Reply to Changes to gifted center admissions

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It doesn't seem like any of the PPs really know what is going on.  Clarity would be nice.

I have a highly gifted second grader who has very mixed experiences with teachers.  His K teacher and 2 teacher really liked him, and "got" his giftedness.  His 1st grade teacher thought he unmotivated -- I doubt she'd recommend him for the program.  Unfortunately, there can be kind of a negative feedback loop for some gifted kids with teachers not experienced with giftedness -- the kid is bored so opts out of the work; the teacher is irritated; the student is less motivated to do any classwork; the teacher is more irritated; etc. etc.  I was ready to give up on public school for my child, and then this year he has a teacher with a master's in gifted ed and it's like the clouds have parted and the sun shines through.

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Agreed.  Good teacher recommendations will flow towards compliant, sitting girls.  I have one.  I have other children who would not get necessarily get recommendations but are in the math/magnet programs.  Those that need the program most are most likely to be mislabeled.  They are seen as quirky and different.

Interestingly, the two that can struggle to get recommendations were adored by the teacher who has a PhD in math education from Wisconsin.  We only have one in the county and I don't think she has more than 30 students at a time.

I can't be more emphatic that relying on teacher recommendations is a terrible idea.  They are not consistent across schools and, while there are wonderful teachers, there are others who are petulant bullies.  I would hate for someone's access to a gifted program to be reliant upon the randomness of being assigned a good teacher.

Just make the test publicly available so that everyone can take practice tests.  This isn't that complicated.  Do outreach to certain schools or groups with after-school help on the practice tests.  Take away the competitive advantage that well-off parents have in purchasing practice tests through a tutor for $1,500.

Oh - unless the MCPS teachers make extra money on the side tutoring for those tests....that might be why they refuse to make them public.  
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