The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has received significant fanfare and criticism over various effects it has had on education. One component that has received substantial attention is the focus on progress toward proficiency. Several reports have been published on the effect this move toward proficiency has had on gifted students. This article synthesizes the issues surrounding proficiency and gifted students. … [Read more...] about Proficiency and Gifted Students
No Child Left Behind
Advocating and Partnering for Students with Special Needs
Anyone involved in the education of a child who needs special accommodations or services for a learning difficulty or disability should read the Special Needs Advocacy Resource Book, by Rich Weinfeld and Michelle Davis, Prufrock, 2008. The authors define students with special needs as “children with learning difficulties, children with disabilities, and gifted children.” However, in addressing the needs of gifted children, the authors point out that neither a free and appropriate public … [Read more...] about Advocating and Partnering for Students with Special Needs
“High-Achieving Students in the Era of NCLB:” A Summary of the Fordham Report
Since its inception in 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) appears to be meeting one of its major objectives: to close the achievement gap between high- and low- achieving students nationwide. The situation, however, is a bit more complicated. While much national attention has focused on laudable improvements among low-performing students, a study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute of NCLB’s effects on high-achieving students indicates less than stellar progress among the nation’s … [Read more...] about “High-Achieving Students in the Era of NCLB:” A Summary of the Fordham Report
Excellence versus Equity: Political Forces in the Education of Gifted Students
Egalitarianism versus Elitism Do gifted students warrant special attention in the public schools in the United States? Rhetoric and heated political discourse surround the question of identification and education of gifted students with the philosophical positions of egalitarianism and elitism at odds. Critics of appropriately differentiated academic experiences for highly able children contend that these services are somehow unfair to other children. While, diverse special interest groups … [Read more...] about Excellence versus Equity: Political Forces in the Education of Gifted Students
K-8 Comeback
Because middle school education (grades six through eight) in the United States has struggled in terms of academic achievement, school districts in several states are returning to the K-8 model. Reform is underway in Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, and districts in at least eight other states across the nation are considering merging their middle schools and elementary schools into K-8s. … [Read more...] about K-8 Comeback
Lost in Space—the Information Gap
By now we’ve all heard about the “achievement gap” that No Child Left Behind was enacted to address. But a survey of middle school students reveals an “information gap” between their educational goals and their ability to follow through on them. Many have high confidence levels in their ability to succeed in school (90 percent), however, 83 percent of students said they knew very little or nothing about what courses they would need to take to graduate from high school. … [Read more...] about Lost in Space—the Information Gap
Changing Views on Educating Gifted Students
More than a half century ago I began my first serious venture in studying gifted students. We identified students with Stanford Binet IQ test scores over 150 in the elementary schools of a university-town school system. The goal was to discover if the elementary teacher could, with some outside help from counselors and psychologists, provide an effective educational experience for a youngster with such advanced cognitive abilities ( one in 1,000). To our astonishment, instead of the four or … [Read more...] about Changing Views on Educating Gifted Students
Benefits and Drawbacks of State-level Assessments for Gifted Students: NCLB and Standardized Testing
If it seems like students have a lot more standardized testing these days than when you were in school, you are absolutely right. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates annual testing in math and reading for all students in grades 3-8 and, at least once more, in grades 9-12. In addition, many states are piloting standardized testing in science, because NCLB will begin to require such testing in the 2007-08 school year. … [Read more...] about Benefits and Drawbacks of State-level Assessments for Gifted Students: NCLB and Standardized Testing
Gifted in the Middle
Although Educating Gifted Students in Middle School: A Practical Guide, by Susan Rakow (Prufrock, 2005), is written for educators, parents can glean from it excellent information about what shapes middle school educational policy and how to bring recommendations to their child’s middle school. … [Read more...] about Gifted in the Middle
Unmasking the Egalitarian Fiction
Parent Question: My son knows most of the math being taught in his class and is bored with the slow pace of instruction in other subjects. Classmates sometimes make fun of his advanced vocabulary, and he has fewer friends each year. But school personnel brush off my concerns and act as if I want special favors. Why are they treating me and my child as the problem? … [Read more...] about Unmasking the Egalitarian Fiction