School tries new gifted program

Way back in the day when I was in elementary school, we had to do book reports and presentations and that includes everyone. You did not have to be gifted to give a presentation or read a book. Computers were not available and my family did not have a set of encyclopedias. However, I would borrow what I needed from my neighbor and complete assignments. With all of the higher expectations, you would think that more teachers would give these type of assignments through any subject area not just language arts. I am not from Georgia and someone on this forum will say to go back where you come from but change has to occur for improvements to take place, not just more testing. Since I am on a roll here, we also learned to play kickball and softball at PE which enhances teamwork, good sportsmanship, and good behavior. Why does PE restrict to an overcrowded indoor gym. Half can be doing volleyball and basketball inside on some days but the half should be outside doing organized athletics. Field day is a joke because the kids have not learned the process of these sports.

Back in the day, your teachers did not have to teach to a test all year long.

Back in the day, students were not responsible for learning the same material they are being taught today. This program is to stretch those who are above average intelligence to meet their needs just as the other children are being taught and challenged at their own levels. It is designed to individualize the educational program for all students instead of just teaching the same material to all. Teachers do not teach to a test; they are required to teach the Georgia Performance Standards.

Back in the day, children learned how to add, subtract, divide, multiply, solve word problems and were actually able to make change when they started working. Nowadays, if a cashier makes a mistake inputting the total, he or she often can't figure out the proper change without a supervisor's help. Many graduates don't know how to manage a checking account. Many have limited spelling skills and murder the English language when they write it or speak it. I don't know what the Georgia Performance Standards are, but are students meeting them or exceeding them? Do the standards need to be raised? Or do some students just not apply what they are supposed to be learning to their daily living? My children haven't had any problems in these areas, but they went through the gifted program in their earliest school years until there were openings in the public magnet schools. I don't know how the other public schools compare in everyday living skills such as the above-mentioned. So teachers don't have to test the students on the Georgia Performance Standards?

Lesson plans are written to reflect the standards. The GPS (Ga. Performance Standards) give detailed objectives at each grade level in each subject area. All students are expected to meet these standards. It is the goal of many schools, especially the high performing schools to have the majority of students in the "exceeds the standard" category. If you would like to see the standards, go to http://www.gadoe.org/ci_services.aspx . There is more than enough information there to keep anyone busy for awhile. The standards have been raised and are still being refined and the website is constantly updated with lesson plans, rubrics, and other resources for teachers to use. The CRCT is geared toward the GPS so if teachers teach the standards, the students should be able to do well on the CRCT.

Unfortunately, advances in technology have made running a cash register almost fool-proof so businesses do not lose money because of incompetent workers. Spell-check is a wonderful tool as well, but doesn't help when students have to write an essay with a pen. The everyday living skills are most likely having to come from parents who should be teaching children how to balance a checkbook or manage their money. Otherwise, they have to do like most of their parents did and learn as they go!

In light of my recollection that this school district requested a waiver a couple of years ago to admit students who were identified gifted in a neighboring state but had not yet met the criteria for gifted education services in Georgia, this news story is very good news. Cluster grouping gifted students on a daily basis is much more meaningful to the students as well as financially beneficial to the school district in that they receive funding from the state for the students served through this model. Placing high performing students in Advanced Content classes at the middle school and high school level "casts a wider net" for the rigorous and challenging curriculum that is to be a part of this type of programming at these levels. Kudos to Columbia County for implementing program delivery models that have greater impact on the academic needs of their gifted students.

It would be a lot easier for parents to teach students how to balance a checkbook and manage their money if the students knew how to add and subtract without using a calculator! And it sure wouldn't hurt to have classes on household management in school to reinforce what the parents teach (or don't, there are some parents that unfortunately do not have the skills to begin with or simply are not good teachers). Just yesterday at a local coffee shop, a young woman refused to give me my two dollars change from a five dollar bill because she entered three dollars in the register instead of five dollars. I didn't even try to convince her how simple it was, really. She had to call the supervisor to help her. I didn't complain because I thought the supervisor needed to know how mathematically challenged the cashier was. She should not be handling money. Obviously, modern technology is NOT fool-proof and with cashiers like that, their accounting is going to be filled with errors. Not to mention, disappointed, annoyed and inconvenienced customers.

So regarding your 7:30 post: To make your long story short, you're teaching to the test: The CRCT test. Which contradicts your earlier post, in which you said that teachers don't teach to the test.

The program in this article discusses offering more challenging assignments to gifted students without taking them out of the classroom as they have done in the past. They are not talking about the majority of students. To address your comment about teaching to the test, "The CRCT is designed to measure how well students acquire the skills and knowledge described in the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS). This information is used to diagnose individual student strengths and weaknesses as related to the instruction of the GPS..." (taken from Ga. DOE website) Teachers teach the curriculum and the CRCT is used to measure how well they have learned what they are taught. Teachers CAN and DO add to this curriculum. They know the skills to teach and use various methods to teach those skills. They do NOT see the actual test until the morning it is given and the seal is broken. If you want to call that "teaching to a test", fine. That is not my definition of what teachers do.

It's not mine either.

So why do you do it?

We do it because it is part of our JOB - using the GPS to guide, plan and carry out instruction.

In other words, teaching to the test. Seems like we just went full circle. But don't worry, that's just my opinion and I know full well you are doing what you are required to do. I'm just a mom, wishing you were free to teach more as you would like to. I have a feeling you could teach better if freed of some of the constraints government schools put on you. Then it might feel more like the career you were so excited about in the beginning instead of the JOB it has turned into instead, as per your above description.

Don't jump to conclusions. I love my career/job. They are one in the same. I feel fortunate that I get paid well to do what I do. If someone works at a restaurant and knows the exact ingredients that go in a main dish, he is required to use those ingredients. However, if a customer requests no salt or added spices to the dish, the cook should accommodate him. In the same way, educators use the standards as a guide for instructional "recipes". Then those standards are modified, if needed, to meet the needs of all learners. This is the best analogy I can think of at this hour. I taught school today. I hope you understand.

Nothing in my comment merits that you jump to the conclusion that I jumped to any conclusions. (Smile) I know you love your career/job. I can tell. I love your analogy, it was so good, it even made me hungry! Which is surprising after the day I've had. I understand what you are saying, even though I buried a younger family member today. She was a professional working mom, at the top of her highly respected field, with a large family, that didn't appreciate her until too late. I respected her choice (to work outside the home), she respected mine (to work at home) and we supported each other when our families just didn't get it. Sometimes we were each others only cheerleaders. Our choices were the product of our personalities, skills, opportunities for further education, support network (or lack of it in my case) strengths and weaknesses. As was your choice. I buried a dear relative today so I'm not at my best level. I'm sure you understand.