In defense of Gifted & Talented
I was a Gifted & Talented student for a number of years. I think I started in the program in 3rd grade, and continued through at least part of Jr. High. Because of that I have a first and view of what G&T programs provide.
Gifted & Talented is in essence special ed for smart kids. That might seem a wee bit dichotomous, but it is pretty close to the truth. Gifted and Talented programs are designed to keep said 'smart kids' engaged in education. Engagement is a particular hazard of Gifted and Talented youth.
I knew many kids while I was in school who were very smart, but rarely tested above the 70% mark. At the same time I was worried if I had a test come back with less than 90%. I was engaged in the process, they were not. To the gifted or talented youth, school can very easily seem intolerably boring so they detach from it. Native smarts are not enough to pass tests, you have to care enough to at least look at the material once to have a chance of doing well.
Engagement is the prime challenge for gifted and talented youth. These are kids who are smart enough that they can be told once, maybe twice, before they fully grasp a concept (assuming engagement, of course), where their classmates may be struggling with the 'tell me three times' method and still coming out with only partial comprehension. The continual back and retread required to bring the slowest students up to speed acts as a disincentive to keep paying attention to the class.
The method employed by my Gifted and Talented program was to have a special class once a day or a week where the G&T kids got together and did activities just for us. The hope was that by providing something to look forward to by going to school, that enthusiasm would rub off on the REST of school. That worked for me. It didn't work for some other kids I knew, but you can't help EVERYONE.
Another thing that helped me was attending an Open school. By having grades 4-6 in the same educational environment, 4th graders reading at a 6th grade level have a full class where in traditional education it'd be the three people in the class of 25 who read at that level. The traditional education model, three kids out of 25 reading at grade+2, isolates the 'smart kids'; and one thing that anyone who lived through largish classes at that age can tell you, standing out is a BAD thing socially. The Open school model also allowed students who are reading at grade+2 to also have classes with students with math skills at the same grade level.
Which brings up another point, in traditional educational settings gifted and talented students all too often end up with the "teacher's pet" nickname. This also provides a disincentive to doing well, as it is yet another way kids isolate 'outsiders'. I've seen three ways of coping with this problem:
I said earlier that Gifted and Talented is special ed for smart kids. This is quite distinct from Special Ed, note the capitals, which is designed to try and get greatly under performing kids to at least grade-level. G&T programs also are not funded by Special Ed levies, which puts them right next to languages, band, and theater on the budgetary chopping block come time to 'trim the fat'. The G&T program came before the School Board several times while I was in the program, and each time was saved from outright extinction. The school district I grew up in is now even more cash-strapped than it was when I went through, so I'm fairly certain that the G&T program is all but scrapped.
Gifted and Talented helped me a lot. In 3rd grade I was reading at grade level. By first term 4th grade I was still reading at 3rd grade level. By the end of 4th grade I was reading at a 5th grade level. I was reading (and writing, by what I've been told) at a 12th grade level by the time I hit High School in 9th grade.
In 2nd grade I had exactly one other kid in my class that I knew was about my level for smarts, and that wasn't enough incentive to try and keep up. In 3rd grade he transferred to another area and I was The Smart Kid and all that entailed. That was the year I was entered into the Gifted and Talented program. In 4th grade I moved to another area, a 4-6 once, and met the same kid I had in 2nd grade. He found a social group there that I was introduced to, many of whom were also G&T students or otherwise working ahead of grade-level. This, plus the G&T classes helped catapult me from the rut I was in.
Gifted and Talented programs are a valuable service. In this era of focusing so strongly on keeping students from falling off the bottom, we have forgotten that kids at the top fall off too. A sparkingly smart student who is a D- student because they are disengaged will get absolutely nothing from a 'remedial' class that helps those with learning disabilities. In fact, it may hurt them even more. This is a tragedy.
Gifted & Talented is in essence special ed for smart kids. That might seem a wee bit dichotomous, but it is pretty close to the truth. Gifted and Talented programs are designed to keep said 'smart kids' engaged in education. Engagement is a particular hazard of Gifted and Talented youth.
