Contrary views on gifted story.Many of the articles in your February 2007 issue offer excellent guidance concerning the education of gifted children. However, I must take great exception to Eric Smith's "Weaving the Gifted Into the Full Fabric." He offers an ill-informed view of gifted education Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented. Programs providing such education are sometimes called Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) or that is contradictory to decades of quality education research. Smith begins by asserting that a "basic truth" is that "what's good for some is good for all." Such a statement contradicts research on differentiated instruction Differentiated instruction (sometimes referred to as differentiated learning) is a way of thinking about teaching and learning. It involves teachers using a variety of instructional strategies that address diverse student learning needs. that meets the diverse needs of children. Services for a child struggling with a reading difficulty must differ from services for a child working years above his or her grade level. The author's conflict of interest as a senior vice president for the College Board is evident. A one-size-fits-all approach to education that involves "adding advanced placement courses ... on a large scale" financially benefits his employer. However, it offers only a tiny piece of the kind of differentiated services Offerings that can be classified by type, or quality, of service. For example, a differentiated services network could prioritize real time traffic for a higher fee. that should be available to students. Furthermore, Smith implies that a single test score determines access to gifted education programs. I know of few gifted programs today that use a single score to determine services. However, he seems to have no qualms about using a single AP test score to determine a student's placement in college. Exactly who is the proponent One who offers or proposes. A proponent is a person who comes forward with an a item or an idea. A proponent supports an issue or advocates a cause, such as a proponent of a will. PROPONENT, eccl. law. for this antiquated way of identifying students? Certainly not the gifted education professionals I know. JOEL McINTOSH Publisher, Gifted Child gifted child Child naturally endowed with a high degree of general mental ability or extraordinary ability in a specific domain. Although the designation of giftedness is largely a matter of administrative convenience, the best indications of giftedness are often those Today Austin, Texas As a school administrator who works with multiple College Board programs and has a background in gifted education, I want to take issue with the positions of Eric Smith Notable people named Eric Smith have included:
First, he claims his statement, "And what makes it difficult to move toward an instructional model that supports the basic truth that 'what's good for some is good for all?'" is a basic truth, yet he provides no real evidence to support it. Our school district has a remedial reading program for struggling readers. It is an effective intervention that raises reading scores on standardized standardized pertaining to data that have been submitted to standardization procedures. standardized morbidity rate see morbidity rate. standardized mortality rate see mortality rate. measures. Yet I would certainly not recommend it for all students. The Success for All reading program has roughly 20 years of history and empirical research Noun 1. empirical research - an empirical search for knowledge inquiry, research, enquiry - a search for knowledge; "their pottery deserves more research than it has received" to support its effectiveness, and it is based on a pre-assessment of students before matching reading instruction to the level of readiness. It has proven effective with low, middle and advanced readers (perhaps your turtles, beavers and cheetahs). How does he claim that what is good for some is good for all in the light of the research on this leading program? Doesn't the very idea of "differentiation" contradict Smith's claim of what's good for some is good for all? Differentiation is a basic principle of providing all learners with the best learning experience given assessment of readiness, interest and perhaps learning style. It is widely endorsed and supported as a best practice in all levels of education from special education to general education to gifted education, with a growing research base to support its effectiveness at raising student achievement. One goal of gifted education is to articulate the academic needs of gifted learners and address them with learning experiences that are appropriately rigorous. What is appropriately rigorous for some is not appropriate for all. Smith's arguments represent a slap in the face to those who work to provide the best education for gifted students. TODD KETTLER Director of Advanced Academics, Coppell Independent School District The Coppell Independent School District is a public school district based in Coppell, Texas (USA). The district includes most of Coppell and parts of Grapevine and Irving (including a portion of Valley Ranch). , Coppell, Texas Coppell is a city in Dallas County, Texas, a suburb and bedroom community of the DFW Metroplex. The population was 35,958 at the 2000 census. A small area in the far northern portion of the city extends into neighboring Denton County. |
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