Strategy 12: Get into gifted
Finding the right school is only one piece of the puzzle. Once you have decided on a school and your child has been admitted (easy in public schools, more challenging in private schools), the next step is deciding on the right course of study. While the inclination might be to take easy courses at least every once in a while, the research overwhelmingly supports the idea that demanding courses yield the most consistently beneficial results.i
A recent study of the effects of taking advanced courses found that “even taking just one advanced course improves students’ test scores, likelihood of graduating from high school, and likelihood of attending a four-year university.”ii
A course of study has implications beyond the theoretical, as students can accumulate a semester or several semester’s worth of college credit by taking and passing advanced placement courses. Making good grades on Advanced Placement exams and scoring high on standardized tests, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (S.A.T.) and the American College Testing (A.C.T.) increases options for college and can decrease college costs.
To be blunt—gifted education in the United States is an unorganized mess. The federal government does not support gifted education,iii other than through the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act, which offers small grants for identifying and providing services to gifted minority students, English language learners, and children with disabilities.iv
At the state level, the highest funding for gifted education in the United States is only about $80 per pupil, provided to students who live in Iowa. West Virginia only spends .03 (three cents) on gifted education per pupil. Before criticizing West Virginia, it should be known that many states contribute absolutely nothing to gifted education. So, West Virginia’s contribution of three cents to gifted education is, at least, three cents more than many states spend.
When considering that toal expenditures on public education exceed 800 billion dollars per year, one might suppose there could be at least a little room for improving the funding for the education of America’s brightest children.v Yet, federal funding earmarked specifically for gifted education is almost nonexistent.vi Nationwide, relatively few students are enrolled in courses designed for the academically gifted--only 6%.
Despite the lack of financial support, gifted education is undisputedly the most desirable destination for students, as elucidated below.
Tracking
Almost all schools employ tracking, the process of grouping students together by ability, even if a school tries to claim otherwise.vii Usually by sixth or seventh grade, three tracks become evident—honor’s, regular, and remedial—though sometimes the tracks are named so that it is difficult for an outsider to discern the real academic level of a course. Rest assured, however, that students are well aware of the differences.
An English course entitled “Advanced Communications,” in actuality might be a remedial reading course for students who had flunked English the year before. Courses with “basic,” “applied,” “practical,” “general,” or “fundamentals” in their title, such as “Applied Biology” or “Math Fundamentals” often designate the lowest tier among courses.viii
Larger high schools may employ an additional track for the gifted and talented or students enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) or IB (International Baccalaureate) courses. So, the highest level becomes AP or IB. Some universities and colleges offer credit for passing scores on AP/IB exams and students in high school increasingly have the chance to take courses for college credit while they are “simultaneously” enrolled in high school. When a school offers AP/IB classes, it usually means that courses with honors in front of their title, i.e., Honors English, Honors Biology inhabit a second tier, a less rigorous option.
In a school that offers AP/IB classes, enrolling in honor’s classes usually means that a student could not handle the work of AP/IB classes or that their work life or home life prevented them from taking the time-consuming courses associated with AP/IB.
The rule for course selection is, “Always take the highest possible level of course, even if it may not be an area of strength for your child.” If your child does not qualify for advanced courses, challenge the criteria for selection. No fixed standard for determining who is gifted and who is not gifted has been established by the National Association for Gifted Education. Indeed, the opening sentence in NAGC’s multi-page definition of giftedness is as follows:
NAGC believes it is essential to define giftedness in a way that both reflects best thinking in the field and moves beyond a focus on identification criteria to a deeper understanding of the complex nature of giftedness and the multi-faceted approach to services required to appropriately serve students with gifts and talents. ix
Many of the longitudinal studies of giftedness confirm that brilliance may not show up in standardized tests. In studies of giftedness in the early 20th century, researcher Lewis Terman wanted to determine if a gifted child’s superior test scores might lead to greater accomplishments later in life.x Terman found that some students he rejected for his study as being “not smart enough” turned out to do quite well. Among Terman’s rejected children were future Nobel Prize Winners, celebrated inventors and scientists, famous poets, writers, and billionaires.xi
If your child does not qualify for the gifted program according to a school’s particular set of standards, as a parent, you have the right to plead the case that your child may fall under the complex, multi-faceted part of NAGC’s definition of giftedness. You can always mention the Terman studies and the difficulty of accurately assessing giftedness. The truth is that “greater talent in one pupil may be equalled by extra effort in another.”xii
To reiterate, there is no accepted criteria for giftedness and genius is usually determined only after the fact. That is, it is only after the Nobel, Pulitzer, Booker, and Breakthrough Prizes have been awarded that people say, “Obviously, he/she was gifted.”
