For children living in the middle-class suburbs of Washington’s metro area, odds are good they’re prodigies, at least as measured by the school systems’ gifted and talented programs.
At Bethesda’s Westbrook Elementary School, for example, 87 percent of second-graders in 2006-07 were designated as eligible to take part in “gifted and talented” instruction. At the town’s Bradley Hills Elementary, 84 percent attained that status.
But in fact, the number of D.C.-area geniuses hasn’t inexplicably soared. Instead, according to school administrators, “gifted and talented” has come to mean “above grade level,” and some parents have come to wonder whether that means much at all.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a dumbing down,” said Eric Marx, a Montgomery County parent who serves on the school district’s Accelerated and Enriched Instruction Advisory Committee, “because I’m not sure [instruction] was ever smartened up.”
Marx represents a vocal array of parents in the increasingly diverse county who worry that, in its laudable efforts to eliminate the racial and economic achievement gap, Montgomery County has lost sight of individuality. At many schools, they believe students languish who are capable of handling advanced material.
He points to a 1995 mandate for the school system to develop an accelerated curriculum for every grade level in every subject, something parents complain was never done in earnest.
Both Montgomery and the slightly larger Fairfax County district have an instructor in each school who works with teachers to plan advanced instruction; in Fairfax, that teacher also works with students. Both districts have separate schools within schools for students deemed “highly gifted” — the most gifted among the above-grade-level lot.
But while Fairfax has 23 elementary schools for the highly gifted and 27 regular schools that offer the highest-level programming, Montgomery has only seven elementary schools for highly gifted students, and it aims to offer enrichment opportunities in all regular classes.
Parents such as Marx wonder whether seven is enough.
Janine Lewis serves as the Parent-Teacher-Student Association gifted and talented liaison for parents of the nearly nine in 10 students labeled gifted at Westbrook. She also has one child in a highly gifted center.
“I do feel incredibly lucky,” Lewis said. “There are certainly kids who would do fine at a more accelerated pace, and there just aren’t that many slots.” She added she hasn’t heard many parents complain about a shortage of slots at gifted centers, however, in part because Westbrook, unlike some schools in the county, has an unassailable reputation.
Marty Creel, Montgomery’s director of gifted and talented programming, argues that every child has access to the same advanced curriculum developed over the past eight years, which are measured against rigorous college-ready standards and adaptable for advanced learners.
Of about 9,400 second-graders screened by Creel’s staff in 2006-07, 39 percent were identified as advanced, and 16 percent were noted as on the cusp, leaving fewer than half of the county’s second-graders deemed average or below.
“We’re not identifying these kids as geniuses, but as ready to work above grade level,” Creel said, adding the county has made remarkable progress in getting students to that mark.
In neighboring Fairfax County, of more than 11,000 second-graders, 34 percent became eligible for gifted and talented services in at least one subject area after an analysis of tests, course work, and teacher and parent recommendations, according to Carol Horn, the district’s coordinator of gifted and talented services.
“We used to leave a lot of kids out who could’ve done this type of work,” Horn said, explaining why more students are eligible now than a generation ago. “Now, we’re more thoughtful about what kids need,” she said, adding that the system’s policies have taken minimal flak from parents.
In the past five years, both counties’ percentages have remained about the same. Due to changes in testing, Montgomery’s percentages were even higher in the 1990s, while Fairfax’s were lower.
Still, parents such as Montgomery’s Fred Stichnoth, whose child is labeled gifted and talented, worry the popular label has lost its meaning.
“There’s an assumption that if my kid is labeled, therefore my kid is getting or will get services according to that. But it turns bitter in your mouth when you see it isn’t always the case.”
Parents leading the charge
Parents’ increased role in branding kids brilliant has led educators to champion methods designed to find potential where it might otherwise be lost.
In Fairfax County, the district’s $1.3 million Young Scholars Program “finds those kids who have been historically left out” of gifted programming, and nurtures their potential starting in the earliest grades, said Carol Horn, coordinator of the district’s gifted services.
The program is one way to balance the perceived advantage of students with ambitious parents – a contingent Horn said has grown in her nine years in the district’s central office.
In addition to student test scores and teacher-referrals, an optional questionnaire allows involved parents to expound upon their child’s gifts. They can provide details for statements like “My child finds humor in situations or events unusual for his/her age,” and “My child is intellectually curious and asks thoughtful questions.”
“There are a lot of gifted students out there who don’t have parents who know how to advocate,” said Susan Assouline, associate director of the University of Iowa’s Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development. It’s one of gifted educators’ biggest worries.
In Montgomery County, principals are urged to write advocacy statements for students whose parents might not take an active role, said Marty Creel, the district’s gifted coordinator. In addition, he said, school liaisons work with the county’s non-English speaking and under-represented families to inform them of opportunities for gifted programs.
In neither Montgomery nor Fairfax does race play a role in the admissions process to separate schools for the most gifted students.
Percentage of students identified as in need of gifted and talented education.
Montgomery County 2nd graders, 2006-07
- Total 2nd graders: 39 percent
- White: 52 percent of those identified; 41 percent of total district
- Asian: 23 percent of those identified; 15 percent of total district
- Black: 13 percent of those identified; 23 percent of total district
- Hispanic: 12 percent of those identified; 21 percent of total district
Fairfax County 2nd graders, 2006-07
- Total 2nd graders: 34 percent
- White: 53 percent of those identified; 49 percent of total district
- Asian: 23 percent of those identified; 18 percent of total district
- Black: 7 percent of those identified; 11 percent of total district
- Hispanic: 10 percent of those identified; 16 percent of total district
- Multi-racial: 7 percent of those identified; 5 percent of total district
Prince George’s County*
- Total students: 9 percent
Alexandria City Schools*
- Total students: 12 percent (likely to go up after winter placements)
*Differences in standards leads to smaller numbers of identified students
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