Alexandria rethinks gifted education

[Anonymous]

Alexandria rethinks gifted education

More diversity sought in classes Virginia also will study ways to boost minority enrollment


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/26/AR2009112602433.html

By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 27, 2009

When Alexandria Superintendent Morton Sherman walks the halls of the city's schools and peers into classrooms, he can often guess whether the class he's watching is gifted.

"Standing at the door, looking through the glass, you can tell what kind of class it is" by looking at the colors of the students, he said. "It shouldn't be that way."

Alexandria is a majority-minority school system, except in its gifted program. White students, 25 percent of the total enrollment, are 58 percent of those labeled "gifted." Hispanics and African Americans, 25 and 40 percent of enrollment, respectively, account for about 10 and 20 percent of those in gifted classes.

Sherman, at the helm for a little more than a year, is bringing fresh attention to equity issues that have long confounded the small urban school system, where half of the 11,000 students live in poverty.

...

Education Department records requested by the NAACP show pervasive disparities in Virginia's gifted programs.

In Danville, in the southern part of the state, black students were 70 percent of the student body in 2007-08 but only a quarter of those identified as gifted.

In Fairfax County, which offers several levels of gifted services, black students were about 11 percent of those enrolled but 7 percent of those selected for gifted services. Hispanic students in Fairfax make up 17 percent of enrollment but 8 percent of those in gifted programs.

Alexandria's disparities were the widest in Northern Virginia.

...

The Alexandria School Board has approved changes to the screening process for gifted services in recent years. In February, all second-graders will sit for an aptitude test that will determine whether they should be screened. In the past, children had to be referred for screening.

Alexandria also rolled out a nonverbal test in 2006 to reach more children who might encounter language barriers or other cultural biases. The school system is also considering adopting a "young scholars" program developed in Fairfax, which identifies children in high-poverty schools who show potential and gives them extra enrichment. Many children from the program have been found eligible for gifted services later.

[Anonymous]

Alexandria also rolled out a nonverbal test in 2006 to reach more children who might encounter language barriers or other cultural biases. The school system is also considering adopting a "young scholars" program developed in Fairfax, which identifies children in high-poverty schools who show potential and gives them extra enrichment. Many children from the program have been found eligible for gifted services later.

Well, that's a really good idea. Why haven't schools been doing that already, I wonder?

[Anonymous]

I think there's a quote about the fact that previous students had to be recomended for testing and now they will test everyone, which is so sad to me that they didn't do this in the past.

[Anonymous]

Is there any evidence that the testing or assessment process is actually unfair? I see none in the news story, other than the unsupported statement that educators "might" have stereotypical ideas about what gifted children "look like."

[Anonymous]

I think Alexandria has a LONG way to go to come up with a convincing gifted program, but the early universal screening will def. put them on the right track. The old process was seriously flawed - from what I could tell, the truly gifted kids that actually deserved/needed to be there were overlooked and "hard workers", perhaps not testing at top levels, but good students etc. were placed into the program instead. Why? Because the teachers were not properly trained to assess who should and should not get tested in the first place, and by 3rd grade most gifted kids were not the classroom stand-outs, or willing to stay focused through hours of tedious SOL repetition and review. Most kids that should have been tested were never even put there unless parents advocated for them. As result, there was an influx of kids that tested below the cut off but admitted to the program with the help of their parents. For the record, I'm not saying that access to accelerated work is wrong if the kids want and can do the work - even if it dilutes the program slightly, I would not wish to impose the regular classroom on a kid that is ready or willing to take on more. I'm saying that the process is flawed - the kids the program was designed for are often missed, and the program is used to mask a larger agenda - the school systems refusal to offer a tiered educational system - the only way this can happen is through the gifted technicality - and so its a loophole for parents to get challenging curriculum.