Reply to Gifted Programs at Charter Schools?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DC charter schools do not need no does DCPS some old fashioned pull-out gifted program that will just cause more havoc like we read on the suburbs' forums.[/quote]

Every time one of these threads comes up, I ask for research that proves that gifted programs have tangible benefits. I have yet to receive a response.[/quote]

I'll be your response, and "tangible benefits" on this thread in the absence of common sense on this one. I grew up poor, minority, FARMs.  Entered full-time GT program in Boston public system at age 8.  Passed Boston Latin admissions test at 12.  Graduated from Latin and went to Ivy and Ivy law school.  Am happy senior attorney with federal agency with PhD spouse. No GT, and I'd probably still be in the bad news South Boston housing project where I grew up.  [/quote]

+100 It's anecdotal, but my story is virtually identical to yours. Low income, first to college in my family, propelled by a G&T program, very well off now. I've kept in touch with a number of kids from my old neighborhood who did not have this access and the outcomes are strikingly different.[/quote]

How come you had access to a GT program but other kids in your neighborhood didn't?  Is it possible that you and PP succeeded because you're smarter (or harder working, etc.) than your peers?  It would follow that you'd also be the ones selected for a GT program, but doesn't mean that the program is why you succeeded.[/quote]

Please, having access to a GT program serving a mix of kids (mostly white and high SES) made all the difference for me as a kid, period.  Being smarter and harder working wasn't going to do the trick in classrooms packed with low-income minority kids who had difficulty behaving and concentrating, and weren't getting much  in the way of intellectual stimulation or structure at home.  Being well-behaved and academically advanced meant that I was largely ignored by my lower grades teachers, because I wasn't a problem to them.  Rubbing shoulders with mostly upper middle-class kids in school for ten years proved a lifesaver.  I learned about trips to Disney World and national parks, vacations abroad, life insurance, backyard pools, turning off the TV to read for pleasure, birthday party protocols, how to play board games, you name it.  After a few years with high SES peers, I saw a future for myself growing into a high SES person.  If you grew up middle-class, you aren't necessarily going to understand that it's the whole GT package that saves bright low-income kids minority from tough lives, not just the academics.

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