Reply to Do Montgomery County HGC and magnet programs ever "counsel out" students who are struggling?

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Reply to "Do Montgomery County HGC and magnet programs ever "counsel out" students who are struggling?"

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[quote=Anonymous]Re -- the use of the WISC in the article to which the OP refers many posts above --

The WISC can be used as one criteria to show that a child is gifted and talented.  It alone does not mean that the child will be identified as GT.  Other markers considered are -- 2nd grade global screen tests, parent recommendation, teacher recommendation, evidence that the child is working in school at least one grade level ahead in reading and/or math.  In addition to these 5 markers, a parent who has a child privately tested on the WISC or similar nationally normed test can submit that and it will be considered as one element of evidence for the GT designation.  A child must show 3 out of 5 of these markers to be designated as GT.

This "GT" label is earned by many kids in MCPS system and really gets them not very much.  In elementary school it means that a child should be exposed to the William and Mary reading program and be considered for math advancement depending on performance on specific math assessment tests.  The vast majority of GT kids are served (well or otherwise) in their home school. 
 
That GT label is very different from gaining entrance to the elementary HGCs or middle school application magnets.  Very few of the kids labeled GT by MCPS go on to gain seats in either of these programs.  To do so, you have to go through an additional process which involves more testing (usually a second separate cognitive entrance test) and an application including parent recs, teacher recs, essay, etc.

I agree totally with PPs points about the fact that the "inaccuracy" of the WISC and other IQ/cognitive type testing lies mostly in the fact that these tests under-identify kids and don't over-identify kids.

Re kids struggling in the HGC programs -- we have not seen it at our HGC.  No one "fails" out.  Some kids get worse grades than they otherwise did at their home school, presumably because they are doing more challenging work.  My DC mentioned once that those with the "worst" grades were getting As and Bs and maybe one C.  These tended to be kids who had attention and organizational challenges, and thus were losing points from not turning in homework or meeting project deadlines.  In our HGC, these kids usually got extra support for their attention/organization challenges.  [/quote]

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