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Gouging the gifted?Talented students often
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- By Jason Shepard
- Correspondent for The Capital Times
Some of the most gifted students in Dane County are not getting enough support in school despite attempts in many area districts to boost educational programs aimed at helping them learn more.
That's the consensus of a half dozen Dane County educators in charge of programs for talented and gifted students. They say schools have a moral and legal obligation to give students the best education they can -- and that includes challenging the brightest kids, who may be bored with the curriculum in their class.
In Wisconsin, state law mandates that schools have a talented and gifted program. But unlike mandates regarding students with disabilities and learning problems, the law gives school districts the option of coming up with money to fund TAG programs. At a time when money for education is stretched to the limit, finding a school district with a strong financial commitment to TAG students is difficult.
Statistics from the state Department of Public Instruction for the 1997-98 school year show that spending in school districts statewide for talented and gifted instruction totaled 0.6 percent of district budgets, while spending for special education instruction totaled 16.79 percent.
''I really think the sad myth is that gifted kids are taken care of,'' said Susan Daniels, the TAG coordinator for the McFarland School District.
Gifted students can have a hard time coping with school because they don't fit in with kids their age. They are also more likely to have social problems and are more likely to drop out of school, said Robin Carelli, TAG coordinator for the Waunakee Area School District, a district widely noted for its strong TAG program.
Critics of TAG programs say schools have done their job once students master particular standards for each grade level. The emphasis in schools, critics say, should be on ensuring that all students meet minimum competency standards, and that means spending more money on children who aren't learning fast enough.
"I've got fifth-graders who could pass that graduation test right now" |
New state laws requiring students to pass a graduation test as well as tests in fourth and eighth grades before passing to the next grade will likely require schools to spend more to help those who are struggling to meet minimum standards. Educators fear that scarce resources may be taken away from already underfunded TAG programs to help kids who can't pass state tests.
Teachers who work with gifted students sharply attack the idea that schools should stop teaching when kids reach a certain level.
''There is no acceptable excuse in my mind for not challenging a child to his or her fullest potential,'' said Welda Simousek, the coordinator for talented and gifted services in the Madison Metropolitan School District. Simousek served as the TAG consultant for the state Department of Public Instruction before the position was cut several years ago.
''We've got a moral obligation to identify and serve students throughout the district whose needs and abilities are above and beyond those that may be provided in the regular classroom,'' Simousek said.
The reality, educators say, is that gifted students can become bored with regular classroom work and can become disconnected with learning. These students are also diverse -- they can be as many as five grade levels ahead in one subject area but not in another. Some kids can be intellectually advanced while others can show exceptional artistic, creative or leadership traits.
A controversial educational debate continues regarding how to identify ''gifted'' students and what services they should be provided beyond the traditional classroom. But these students also have great potential, and teachers who work with them are passionate about developing the students' potential to the fullest.
''I've got fifth-graders who could pass that graduation test right now,'' said Daniels, who passionately defends programs aimed at helping gifted kids. ''What are we as educators supposed to do? Are we supposed to say, well, you're done, sit here and do nothing for the next six years? I refuse to say that.''
Advocates for improvement: Those who work with gifted students often find themselves becoming advocates for a program that is not a district priority and is seen as a frill by some parents.
Daniels and others scoff at the suggestion that schools should focus scant resources only on students who are struggling. She points out that McFarland has 45 teachers who specialize in special education, but only one full-time staff member for gifted students.
''In many school districts, it is a yearly battle to hold onto any resources for gifted programming,'' Simousek said. In many respects, TAG teachers work ''outside the system'' to build support for gifted programming, often working with parents and other teachers.
''There's a high, high burnout rate for gifted teachers,'' she said. When she worked for DPI, she observed that about one-third of school districts had new TAG coordinators every year. ''People come into this and find themselves becoming advocates for kids whose needs and strengths are simply not being challenged. As much as we are teachers, we are also advocates.''
