Thursday, November 27, 2003
'A Better Chance' For Gifted Students
Philadelphia Daily News, November 10, 2003
Mensah M. Dean
Since its founding in 1963, A Better Chance has helped more than 11,000 academically gifted minority students enroll at the best public and private high schools.
Places like the William Penn Charter School in East Falls, where annual tuition is $17,225 and Westtown School in West Chester, where tuition and board are $29,000 and Episcopal Academy in Merion, $18,000 tuition.
Philadelphia Daily News, November 10, 2003
Mensah M. Dean
Since its founding in 1963, A Better Chance has helped more than 11,000 academically gifted minority students enroll at the best public and private high schools.
Places like the William Penn Charter School in East Falls, where annual tuition is $17,225 and Westtown School in West Chester, where tuition and board are $29,000 and Episcopal Academy in Merion, $18,000 tuition.
End a childish boycott
Seatlle Times, Nov 9, 2003
Editorial
A group of parents in the Seattle School District threatening to use its high-achieving children to boycott the state's most important assessment test next spring is practicing childish gamesmanship. It's a destructive tactic that should end.
The parents accuse the district of including the top-tier Accelerated Progress Program (APP) in a recent application for $300,000 in state funds for gifted students, but leaving the second-tier Spectrum program out.
Destructing what?
Seatlle Times, Nov 9, 2003
Editorial
A group of parents in the Seattle School District threatening to use its high-achieving children to boycott the state's most important assessment test next spring is practicing childish gamesmanship. It's a destructive tactic that should end.
The parents accuse the district of including the top-tier Accelerated Progress Program (APP) in a recent application for $300,000 in state funds for gifted students, but leaving the second-tier Spectrum program out.
Destructing what?
Academy provides one-on-one help so students learn
Ledger-Enquirer, Columbus, GA 11/09/2003
Erin Simpson
Walters, 25, is a graduate of the Phenix City school system and has been teaching there for three years.
"I would rather teach the low-level kids than the gifted kids," he said. "Anybody can teach gifted kids."
How well?
Ledger-Enquirer, Columbus, GA 11/09/2003
Erin Simpson
Walters, 25, is a graduate of the Phenix City school system and has been teaching there for three years.
"I would rather teach the low-level kids than the gifted kids," he said. "Anybody can teach gifted kids."
How well?
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Information night
Modesto Bee, November 7, 2003
A college information night in the Modesto City Schools system is set for 7 p.m. Nov. 18.
The meeting is for parents of students in grades 6 and up, and who are enrolled in the Gifted and Talented Education program.
Organizers said college counselors will talk about the courses that students should take to prepare for college, the admissions process and college entrance exams, and financial aid.
Modesto Bee, November 7, 2003
A college information night in the Modesto City Schools system is set for 7 p.m. Nov. 18.
The meeting is for parents of students in grades 6 and up, and who are enrolled in the Gifted and Talented Education program.
Organizers said college counselors will talk about the courses that students should take to prepare for college, the admissions process and college entrance exams, and financial aid.
Ranking is a tempest in an inkwell
The Gazette Montreal, November 7, 2003 Friday
Brigitte Pellerin
For the fourth straight year, L'Actualite magazine published its ranking of Quebec secondary schools. And for the fourth straight year, it created a tempest in an inkwell. There have been strong denunciations from union leaders, "civil-society" activists and the so-called progressive set of what they see as an unfair exercise that systematically denigrates public schools.
...
Three, this tempest in an inkwell makes me laugh because I know how hypocritical some of the activists can be. Notice how they sneer at private schools, which get to pick their pupils, have more money than run-down public schools, etc., etc. Wouldn't you like to know how many of them send their kids to private schools or, at least, make sure they live in well-to-do neighbourhoods where they know the schools are decent?
In England, there's a huge kerfuffle over the decision of Diane Abbott, a left-wing Labour MP, to send her 12-year-old son to a private, #10,000-a-year (roughly $22,000) London school. Double standard? You bet. "It's absolutely true that it's inconsistent, to put it mildly, for someone who believes in a fairer and more egalitarian society to send their child to a private, fee-paying school," she said. "I've always believed that private schools prop up the class structure of society. It's inconsistent, it's indefensible and that's why I haven't sought to defend it." Why should she, when she can exploit it shamelessly instead?