Perhaps the best reason for having your child take the most difficult classes is that it puts them into regular contact with students who might really want to learn. In regular or remedial classes, the focus may be on other goals, often the attainment of the highest possible grade with the least possible effort.xiii As a result, a teacher of regular or remedial classes often spends more time and effort on trying to manage student behavior and adapting curriculum for special needs than on teaching lessons.xiv
When a teacher alerts an AP/IB student that his/her grade is falling, it will likely induce anxiety and elicit motivation to improve. The norm in an advanced class is to desire academic success. Concern for grades is less evident among students in regular or remedial courses.xv
A second benefit of more academically challenging classes is that they are usually taught by more experienced teachers.xvi An AP/IB course is typically inhabited by students who are motivated to learn, so these courses tend to attract teachers who are also actively engaged with a particular subject.xvii In addition, teachers who teach AP/IB may be required to take intensive, additional academic preparation, which keeps them up-to-date and savvy about recent changes in the field.xviii
To summarize, five compelling reasons for getting your children into gifted classes are as follows:
1. Less time is spent on correcting misbehaviors during class
2. Courses are more intellectually-demanding
3. There is greater opportunity to learn from very bright peers
4. Gifted courses are typically taught by a school’s best teachers
5. Students can get college credit for gifted courses taken in high school.
Testing
While the American obsession with testing is regrettable, it is also true that a high standardized test score wields great power. Standardized tests deserve no love, but a smart parent knows to allot them at least a modicum of respect.
Once upon a time, standardized tests were used by schools chiefly as diagnostic tools, not as mechanisms with which to rank and rate.xix As diagnostic tools, standardized tests can help uncover untapped ability and help identify academic areas of weakness. One of my colleagues, who was an expert in assessment, was fond of saying “High test scores might reveal talent, but low test scores reveal nothing.”
Unfortunately, the concept of the test as supplementary to school performance has been turned on its head over the past forty years.xx Now a high score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (S.A.T.) or on the American College Test (A.C.T) can supersede an impeccable record of accomplishment hard-won over twelve years of formal K-12 schooling and countless hours of altruistic, volunteer work.xxi
While test scores mean nothing in themselves, if your child is capable of scoring highly, understand that a high score could translate into considerably reduced tuition costs. Some institutions of higher education have stopped using test scores as the primary criterion for an admissions decision, yet even these institutions still consider a test score as part of the array of considerations.xxii
In other words, even at institutions that claim to no longer require standardized tests, scores on standardized tests still can have influence. Standardized tests are biased and they may not indicate much about academic potential, but in the real world of college admissions, they pack a wallop.xxiii
Story
Currently, many of the most prestigious institutions of higher education calculate potential academic scholarship awards based upon an applicants’ test scores and not much else. A student named Hollis, a child with two professors for parents, applied and was accepted into a prominent, ivy-league university. When Hollis was in high school, she made high grades in Advanced Placement classes and was a member of a state championship athletic team.
When Hollis took the A.C.T. exam, she scored a 31, sufficiently high to get her admitted into most colleges and universities. She wanted to re-take the A.C.T. to increase her score to give her even more options, but her parents discouraged her, emphasizing that a test score was a trivial matter.
She had fulfilled the obligation of taking a test in order to get admitted into an institution of higher education and that was enough. She need not expend any more effort trying to ramp up a test score simply to impress others.
Any expert in assessment will readily admit that a few points on a standardized test is neither meaningful nor significant.xxiv So, while the parents were technically correct about the inconsequential nature of a few, silly points on the A.C.T., the advice turned out to be costly. Only after Hollis enrolled was it discovered that, if she had re-taken the A.C.T. and scored only one point higher, the university would have increased the amount of her scholarship by $10,000 per year.
