Reply to DCPS Policy on Talented & Gifted & Acaemic Magnet Middle School Programs...Questions for You

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Reply to "DCPS Policy on Talented & Gifted & Acaemic Magnet Middle School Programs...Questions for You"

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[quote=Anonymous]My daughter took a G&T test in K when we lived in another state.  She passed, but I was shocked at the criteria they used.  It wasn't just about can you read or add exceptionally well, they were considering much more than that.  In addition to the basics, they seemed to be testing how the child processed information and, how creative they were in their thinking.  It was a very rigorous test that was adminstered over the course of one week.  Given their valuation system (you had to score above 90-something% in [b]each[/b] of the areas they tested--some of which seemed subjective to me), you could easily have a really smart kid who didn't pass the test. There were several in my daughter's class that didn't pass (Note: the test was not offered to everyone) and if the child didn't pass the test the first time, they had to wait two years before they could take the test again.  The parents I knew were okay with that BUT that was not Washington DC.

[b]Can you imagine some of the parents in this city being notified that their DC did not pass a G&T test?????!!!!  Or worse, were not recommended to take the test in the first place!!???  It would be a lawyer's dream.  [/b]

Again, this was just how one state handled G&T testing.  It may be different in other places.  That being said, my daughter thrived in those G&T pull out sessions.  They were fun and creative and expeditionary. She absolutely loved going to school precisely because of those pull out sessions!  When we moved back here and we enrolled her into a well regarded DCPS, my daughter had a hard time adjusting to the traditional class ONLY model.  She had a very good teacher, but with 25+ students and no G&T pull out sessions, I saw the light begin to dim in her eyes.  She did well, but her interest in school overall diminished.  So, this year I gave up my great OOB spot and put her into a new charter, and (at least as of yesterday)...her excitement about school and the light in her eyes have returned.

If the G&T programs are standard across the country (and I don't know if they are), then it seems to me that the advantage is their approach to learning.  Those pull out sessions that my daughter attended weren't extra work or drill time, it was exploration and exposure time.  All kids can benefit from that model of learning and all schools should be able to incorporate it into their curriculum. HOWEVER, that kind of approach--which creates great critical thinking-- doesn't necessarily get you higher test scores off the bat--and that's what many of these parents want and consequently, judge the schools by.

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