Reply to Gifted programs, lack of, in DC

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[quote=Anonymous]I completely agree with you, OP.  It should be just as much of an embarrassment that DCPS doesn't provide for its most needy "advanced" learners just as it doesn't provide for its most needy "disadvantaged" learners.  Giftedness, and the fact that DCPS policy is to ignore the need for gifted education, it is another pink elephant in the room.

From personal experience, it is pretty frustrating having a gifted kid, identified by those outside the system as needing specialized instruction, in a school where no educator or administrator appears to be allowed to use the term "gifted."  It's as if there is a school-wide policy, if not a DCPS-wide policy, that the needs of gifted children can never be discussed because they will never be provided for.

And I believe this is a racial issue, 100%.  Not "because only rich white kids are 'truly gifted'" as the poster without a clue above snarks.  Gifted identification is more difficult for minority and low income populations.  Then, IQ scores are nature plus environment.  Simply put, kids coming from "better" environments are going to do better while kids coming from "worse" environments are going to do worse.  A kid born with great natural abilities who is living under stressful conditions, without enrichment opportunities or adequate sleep and nutrition, will have a lower IQ test than if these negative factors weren't in place, and vice versa for privileged kids.  Throw in the fact that white kids in D.C. tend to come from families with high-achieving, highly educated parents - that means that the parents are disproportionately gifted, which means there's a greater likelihood that the kids will be.  All of this creates a recipe for hugely skewed numbers if a G&T program is ever created.

My plan is to save for private H.S. and try to keep my kid from hating school between now and then.  It sucks, but its the best I have for now.[/quote]

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