Parents of the Gifted Resist a Call to Share a School Building

New York Times ^ | 6/6/06 | ELISSA GOOTMAN

[after dark]

People choose to homeschool and private school their kids because they do not want their daughters to become whores or their sons to become dope headed thugs.

Homeschooling is the only way that parents can guarantee their kids are exposed to calculus. Parents can order complete video taped classes and teachers can be contacted via email. Yes, there are probably gifted and talented teachers who do a better job teaching calculus, but since they are only for the few people the public schools want to educate, it is pointless to bring them up when talking about regular classes.

I liked anthropology in college. When I found out that the gifted and talented classes of the local high school where I lived were using the reading lists of the junior college and the teacher college anthropology classes , I thought it was the stupidest thing I had ever heard. Imagine a bunch of sheltered rich kids brainwashed to believe in their own brilliance reading about the tribulations of hunter gatherers. They should have used their precious brain cells to learn foreign tongues.The message the high school was trying to send was that their star students were on par with college students. That may have been true for the advanced math classes ,but it was not true for the anthropology classes. On the junior college level in the anthropology class Nisa was discussed one of the students was midwife/lactation consultant. In the anthropology courses on the teacher college level one of the students was a Vietnam veteran ,another a successful real estate agent. The discussions in those classes reached a depth that even "gifted" teenagers can not fathom.

[CobaltBlue]

Brilliance is in the eye of the beholder.

IQ is not.

Calculus is standard 12th grade math for kids who aren't GT.

9th grade, Algebra I, 10th grade, Geometry, 11th grade, Algebra II and Trig, 12th grade, Calculus.

GT kids take Algebra I in 7th or 8th grade, but any student can place into Algebra I when they're ready by taking a placement test.

Some kids are really good at math without having a really high IQ, just superior.

[after dark]

You time-line is very telling. The IQ test is not the determining factor for who is placed in gifted and talented classes. There are lots of intelligent kids who have been placed in "regular" classes.They can't learn and neither can anyone else if the atmosphere in regular classes is one of hostility and intimidation. The regular classes must change for the better.I have no idea how this can be accomplished in our educational system.

[CobaltBlue]

You time-line is very telling.

You mean the math?

If you take Algebra I in 7th grade you can take two higher level math classes after Calculus, and go straight to even higher level math in college. Why wait?

I realize that other school districts compromise. That's why I started the discussion by saying we live in Fairfax County, VA, widely recognized as an exemplary school district for all children, as well as GT.

In Fairfax, all children take the standard Otis-Lennon IQ test in 2nd grade, or a similar test. If they score 150 or above, they are placed into GT centers (only GT) in 3rd grade. The kids who don't score as high can take GT classes or enrichment classes, based on ability.

The standards are lowered for 7th grade, 130 and above, and also "talented" (which is pretty squishy and malleable). GT runs from 3rd - 8th grade. In 9th grade, they go into differentiated (accelerated) learning classes, such as International Baccalaureate or AP.