests are often badly written and the governments put too much of the wrong kind of emphasis on the results. But there are other problems, including bad textbooks, teachers who don't know the subject matter, and poorly though-out philosophies underpinning the US education system (e.g. "everyone can go to college" and "everyone can be proficient in every subject at age/grade level.") Our school system has a terrible problem with wishful thinking with respect to that last point.