In other words, the parent’s anti-test-taking advice tacked an additional $40,000 onto the cost of Hollis’ university education.
A recent study of the effects of taking advanced courses found that “even taking just one advanced course improves students’ test scores, likelihood of graduating from high school, and likelihood of attending a four-year university.”ii
A course of study has implications beyond the theoretical, as students can accumulate a semester or several semester’s worth of college credit by taking and passing advanced placement courses. Making good grades on Advanced Placement exams and scoring high on standardized tests, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (S.A.T.) and the American College Testing (A.C.T.) increases options for college and can decrease college costs.
To be blunt—gifted education in the United States is an unorganized mess. The federal government does not support gifted education,iii other than through the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act, which offers small grants for identifying and providing services to gifted minority students, English language learners, and children with disabilities.iv
At the state level, the highest funding for gifted education in the United States is only about $80 per pupil, provided to students who live in Iowa. West Virginia only spends .03 (three cents) on gifted education per pupil. Before criticizing West Virginia, it should be known that many states contribute absolutely nothing to gifted education. So, West Virginia’s contribution of three cents to gifted education is, at least, three cents more than many states spend.
When considering that toal expenditures on public education exceed 800 billion dollars per year, one might suppose there could be at least a little room for improving the funding for the education of America’s brightest children.v Yet, federal funding earmarked specifically for gifted education is almost nonexistent.vi Nationwide, relatively few students are enrolled in courses designed for the academically gifted--only 6%.
Despite the lack of financial support, gifted education is undisputedly the most desirable destination for students, as elucidated below.
Tracking
Almost all schools employ tracking, the process of grouping students together by ability, even if a school tries to claim otherwise.vii Usually by sixth or seventh grade, three tracks become evident—honor’s, regular, and remedial—though sometimes the tracks are named so that it is difficult for an outsider to discern the real academic level of a course. Rest assured, however, that students are well aware of the differences.
An English course entitled “Advanced Communications,” in actuality might be a remedial reading course for students who had flunked English the year before. Courses with “basic,” “applied,” “practical,” “general,” or “fundamentals” in their title, such as “Applied Biology” or “Math Fundamentals” often designate the lowest tier among courses.viii
Larger high schools may employ an additional track for the gifted and talented or students enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) or IB (International Baccalaureate) courses. So, the highest level becomes AP or IB. Some universities and colleges offer credit for passing scores on AP/IB exams and students in high school increasingly have the chance to take courses for college credit while they are “simultaneously” enrolled in high school. When a school offers AP/IB classes, it usually means that courses with honors in front of their title, i.e., Honors English, Honors Biology inhabit a second tier, a less rigorous option.
In a school that offers AP/IB classes, enrolling in honor’s classes usually means that a student could not handle the work of AP/IB classes or that their work life or home life prevented them from taking the time-consuming courses associated with AP/IB.
The rule for course selection is, “Always take the highest possible level of course, even if it may not be an area of strength for your child.” If your child does not qualify for advanced courses, challenge the criteria for selection. No fixed standard for determining who is gifted and who is not gifted has been established by the National Association for Gifted Education. Indeed, the opening sentence in NAGC’s multi-page definition of giftedness is as follows:
NAGC believes it is essential to define giftedness in a way that both reflects best thinking in the field and moves beyond a focus on identification criteria to a deeper understanding of the complex nature of giftedness and the multi-faceted approach to services required to appropriately serve students with gifts and talents. ix
Many of the longitudinal studies of giftedness confirm that brilliance may not show up in standardized tests. In studies of giftedness in the early 20th century, researcher Lewis Terman wanted to determine if a gifted child’s superior test scores might lead to greater accomplishments later in life.x Terman found that some students he rejected for his study as being “not smart enough” turned out to do quite well. Among Terman’s rejected children were future Nobel Prize Winners, celebrated inventors and scientists, famous poets, writers, and billionaires.xi
If your child does not qualify for the gifted program according to a school’s particular set of standards, as a parent, you have the right to plead the case that your child may fall under the complex, multi-faceted part of NAGC’s definition of giftedness. You can always mention the Terman studies and the difficulty of accurately assessing giftedness. The truth is that “greater talent in one pupil may be equalled by extra effort in another.”xii
To reiterate, there is no accepted criteria for giftedness and genius is usually determined only after the fact. That is, it is only after the Nobel, Pulitzer, Booker, and Breakthrough Prizes have been awarded that people say, “Obviously, he/she was gifted.”
