Susan Goodkin and David G. Gold: In focus on proficiency, bright kids lose By Susan Goodkin and David B. Gold Published Thursday August 27, 2009 As California educators pore over the latest state testing scores, their overwhelming focus, appropriately, will be on students scoring below "proficient." Unfortunately, they will give virtually no thought to the 600,000 California elementary school students who scored "advanced." While school administrators will proudly tout these high scores, they will ignore the fact that most of these bright children will be stuck in classrooms that are completely inappropriate for them. Many students scoring "advanced" on grade-level material could progress much further with instruction geared to their needs. Instead, with teachers pressured by the No Child Left Behind Act to aim instruction at below-proficiency students, advanced learners are forced to sit through repetitive rote lessons on material they long ago mastered. Frustrated and bored..... For the full article click here!

 

Final Budget for K-12 Education Adopted August 18, 2009 Teri Burns - School Innovations & Advocacy The final budget for K-12 education was adopted and signed by the Governor almost exactly as proposed.  For K-12 education, the dollar amounts of the reductions and deferrals are roughly equivalent to the amounts proposed by the Governor in May with categorical programs like GATE taking a 19.8% cut.  GATE reductions for the year bring funding down from $55.168 million to $44.222 million in this budget year.   The failure of the Legislature and the Governor to... For the full article click here!

 

Questions from Teachers Question: Should programs for gifted youngsters serve only the productive achieving students or should we consider potentially gifted youngsters as well? Answer:  A very effective program must serve all youngsters who have the potential to excel and meet high expectations.  The world is quite different that it was 50 years ago when gifted students were identified by high IQ scores and exemplary performance in the classroom.  We know that not all intelligence is measured in IQ points. There are many types of giftedness.  We often find leaders who escape the diagnostic eye when it comes to giftedness.  Musicians and Artists may not excel in Math and History.  Wonderful writers may lack skills and training to properly showcase their talent. In this world, students come to our classrooms from home environments that vary from stable and supportive to poverty ridden or neglectful. The social and emotional needs of all youngsters have a big effect on the performance in the classroom.  In some cases, school may be the only stable place a child has.   We must serve the whole child.  None of us are productive all the time.  We need to look beyond just classroom production and see what talents the child can develop.

 

Questions from Parents Question: Why is raising a gifted child so challenging? Answer: Gifted children often exhibit unique social and emotional needs that may include a strong sense of justice, extreme idealism, moral intensity, perfectionism, hypersensitivity, and unreasonably high expectations for themselves and others. They can be emotionally hypersensitive, such as to criticism, and/or physically hypersensitive, such as to touch and smell. Some may appear to be perpetual motion machines, or show wide swings in mood and maturity. Their vast emotional range can make them appear contradictory- aggressive and timid, mature and immature, arrogant and compassionate- depending on the situation. They may push the limits of rules at home and school, challenge their parents and teachers with constant questioning, and engage in risky behavior. The discrepancies between their physical, emotional, and intellectual development make parenting and teaching gifted children especially challenging. You may benefit from joining a support group for parents of gifted children as a way to meet others who share your concerns; if there are no groups in your area, consider starting one of your own.

 

Upcoming Capitol Region Events

Save the Date! Scholar Search Associates Open House for Gifted Student Families[   Sunday, November 15, 2009 1:00 - 6:00 p.m. Stanford University   Gifted students and their families are cordially invited to join what is expected to be an informative and rewarding program. A flyer that provides an overview of the Open House may be accessed at and forwarded from http://sn.im/epgyflyer. Although this program will be offered free of charge, families wishing to attend the Open House are asked to reserve places as soon as possible so as to facilitate planning. To receive updates and further Open House details (including the schedule of presentations) families should register online at: www.scholarsearchassoc.com. The organizations and institutions that have committed to representation at the Open House thus far include: California Association for the Gifted, Center for Talent Development (CTD) at Northwestern University, Choate Rosemary Hall, Davidson Institute, Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) at Stanford University, Idyllwild Arts Academy, Institute for Educational Advancement, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Miss Hall's School. Miss Porter's School, and Oregon Episcopal School. For further information please feel free to contact Patsy Kumekawa, Scholar Search Associates, by phone at 860-664-3586 or email ssa@scholarsearchassoc.com

 

Contact Information

California Association for the Gifted 9278 Madison Avenue Orangevale, CA 95662 PH: 916-988-3999 FX: 916-988-5999 californiagifted@aol.com

 

Upcoming CAG Events

The California Association for the Gifted has opened up online registration for its 48th Annual CAG Conference to be held in Sacramento, CA, March 5-7, 2010.   Please click here to visit our website for more details.