Simousek added: ''What we have to learn is that we need to be advocates of system change, not just about one individual. Because we can spend all of our time fighting to fix one injustice. But the sad reality is that that problem -- and many more -- will be there next year and the battle begins all over again.''
Key is the classroom: It is difficult to put on paper an outline of a ''good'' TAG program in part because there is no general definition of what a ''gifted'' student is. But educators agree that many gifted students can be challenged more in the classroom if teachers pay enough attention to the individual needs of their students.
Catherine DuPont, director of instruction for the Monona Grove School District, said the starting point for challenging gifted students is the classroom.
''We like to think that we differentiate instruction in the regular classroom so that all children have the opportunity to reach the next level of challenge on an ongoing basis,'' Dupont said.
''Classroom differentiation'' -- the educational buzzword for varying content and style so students are challenged even if they have mastered the general curriculum standards -- is a key component to most TAG programs. But this means that teachers need to be trained on how to teach in a way that allows a gifted student to continue learning at an advanced rate while at the same time allowing the teacher to focus on students who are struggling.
A focus on changing the curriculum or teaching methods poses a big challenge to teachers, who must scrap the idea that all kids can be taught the same material at the same pace.
''There is a broad range of kids in every classroom,'' said Kay Davis, director of instruction for the Stoughton Area School District. ''It's hard for kids, but it's even more difficult for teachers because they have a really wide range of kids to teach.''
Carelli says this is one of the strengths in Waunakee. ''A school district must emphasize staff development. If teachers don't have the tools, how are they supposed to be successful with their students?''
While staff development focused on challenging gifted kids in the classroom remains a top priority, a good TAG program must also be able to challenge kids when the classroom can't. ''In all honesty, realistically not every classroom will meet the needs of every student in the class . . . not in our current structure anyway,'' she said. There are exceptional students who need more than what he or she can be offered in a general classroom.
The next level of programming includes pull-out programs that take students out of mainstream classes and group them with students of similar abilities and interests. This includes things like advanced placement courses and extracurricular activities. Challenges to school districts on this level include space and scheduling conflicts, as well as paying staff to handle these programs.
The most specific type of TAG programming is individualized and specialized help. This could include having a student skip one or more grade levels, finding a mentorship or internship for the student, or coordinating independent research.
Programs, services differ: While many Dane County school districts share similar philosophies about gifted education, services and funding differ dramatically.
In Madison, each elementary, middle and high school has a staff person who spends about 20 percent of his or her time on TAG programming, tracking students and assisting regular classroom teachers on developing plans for gifted students. The district also has two full-time and one half-time TAG coordinators, Simousek said. The staff total for TAG programs is the equivalent of 14 full-time teachers and administrators. During this school year, the district is spending $75,000 on staff development for TAG, plus $1,500 per building for supplies.
Yet the total instructional budget for TAG in Madison in 1997-98 was $725,193, compared with $32.9 million for special education.
In other area school districts, staff assignments vary from one full-time staff member in McFarland to an equivalent of 4.2 full-time staffers in Oregon. ''We have in this district some piece of all of the components for a good gifted program,'' said Daniels of McFarland. ''On paper we look good. But it's not comprehensive and it's not systematic.''
Daniels and a committee of 35 parents, students and staff have prepared a comprehensive revamp of the district's TAG program and the McFarland Area School Board is expected to discuss the proposal this spring. The plan calls for an additional TAG staff of 3.5 full-time equivalents.
DuPont, director of instruction for the Monona Grove School District, said schools often focus their resources on children with learning problems. For instance, Monona Grove spent $95,078 on talented and gifted instruction in the 1997-98 school year, compared with $1.9 million on special education, according to DPI.
''We do spend so little money on talented and gifted offerings compared to the other end,'' DuPont says.
''We are not asking for equal funding. But federal and state funding is available for special education, and very little federal and no state funding for talented and gifted.''
Monona Grove, however, has made TAG issues a priority in staff development. ''Parents have said they aren't happy and we're trying to respond,'' she said.
Posted February 1, 1999
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