As the Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday, Abbott is prepared to be labelled a hypocrite if her decision was in her son's best interests.
As some of you will recall, in 1995, Maclean's noted that feminist author Michele Landsberg and her husband, former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis, chose to send their son Avi (former host of CBC Television's Counterspin and husband of No Logo author Naomi Klein) to the very elitist Upper Canada College in 1976, after realizing the public system was not suited to an intellectually gifted child. "It was against our principles to do it," Landsberg said in 1995. "But you do not sacrifice your kid to political principles."
Of course you don't. Sacrificing other people's kids to your political principles ought to be enough.
Let's have a glass of chartreuse and back to the barricades.
The Gazette Montreal, November 7, 2003 Friday
Brigitte Pellerin
For the fourth straight year, L'Actualite magazine published its ranking of Quebec secondary schools. And for the fourth straight year, it created a tempest in an inkwell. There have been strong denunciations from union leaders, "civil-society" activists and the so-called progressive set of what they see as an unfair exercise that systematically denigrates public schools.
...
Three, this tempest in an inkwell makes me laugh because I know how hypocritical some of the activists can be. Notice how they sneer at private schools, which get to pick their pupils, have more money than run-down public schools, etc., etc. Wouldn't you like to know how many of them send their kids to private schools or, at least, make sure they live in well-to-do neighbourhoods where they know the schools are decent?
In England, there's a huge kerfuffle over the decision of Diane Abbott, a left-wing Labour MP, to send her 12-year-old son to a private, #10,000-a-year (roughly $22,000) London school. Double standard? You bet. "It's absolutely true that it's inconsistent, to put it mildly, for someone who believes in a fairer and more egalitarian society to send their child to a private, fee-paying school," she said. "I've always believed that private schools prop up the class structure of society. It's inconsistent, it's indefensible and that's why I haven't sought to defend it." Why should she, when she can exploit it shamelessly instead?
As the Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday, Abbott is prepared to be labelled a hypocrite if her decision was in her son's best interests.
As some of you will recall, in 1995, Maclean's noted that feminist author Michele Landsberg and her husband, former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis, chose to send their son Avi (former host of CBC Television's Counterspin and husband of No Logo author Naomi Klein) to the very elitist Upper Canada College in 1976, after realizing the public system was not suited to an intellectually gifted child. "It was against our principles to do it," Landsberg said in 1995. "But you do not sacrifice your kid to political principles."
Of course you don't. Sacrificing other people's kids to your political principles ought to be enough.
Let's have a glass of chartreuse and back to the barricades.
District staff signs petition against bias incidents
Atlanticville Independent, NJ, Nov 5, 2003
Josh Davidson
At a conference on teaching gifted and talented students that McLaughlin recently attended, it was brought up that school districts throughout the country are not doing enough to deal with bias cases, she said. It was also mentioned that white supremacy groups are growing in New Jersey.
Two similar topics blended nicely in one paragraph
Atlanticville Independent, NJ, Nov 5, 2003
Josh Davidson
At a conference on teaching gifted and talented students that McLaughlin recently attended, it was brought up that school districts throughout the country are not doing enough to deal with bias cases, she said. It was also mentioned that white supremacy groups are growing in New Jersey.
Two similar topics blended nicely in one paragraph
Saturday, November 22, 2003
Gifted program diversity up: Changes in criteria triple number of blacks in courses.
Chaleston Daily Mail, WV, Saturday October 25, 2003; 10:00 AM
Carrie Smith
Kanawha County
The state's largest school system was cited in 1997 by the federal agency (OCR), which investigates school systems to make sure they are providing equal access to education.
They were issued a warning because they had 14 black students enrolled in classes for intellectually gifted students. That equaled .45 percent of the black population.
Ideally, Szasz said there should be about 2 percent.
This year, the school system boasts black 37 students in the program that provides a challenging and more advanced curriculum, or 1.9 percent.