I knew many kids while I was in school who were very smart, but rarely tested above the 70% mark. At the same time I was worried if I had a test come back with less than 90%. I was engaged in the process, they were not. To the gifted or talented youth, school can very easily seem intolerably boring so they detach from it. Native smarts are not enough to pass tests, you have to care enough to at least look at the material once to have a chance of doing well.
Engagement is the prime challenge for gifted and talented youth. These are kids who are smart enough that they can be told once, maybe twice, before they fully grasp a concept (assuming engagement, of course), where their classmates may be struggling with the 'tell me three times' method and still coming out with only partial comprehension. The continual back and retread required to bring the slowest students up to speed acts as a disincentive to keep paying attention to the class.
The method employed by my Gifted and Talented program was to have a special class once a day or a week where the G&T kids got together and did activities just for us. The hope was that by providing something to look forward to by going to school, that enthusiasm would rub off on the REST of school. That worked for me. It didn't work for some other kids I knew, but you can't help EVERYONE.
Another thing that helped me was attending an Open school. By having grades 4-6 in the same educational environment, 4th graders reading at a 6th grade level have a full class where in traditional education it'd be the three people in the class of 25 who read at that level. The traditional education model, three kids out of 25 reading at grade+2, isolates the 'smart kids'; and one thing that anyone who lived through largish classes at that age can tell you, standing out is a BAD thing socially. The Open school model also allowed students who are reading at grade+2 to also have classes with students with math skills at the same grade level.
Which brings up another point, in traditional educational settings gifted and talented students all too often end up with the "teacher's pet" nickname. This also provides a disincentive to doing well, as it is yet another way kids isolate 'outsiders'. I've seen three ways of coping with this problem:
- Hole up. Don't answer questions, and try to keep people from find out your test scores. Sometimes, this means purposely blowing parts of tests to keep from 'acing' them. If you don't stand out, they can't taunt you.
- Armor up. Assume a facade of uncaring, or downright smugness at how well you're doing. You're doing better than everyone else, and that's THEIR problem, not YOURS.
- Clique up. If there are other smart kids around, pack with them. It's a lot easier to defend against the forces of stupidity if you are in a group of your fellow smart kids.
I said earlier that Gifted and Talented is special ed for smart kids. This is quite distinct from Special Ed, note the capitals, which is designed to try and get greatly under performing kids to at least grade-level. G&T programs also are not funded by Special Ed levies, which puts them right next to languages, band, and theater on the budgetary chopping block come time to 'trim the fat'. The G&T program came before the School Board several times while I was in the program, and each time was saved from outright extinction. The school district I grew up in is now even more cash-strapped than it was when I went through, so I'm fairly certain that the G&T program is all but scrapped.
Gifted and Talented helped me a lot. In 3rd grade I was reading at grade level. By first term 4th grade I was still reading at 3rd grade level. By the end of 4th grade I was reading at a 5th grade level. I was reading (and writing, by what I've been told) at a 12th grade level by the time I hit High School in 9th grade.
In 2nd grade I had exactly one other kid in my class that I knew was about my level for smarts, and that wasn't enough incentive to try and keep up. In 3rd grade he transferred to another area and I was The Smart Kid and all that entailed. That was the year I was entered into the Gifted and Talented program. In 4th grade I moved to another area, a 4-6 once, and met the same kid I had in 2nd grade. He found a social group there that I was introduced to, many of whom were also G&T students or otherwise working ahead of grade-level. This, plus the G&T classes helped catapult me from the rut I was in.
Gifted and Talented programs are a valuable service. In this era of focusing so strongly on keeping students from falling off the bottom, we have forgotten that kids at the top fall off too. A sparkingly smart student who is a D- student because they are disengaged will get absolutely nothing from a 'remedial' class that helps those with learning disabilities. In fact, it may hurt them even more. This is a tragedy.
posted by Corwin at 9:20 AM
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