Perhaps the best reason for having your child take the most difficult classes is that it puts them into regular contact with students who might really want to learn. In regular or remedial classes, the focus may be on other goals, often the attainment of the highest possible grade with the least possible effort.xiii As a result, a teacher of regular or remedial classes often spends more time and effort on trying to manage student behavior and adapting curriculum for special needs than on teaching lessons.xiv
When a teacher alerts an AP/IB student that his/her grade is falling, it will likely induce anxiety and elicit motivation to improve. The norm in an advanced class is to desire academic success. Concern for grades is less evident among students in regular or remedial courses.xv
A second benefit of more academically challenging classes is that they are usually taught by more experienced teachers.xvi An AP/IB course is typically inhabited by students who are motivated to learn, so these courses tend to attract teachers who are also actively engaged with a particular subject.xvii In addition, teachers who teach AP/IB may be required to take intensive, additional academic preparation, which keeps them up-to-date and savvy about recent changes in the field.xviii
To summarize, five compelling reasons for getting your children into gifted classes are as follows:
1. Less time is spent on correcting misbehaviors during class
2. Courses are more intellectually-demanding
3. There is greater opportunity to learn from very bright peers
4. Gifted courses are typically taught by a school’s best teachers
5. Students can get college credit for gifted courses taken in high school.
Testing
While the American obsession with testing is regrettable, it is also true that a high standardized test score wields great power. Standardized tests deserve no love, but a smart parent knows to allot them at least a modicum of respect.
Once upon a time, standardized tests were used by schools chiefly as diagnostic tools, not as mechanisms with which to rank and rate.xix As diagnostic tools, standardized tests can help uncover untapped ability and help identify academic areas of weakness. One of my colleagues, who was an expert in assessment, was fond of saying “High test scores might reveal talent, but low test scores reveal nothing.”
Unfortunately, the concept of the test as supplementary to school performance has been turned on its head over the past forty years.xx Now a high score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (S.A.T.) or on the American College Test (A.C.T) can supersede an impeccable record of accomplishment hard-won over twelve years of formal K-12 schooling and countless hours of altruistic, volunteer work.xxi
While test scores mean nothing in themselves, if your child is capable of scoring highly, understand that a high score could translate into considerably reduced tuition costs. Some institutions of higher education have stopped using test scores as the primary criterion for an admissions decision, yet even these institutions still consider a test score as part of the array of considerations.xxii
In other words, even at institutions that claim to no longer require standardized tests, scores on standardized tests still can have influence. Standardized tests are biased and they may not indicate much about academic potential, but in the real world of college admissions, they pack a wallop.xxiii
Story
Currently, many of the most prestigious institutions of higher education calculate potential academic scholarship awards based upon an applicants’ test scores and not much else. A student named Hollis, a child with two professors for parents, applied and was accepted into a prominent, ivy-league university. When Hollis was in high school, she made high grades in Advanced Placement classes and was a member of a state championship athletic team.
When Hollis took the A.C.T. exam, she scored a 31, sufficiently high to get her admitted into most colleges and universities. She wanted to re-take the A.C.T. to increase her score to give her even more options, but her parents discouraged her, emphasizing that a test score was a trivial matter.
She had fulfilled the obligation of taking a test in order to get admitted into an institution of higher education and that was enough. She need not expend any more effort trying to ramp up a test score simply to impress others.
Any expert in assessment will readily admit that a few points on a standardized test is neither meaningful nor significant.xxiv So, while the parents were technically correct about the inconsequential nature of a few, silly points on the A.C.T., the advice turned out to be costly. Only after Hollis enrolled was it discovered that, if she had re-taken the A.C.T. and scored only one point higher, the university would have increased the amount of her scholarship by $10,000 per year.
In other words, the parent’s anti-test-taking advice tacked an additional $40,000 onto the cost of Hollis’ university education.