Wise, some room for improvement in the future.
Let's do some math
14/.45*100 = 3111
37/1.9*100 = 1947
Black flight?
This year, there were 113 black students, or 3.7 percent of the population, labeled as mild mentally impaired and 47 students, or 1.5 percent, having behavior disorders.
113/3.7*100 = 3054
47/1.5*100 = 3133
Nothing is like doing math on a Saturday morning.
Chaleston Daily Mail, WV, Saturday October 25, 2003; 10:00 AM
Carrie Smith
Kanawha County
The state's largest school system was cited in 1997 by the federal agency (OCR), which investigates school systems to make sure they are providing equal access to education.
They were issued a warning because they had 14 black students enrolled in classes for intellectually gifted students. That equaled .45 percent of the black population.
Ideally, Szasz said there should be about 2 percent.
This year, the school system boasts black 37 students in the program that provides a challenging and more advanced curriculum, or 1.9 percent.
Wise, some room for improvement in the future.
Let's do some math
14/.45*100 = 3111
37/1.9*100 = 1947
Black flight?
This year, there were 113 black students, or 3.7 percent of the population, labeled as mild mentally impaired and 47 students, or 1.5 percent, having behavior disorders.
113/3.7*100 = 3054
47/1.5*100 = 3133
Nothing is like doing math on a Saturday morning.
Friday, November 21, 2003
West Contra Costa schools broaden GATE's reach
CONTRA COSTA TIMES, Sun, Nov. 09, 2003
Kara J. Shire
After being criticized by the state Department of Education for its lower-than-average GATE enrollment, West Contra Costa's rolls of academically advanced students swelled nearly 19 percent between 2002 and 2003.
Yes, Sir!
CONTRA COSTA TIMES, Sun, Nov. 09, 2003
Kara J. Shire
After being criticized by the state Department of Education for its lower-than-average GATE enrollment, West Contra Costa's rolls of academically advanced students swelled nearly 19 percent between 2002 and 2003.
Yes, Sir!
Schools' GT program seeks wider appeal
sunspot.net, MD, November 16, 2003
Tricia Bishop
The No. 1 goal of the county gifted-and-talented program, Payne said, is to increase participation of underrepresented populations, particularly black students.
Probably they already have perfect curriculum.
Here is a piece on curriculum:
Survivors make Holocaust real
sunspot.net, MD, November 19, 2003
Dana Klosner-Wehner
It is required by the Howard County gifted-and-talented curriculum that children read Anne Frank's diary in sixth grade, said Erin Ault, a gifted-and-talented resource teacher. "But they don't get U.S. or world history until eighth grade. I felt they would get much more of a life lesson and take more away from the book if they knew the context in which it was written."
sunspot.net, MD, November 16, 2003
Tricia Bishop
The No. 1 goal of the county gifted-and-talented program, Payne said, is to increase participation of underrepresented populations, particularly black students.
Probably they already have perfect curriculum.
Here is a piece on curriculum:
Survivors make Holocaust real
sunspot.net, MD, November 19, 2003
Dana Klosner-Wehner
It is required by the Howard County gifted-and-talented curriculum that children read Anne Frank's diary in sixth grade, said Erin Ault, a gifted-and-talented resource teacher. "But they don't get U.S. or world history until eighth grade. I felt they would get much more of a life lesson and take more away from the book if they knew the context in which it was written."
A peek inside local charter schools
Tucson Weekly, November 20, 2003
Dave Devine
BASIS in Tucson has 16.5 teachers, 4.5 administrators, and average class sizes which range from 12 to 22. The school is known for its emphasis on math and science along with its drama department.
Oh, fractional teachers, fluid averages.
Tucson Weekly, November 20, 2003
Dave Devine
BASIS in Tucson has 16.5 teachers, 4.5 administrators, and average class sizes which range from 12 to 22. The school is known for its emphasis on math and science along with its drama department.
Oh, fractional teachers, fluid averages.
