Posted on 08/27/2007 8:25:48 AM PDT by shrinkermd
There is a smallish group of brighter than bright. They have to devise their own education if they have the opportunity. Gummint School does not address their program at all.
I've got news for you. The 'ungifted' aren't being served either. And besides, nowadays they classify any student above a C average as 'gifted.' My 18 yo just graduated HS this year and through her whole career the public and private schools she attended catered almost exclusively to the "gifted" students.
That does happen, and that's one of the reasons I get torqued when I see FReepers write stuff like, "We need apprenticeship programs for people who aren't bright enough to go on to college". I wonder how many bright kids who prefer working with their hands force themselves to get an MBA so they can make 30-40 grand a year, rather than make 60-80+ a year in the skilled trades because they know so many people ASSume , Bright people go to college, stupid people don't ; ergo, everyone in a job that requires a degree is smart and everyone in a job that doesn't so require is ipso facto stupid . Conversely , an ability to retain what you read and regurgitate it back in essays and on tests makes for an ability to get good grades in school and college...But does it necessarily mean a person can reason well , or possesses any originality in his thinking? I am not saying that every dropout is an unsung genius, nor am I saying everyone who does well in school at any level is of necessity a plodding mediocrity, but the attitude that not getting a college degree is automatic proof of intellectual inferiority is causing problems.
Ping
No child should mean just that: NO child...........
I feel your pain. I have already been reprimanded by my third grader’s teacher because my daughter was bored over the summer, so I bought her some math workbooks so she could work on her multiplication. She loves that kind of stuff. Well, apparently now she is “too far ahead”, and I “did her a disservice”. So the parents who do NOTHING with their kids are wonderful, but someone call DSS on me because I read and do math workbooks with my kids. I must be the worst parent ever. (do I need the sarcasm tag on that?)
I'm sorry. I really haven't run across that many students who find math interesting and fun...
At least in my High School... Challenging, perhaps..
They used to be. It was called “tracking”. The PC government schools won’t allow that now.
In fact, slower students are well-served by tracking.
>>>Ms. Henderson the harried teacher, who is vaguely resentful of Bright Child’s gifts...<<
I’ve interviewed hundreds of high school teachers. If they teach in a public school (in Georgia, where all my experience is) there is a very good chance they are missing at least two or more of these four things.
1. A solid academic degree
2. With good grades
3. From a good college, like the one parents want their kids to go to
4. After having good SATs
Often veteran teachers would be missing all 4. I eventually stopped granting interviews to anyone teaching in a public school in Georgia as they were too likely to unqualified to teach.
Gifted children have rarely received proper education in schools according to their ability, even 30-40 years ago. Most, but not all, learned more in spite of the system, not because of it. There were always a few wise teachers in the past who looked out for the gifted students. I’m not sure those teachers exist now due to political correctness and the brainwashing necessary to obtain a teaching certificate, though.
Tracking solved this problem for many years. Forming classes of like-ability students allows those students to succeed at a pace appropriate to their abilities.
Unfortunately, that’s not PC these days.
Bear in mind that this is a Washington Bleep (a la G.G.Liddy) editorial, intended as much to smear a Pres. Bush initiative as anything else. (And I am no defender of unconstitutional meddling by the federal government in elementary/secondary education).
You said “Truly gifted children benefit from a flexible plan where they can work at their own pace, tailored to use their strengths and help their weaknesses.”
That is EXACTLY what my two children are doing right now in a very small, very inexpensive private Christian School in Ohio. They utilize the “PACE” program, and everyone, K-12, goes at their own pace, asking for help when they need it.
My 16yo went from skipping every day and getting F’s in everything in public school, to doing math that is so advanced I can’t help her with it. In ONE year.
Amazing what self-pacing helps kids accomplish...
Very similar to the reaction my husband had when I told him some school district drone informed me they need the bright students to help with the others. He looked at me and asked "Where's her paycheck?"
I can remember very few good teachers in high school. I feel lucky that I had even one of them. I had him for Leadership class Freshman year... I had a good Earth Science teacher for 2 1/2 years, ‘cuz I never did homework; there was a great history teacher that I never had, though I don’t know if he’s still there anymore.
Also the guidance counselor I had was a saint; now she’s in a high school in Staten Island.
I place the blame on the system as well as myself. The system is obvious, but I blame myself for not seeing passed it, for not wanting to better myself during my tenure in school.
They used to. These days that doesn’t often occur in elementary schools. They usually wait til high school when the gifted kids are all on Ritalin or bored out of their interest.
Oh no! Not a little competition and consumer choice in public education! Anything but that.
I bet that made you real popular....
Don't be. It is typical leftist misdirection. Schools were just as described above long before No Child was passed. The NO Child Left Behind act holds states and school districts accountable and they don't like it one bit. The left and the teachers unions are doing all they can to get it thrown out.
When Bush went along with the Democrats on the education bill many conservatives blasted him for it. What wasn't obvious to many was, as the say, "The Devil in the Details."
some schools still have this... i'm not impressed by these programs for gifted students... i was not impressed with MGM back when i was in it in the mid to late 70's... i did go on some nice field trips through the program...
i don't think public schools are equipped to challenge gifted students... and i don't know that they should... public school is government school... think of government programs... would you expect public housing to offer custom-built homes? government doesn't function that way... i don't think it can...
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