Does your school have a program for gifted students? (Elementary level)

[StantonHyde]

Yes, there are 3 options within my district for K-6 although one has a lot of problems and everyone I know who went there eventually left. These are not offered at my local school though. These are full time programs, not pull outs. They are housed in with regular elementary schools. Kids have to take a placement test to get in and even then there are only so many spaces. Starting in 4th grade, there are pull out options for kids in regular schools. Kids in full time G&T go to one of the high schools for 7-8 grades so they have access to advanced teachers etc. Other junior highs have pull out programs.

[hellokitty]

Nope. They quietly got rid of it 3 yrs ago without telling anyone. The reason I noticed was b/c they do testing for kids who are referred by teachers in 3rd grade and DS1 qualified as gifted through testing. I thought that I would hear from the school for more info about the program, but after almost two months of no news, I called the person who sent home the letter to tell us that DS1 tested gifted to ask what was going on. Well, she told me the school got rid of the program 3 yrs ago and I asked her what the point of testing was if there was no program and she told me that the teachers of gifted students are made aware, so that they will, "challenge" the students. What a joke. DS3's 3rd grade teacher could barely function on a day to day basis to begin with (super disorganized and poor communication)... that yr was basically a waste and I feel set DS back, b/c she didn't challenge any of her students. 4th grade was bad, he got stuck with a teacher who was BRAND new, so new that they let her do her student teaching the first term of the yr with a longterm sub monitoring her (the new teacher was formerly the school librarian... so they made special accomodations for her). Then they announced last yr, b/c our SD got an, "F" for GT program when the local paper did an article on how local SD ranked... since if you don't have a GT prgm you, you get an, "F." The superintendent scrambled and came up with some idea to do a blended 4th-5th grade GT class. I requested that DS be in that class, he didn't get placed in the class... but as far as I know, it looks like they didn't even go through with the class. There isn't a blended 4th/5th GT class, not sure if there were not enough kids or they couldn't find a teacher or what. I saw the ad for the teacher. Anyway, I'm not happy about it, b/c DS1 is a bit socially awkward and I think he could have really benefited to be in a class with other GT kids, as he might have more in common with them. Luckily, he got placed in the class of one of the most experienced teachers in the school this yr and the weird part is that most of the kids in his class are very strong students academically and socially DS1 has had a good yr, b/c he seems to have more in common with the kids in his class this yr than he has ever had since preschool. So, I do feel that he is challenging DS this yr. He focuses a lot less on busy work than a lot of the other teachers do, but likes to do a lot of hands on things and loves teaching science (he is also the teacher in charge of the school garden and used to be an educator at one of the local nature centers, he takes the kids out on nature walks quite often and prs them up with preschool, "little buddies."), so my son lucked out getting this teacher. He is a really good fit and my son loves all things science-related so he seems to be more engaged this yr in school than he has been in the past two yrs where he got teachers who were very big on a ton of stupid busy work. Maybe they ended up sticking the kids who would have been GT in this class, I'm just glad that his teacher this yr isn't a total disaster.

There is no GT program from middle school onward (starts in 6th grade), so I guess it doesn't matter much now, anyway. We do a lot of enrichment on our own. We tried lego robotics, but things got crazy, so we stopped and we'll try to do it again. My older boys are both enrolled for Math Kangaroo too, so hopefully it will be some extra enrichment of math for them, we have never done it, but one of my friends did it last yr and loved it, and they are expanding their program this yr. The surrounding districts do have GT, so I'm annoyed that our district, which went from being the top SD when we moved here 12 yrs ago, has fallen to being mediocre at best. They do cater a lot though to those who have kids with IEPs and other disabilities, though, most parents I've spoken to who have kids with IEPs are very pleased with how responsive the school is. It's just a shame that they do nothing for their students who are identified as GT or any other enrichment opportunities.

[belovedgandp]

Yes. Our elementary schools are K-5. Testing for gifted starts at the end of 3rd grade with pull out program in the school during 4th and 5th grade. I haven't experienced the middle school version yet. I've heard lots of mixed reviews on how much kids get out of it. Very few stick with it through high school because there are enough different course options to allow challenges (there is some distinction starting in 6th grade also).

