I've been in and out reading this thread and I find the differing comments very interesting. I figured I would throw my take in for the heck of it. Not that it really matters, but here goes...
I have two girls in middle school, 6th and 8th grade. Both are considered gifted and talented. DD13 is what I would refer to more as highly motivated than gifted. She is very good at taking what is given to her and running with it; very good at working within the box. She has always gotten really good grades and tested exceptionally well UNTIL 7th grade, when she was put into the ALM program meant for gifted and high performing students. Once she was placed into the ALM program, which teachers that have had children in the program have been highly critical of, we saw a decline in her testing scores and a huge rise in her anxiety. She is very hard on herself and any criticism is internalized. We have tried a number of techniques to reduce that stress, but unfortunately her team of teachers (the same from 7th to 8th grade) have escalated it. They layer a great deal of responsibility on these kids to out perform their previous year's scores, despite the fact that many have scored near perfect and certainly well above standards since they began testing. At some point you are not going to see a remarkable year over year improvement. They are retaining the same percentage of the info from year to year despite adding more knowledge to the base. DD13 has manifested a number of stress related symptoms as we have entered testing week only to return home from each day of testing to say how easy each has been. Was she well prepared? Yes, I would say so, but at what cost? Weeks, months of extra test prep homework in addition to her homework related to the more in depth study of each subject throughout the year that her fellow students don't receive. The shear volume has been over whelming and at times ridiculous. We shall see where she ultimately ends up. If her writing assessment was any indication, she will have improved, making up for the 7th grade shortfall and a great deal more. One has to wonder if she simply is more mature and better able to handle the pressure? As for DD11? She is what I would consider truly gifted and certainly out of the box. Each year is different. Some teachers do exceptionally well meeting her needs, others, well...just, well. I'm glad we believe in supplemental education at home. It has served both girls very well. She has NEVER tested well except in math; the strong subject she hates and believes she sucks in! LOL. She regularly out performs her older sister at the same grade level. She's difficult to motivate and certainly not self motivated. I have made it very clear to the school that she is NOT to be included in the ALM program despite her high level of giftedness. She will not do well in that environment, this we are absolutely sure of. Which brings up the point that our state is likely to switch to "pay for student test performance" next year. While I am not at all an advocate of this, it does have one interesting side effect. Our crappy attempt at middle school GT education, ala ALM, will be eliminated as it is "unfair that one group of teachers would have the advantage of the top students, but the disadvantage of the lower potential for year over year improvement.". In other words, our ALM teachers are complaining that their students can't improve enough percentage wise year to year to make them look good, despite the fact that they test the highest in the district. Yet, these are the kids that, in our experience, are ridden the hardest and applied the most pressure to in the student population for state test prep. As a side note, our new super intendant has two children, one of which is middle school, the other elementary. Both are GT. He is the first to tell you how our existing district GT policies are failing these children. It should be interesting to see how he moves forward...
And, in regards to keeping children home sick during testing...Remember, these are your children, nobody will have their best interests at heart like you do, nobody. If you feel they would be better served staying home and healing, then keep them home. If you feel they will be better served by attending and taking the test at a compromised level, the send them and let them know why. If you have a vacation planned and you believe that world travel is more important than some state testing mandated by federal laws that are completely out of touch with the reality of our current education system, well, more power to you! There are generations of children that were served quite well by home schooling, private tutors and life experience. Education comes in many forms. If we ensure that our children leave the nest well prepared for life then we are doing our jobs as parents, despite someone else's criticism.
BTW, both my kids are fighting off a bout of influenza B this week, testing week, and have chosen to attend as it is easier to go sick and deal with it than it is to miss out and retake and then make up for the missed class work later. That says all I need to know about whether they are punished for missing testing or not.
And, I'm stepping down...Thanks for listening, or not.
I have two girls in middle school, 6th and 8th grade. Both are considered gifted and talented. DD13 is what I would refer to more as highly motivated than gifted. She is very good at taking what is given to her and running with it; very good at working within the box. She has always gotten really good grades and tested exceptionally well UNTIL 7th grade, when she was put into the ALM program meant for gifted and high performing students. Once she was placed into the ALM program, which teachers that have had children in the program have been highly critical of, we saw a decline in her testing scores and a huge rise in her anxiety. She is very hard on herself and any criticism is internalized. We have tried a number of techniques to reduce that stress, but unfortunately her team of teachers (the same from 7th to 8th grade) have escalated it. They layer a great deal of responsibility on these kids to out perform their previous year's scores, despite the fact that many have scored near perfect and certainly well above standards since they began testing. At some point you are not going to see a remarkable year over year improvement. They are retaining the same percentage of the info from year to year despite adding more knowledge to the base. DD13 has manifested a number of stress related symptoms as we have entered testing week only to return home from each day of testing to say how easy each has been. Was she well prepared? Yes, I would say so, but at what cost? Weeks, months of extra test prep homework in addition to her homework related to the more in depth study of each subject throughout the year that her fellow students don't receive. The shear volume has been over whelming and at times ridiculous. We shall see where she ultimately ends up. If her writing assessment was any indication, she will have improved, making up for the 7th grade shortfall and a great deal more. One has to wonder if she simply is more mature and better able to handle the pressure? As for DD11? She is what I would consider truly gifted and certainly out of the box. Each year is different. Some teachers do exceptionally well meeting her needs, others, well...just, well. I'm glad we believe in supplemental education at home. It has served both girls very well. She has NEVER tested well except in math; the strong subject she hates and believes she sucks in! LOL. She regularly out performs her older sister at the same grade level. She's difficult to motivate and certainly not self motivated. I have made it very clear to the school that she is NOT to be included in the ALM program despite her high level of giftedness. She will not do well in that environment, this we are absolutely sure of. Which brings up the point that our state is likely to switch to "pay for student test performance" next year. While I am not at all an advocate of this, it does have one interesting side effect. Our crappy attempt at middle school GT education, ala ALM, will be eliminated as it is "unfair that one group of teachers would have the advantage of the top students, but the disadvantage of the lower potential for year over year improvement.". In other words, our ALM teachers are complaining that their students can't improve enough percentage wise year to year to make them look good, despite the fact that they test the highest in the district. Yet, these are the kids that, in our experience, are ridden the hardest and applied the most pressure to in the student population for state test prep. As a side note, our new super intendant has two children, one of which is middle school, the other elementary. Both are GT. He is the first to tell you how our existing district GT policies are failing these children. It should be interesting to see how he moves forward...
And, in regards to keeping children home sick during testing...Remember, these are your children, nobody will have their best interests at heart like you do, nobody. If you feel they would be better served staying home and healing, then keep them home. If you feel they will be better served by attending and taking the test at a compromised level, the send them and let them know why. If you have a vacation planned and you believe that world travel is more important than some state testing mandated by federal laws that are completely out of touch with the reality of our current education system, well, more power to you! There are generations of children that were served quite well by home schooling, private tutors and life experience. Education comes in many forms. If we ensure that our children leave the nest well prepared for life then we are doing our jobs as parents, despite someone else's criticism.
BTW, both my kids are fighting off a bout of influenza B this week, testing week, and have chosen to attend as it is easier to go sick and deal with it than it is to miss out and retake and then make up for the missed class work later. That says all I need to know about whether they are punished for missing testing or not.
And, I'm stepping down...Thanks for listening, or not.
