Maryland state educators have worked for the past six years on a standard for gifted students, but it was always put on the back burner until recently when it was completed and passed by the state board this week.
During the process there was compelling testimony at the state board meeting last month from a woman who said she was so bored during elementary school that she skated through without paying much attention. Without a challenge or the need to spend much time on homework, she said she never learned to work hard or study. When the work did get hard in high school, she was so unprepared and overwhelmed that she dropped out.
Years later she went to college after taking remedial classes, but she talked about the damage that was caused because she did not get the education she needed. She is now worried about her own children and asked the board to pass the GT standards so that every student will be taught at a level that is appropriate for him or her.
A Montgomery Countygroup opposed the standards, fearful that minorities and English language learners would not be identified for GT in the same numbers as white students. They the board to hold off on passing the standard. Several members of the board expressed similar concerns about minority representation in GT classes, and said they wanted data collected in the next several years to show whether dis-proportionality exists.
After I filed the story on Tuesday night, Sonja Santelises, chief academic officer for the Baltimore City schools sent us comments on the standards.
Here's what she had to say:
"We fully support increasing differentiated learning opportunities to meet the needs of all students, including advanced learners. We are targeting our efforts in strengthening the opportunity for students in grades three and above," she said, adding that the system is paying particular attention to the middle grades.
"Additionally, we do not support identification of children for gifted services at younger ages, based on a number of studies that challenge the reliability of identification tools for younger students. In terms of an increase in advanced or gifted programming negatively impacting students from poverty and students of color, it really does come down to questions of implementation. A diversity of identification tools, rather than strict use of a single measure, as well as broad based student outreach efforts are few ways that we are working to ensure broad racial and socioeconomic representation. Additionally, districts need to remain committed to continuing to increase the rigor of learning opportunities for all students."