MPR: Yecke book attacks middle-school 'mediocrity'
Minnesota Public Radio
November 17, 2003
But Minnesota Education Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke is out with a new book sure to rub some people the wrong way. It faults America's middle schools for feeding a "rising tide of mediocrity" by not doing enough to challenge gifted and talented students.
Minnesota Public Radio
November 17, 2003
But Minnesota Education Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke is out with a new book sure to rub some people the wrong way. It faults America's middle schools for feeding a "rising tide of mediocrity" by not doing enough to challenge gifted and talented students.
Bridging class divide
ManchesterOnline
Deborah Haile, Friday, 21st November 2003
CHIEF inspector of schools David Bell has highlighted the achievement gap between youngsters in inner cities and leafier suburbs.
...
The targeting of gifted and talented pupils and the use of mentors in the classroom were among the tactics already used by Excellence in Cities, which Mr Bell says has encouraged schools to work together.
In the past three years the initiative has involved the setting up of learning support centres across Manchester, they have set up sessions after school, at weekends and during the holidays to stretch children who are gifted and talented.
Marian Simmons, partnership co-ordinator for Excellence in Cities in Manchester, believes the initiative is having an impact on standards and points to the six per cent increase in the number of youngsters reaching the GCSE benchmark this year.
ManchesterOnline
Deborah Haile, Friday, 21st November 2003
CHIEF inspector of schools David Bell has highlighted the achievement gap between youngsters in inner cities and leafier suburbs.
...
The targeting of gifted and talented pupils and the use of mentors in the classroom were among the tactics already used by Excellence in Cities, which Mr Bell says has encouraged schools to work together.
In the past three years the initiative has involved the setting up of learning support centres across Manchester, they have set up sessions after school, at weekends and during the holidays to stretch children who are gifted and talented.
Marian Simmons, partnership co-ordinator for Excellence in Cities in Manchester, believes the initiative is having an impact on standards and points to the six per cent increase in the number of youngsters reaching the GCSE benchmark this year.
Thursday, November 20, 2003
Teachers get help with gifted pupils
BBC, Tuesday, 28 October, 2003
Teachers are to get extra help in dealing with the needs of their most gifted pupils.
The Gatsby Foundation, a development charity, has pledged £641,966 over three years to run a three-week post-training programme for newly qualified staff.
Following the course, at Warwick University's National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (Nagty), teachers will gain extra support during the first two years of their career.
The Secondary Heads Association has raised concerns over intellectual "elitism".
But Nagty, backed by the Department for Education and Skills, will expand to reach 6,200 pupils by September next year.
BBC, Tuesday, 28 October, 2003
Teachers are to get extra help in dealing with the needs of their most gifted pupils.
The Gatsby Foundation, a development charity, has pledged £641,966 over three years to run a three-week post-training programme for newly qualified staff.
Following the course, at Warwick University's National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (Nagty), teachers will gain extra support during the first two years of their career.
The Secondary Heads Association has raised concerns over intellectual "elitism".
But Nagty, backed by the Department for Education and Skills, will expand to reach 6,200 pupils by September next year.
Parents get advice on coping with gifted, talented children
By FARRAH CROUCH McKinney Courier-Gazette, Thursday November 20, 2003
"Academic success does not always mean happier, fulfilled lives, personal success or monetary success," Leu said. "You can get the best education but not have happiness."
She encouraged parents to focus on student efforts, not grades.
A child making a 'B' after struggling to maintain homework and test scores deserves more praise than a child bringing home an 'A' that did not put much effort into his or her studies.
"Success is not just about intelligence. Smarts won't get you through. Smarts can get you in but perseverance gets you through," she said.
By FARRAH CROUCH McKinney Courier-Gazette, Thursday November 20, 2003
"Academic success does not always mean happier, fulfilled lives, personal success or monetary success," Leu said. "You can get the best education but not have happiness."
She encouraged parents to focus on student efforts, not grades.
A child making a 'B' after struggling to maintain homework and test scores deserves more praise than a child bringing home an 'A' that did not put much effort into his or her studies.
"Success is not just about intelligence. Smarts won't get you through. Smarts can get you in but perseverance gets you through," she said.