Our district has almost 30,000 students. 4,500 receive special services - 800 of those are gifted.

With budget cuts in the past few years qualifying for "gifted" has become more difficult. Teacher recommendations and performance used to be enough to push kids in who didn't score well enough on the qualifying tests, but they are extremely strict on the testing criteria now.

[georgiegirl]

Here kids are identified at the end of third grade. Before that, they are pulled out infrequently for reading or math. I complained at the beginning of second grade (last year), so they ended up getting a math pull out that met every other day for 30 minutes. It's a little unclear what happens once the kids are identified. This year. There's actually a fourth grade class that has all of the gifted kids and some other advanced students. It's team taught with the gifted teacher. But the school isn't sure whether they will have an advanced class next year. Gifted designation (which they call ELP here) is entirely based on test scores. DD's teacher said that she will be invited to take a special test if she scores high enough on her Iowa standardized tests.

[brittone2]

We HS, but our PS has a program. I don't know the specifics; however, we live in a state that has gIEPs.

[trentsmom]

Yes. The GT program has different points of entry. K-4 is general intellectual aptitude (gifted in both verbal and nonverbal subjects), grade 5 starts specific academic aptitude (gifted in one or more subjects, but not all), and grade 7 starts visual art aptitude (gifted in visual arts). To get into the GT program, the student has to have a teacher or parent referral, forms filled out by the teacher and parents, testing done in school, and a portfolio of work with at least one project from home and another done in school. The students are grouped together under a teacher who has received GT training. They also have pull out GT classes once a week or every two weeks, depending on grade level. For students with an aptitude in science and math, they are placed on a faster track to get them ready to enter the STEM magnet program if they choose.

Our school system has a large population of ESOL students. There is a GT test given in 2nd grade that doesn't rely on English skills to make sure no one is missed. I'm not sure if they do anymore testing like this in the upper grades.

[pb&j]

Our school district does not have a gifted program, but it provides gifted services aka enrichment stuff for bright, upper middle class kids with pushy parents. As the parent of a child who might be gifted, I can't even get the school to test my kid at this point, so I am not a fan, and have been enormously frustrated thus far. My kid doesn't need chess after school, my kid needs a learning plan that acknowledges and accommodates learning differences.

[Roleysmom]

Yes. Chicago Public Schools has two test-in selective enrollment options for K-8 students and then an additional selective program for 7th and 8th grade students at a couple of high schools. There are test-in selective admissions high schools as well. The K-8 options are the gifted and talented program, where the curriculum is one year ahead of grade level or classical program, which is two years ahead of grade level. The admissions test for each type of program is different. Classical programs are in schools by themselves (so the entire K-5 school has classical classrooms). Neighborhood schools can have gifted and talented classrooms, meaning kids from anywhere in the city are eligible to attend if they score high enough on the test, and then there are stand-alone gifted and talented schools. There are cut off scores for each type of program but there is a fair degree of variation above that cut-off point in the scores you have to have to get into the various programs. Some schools or programs are so highly sought after that the class fills up with kids in the 97th percentile and above. Others are in newer, less proven schools and kids may get in with scores in the 91st -90th percentile.

I don't know if the programs are considered to be administered well. I do know that adding a gifted and talented program to a neighborhood school has been used, successfully, multiple times, to strengthen struggling schools.

[mominma]

Gifted and Talented programs are fairly rare in Massachusetts. I'm wondering what percentage of posters here go to schools with G&T programs. I'm not asking if individual poster's kids are gifted-- I'm just trying to get a sense of how unusual it is to live in a region that does not have this kind of program available.

I'd also be curious to hear if your G&T program is well regarded.

We have one in Framingham, MA called SAGE. It is very well regarded.

[jacksmomtobe]

In MA with no gifted program at our school however they do quite a bit of small group instruction and other learning methods which enables the school to differentiate instruction for individual students. I much prefer this than the idea of a gifted program. Our school is a top performer state wide but the emphasis is more on quality teaching than teaching to test. I live is an area where the parent base is very educated and our Principal who is phenomenal has been there for 20 years is more old school in his focus is in the love of learning.