Finally Some News for You

Dear Friends,

Haven’t heard from me for a while, have you?

I have a few developments to share with you.

Two weeks ago, two parents accompanied me to a meeting with three Gifted Education district administrators and Michelle Udall from the MPS School Board. We spent over two hours discussing some of the issues facing gifted kids in MPS. As parents, we presented concerns and problems we have either experienced personally or have heard from other parents, and the district listened. Needs from K-12 were on the table, and while the district is trying to improve all three levels of gifted education, my initial concern is with the elementary grades, predicting that if we improve gifted education from the beginning, these improvements can lead to better programs in the higher grades as well. All three of the administrators had read my research and suggestions for improvement, and this act alone showed me that they take these concerns seriously. They were considerate, well informed, and realistic about what can be addressed immediately and what will take time—and what may be outside the realm of possibility.

I have never publicly published my findings from my research or my plan for improvement, mostly because I was waiting for district input to see if what I had suggested was even going to be addressed. Some of my suggestions were eliminated, but others are being considered. Here is a quick summary of what we discussed:

·      Research shows that cluster grouping children by ability in the regular classroom benefits not only the gifted in the classrooms but all children. Although my own personal opinion is that test scores are not the best way to measure a child’s learning, test scores are the major benchmark used by the district. Cluster grouping has been shown to raise test scores of all students when taught effectively. If cluster grouping raises test scores across the board, then implementing it in MPS elementary classrooms seems to be logical and reasonable.

·      Optimal program implementation would include one gifted-certified or gifted-trained teacher in each grade (K-6) in every elementary school in MPS. Gifted students would be clustered in that classroom. Pull-out programs once a week for gifted education would still be in place.

·      MPS Gifted Education administrators agree that cluster grouping is a successful program in other districts, but their concern is possible push back from teachers, principals, and parents who don’t fully understand how the program works. This obstacle can be overcome by giving everyone involved the statistics and full explanations of how the program works—and how it benefits everyone’s child, not just the gifted child.

·      Michelle Udall has asked district administrators for an estimate on how much it would cost to train existing teachers so that one gifted-trained or gifted-certified teacher was available at each grade level in every elementary school. The district is working toward getting us that number.

·      Teachers of the gifted would have their workloads dramatically cut (in some cases, by 2/3) by clustering the gifted kids in one classroom.

·      Cluster grouping students in K-2 will provide services for students who are currently not receiving gifted services. (Identification in K would rest on a parent-completed survey before school starts. While not completely reliable, such a survey would go a long way toward intervening as early as possible with our youngest students.)

·      Gifted education in MPS should include some social skills training.

·      It may be helpful to alter the name of the gifted program to something else, so that others don’t feel threatened or alienated or excluded from some “club.” Being born gifted is just that—kids are born that way—and their needs in the classroom are different from other students’ needs.

At the conclusion of the meeting, I asked MPS where we could anticipate things going from this point. Cris Barnett, the department head, said that she was currently researching social skills curriculum to use in the gifted classrooms as a reference. My suggestion was that we find a way to include social skills training as a required part of the program, and they agreed to look into it. She also stated that she would talk to Dr. Suzan DePrez, Assistant Superintendent over gifted education, about our meeting and ask her to investigate the cluster grouping suggestion, possibly finding schools who would be willing to act as pilot schools. Before adjourning, I told the administration that I had dozens of parents who were hoping for improvement in the gifted program and were waiting to hear the results of our meetings.

I left this meeting feeling positive about our efforts.

They listened. And they heard us.

You’ve been asking what you can do to help. This is what you can do.

First, take some time to acquaint yourself with the MPS website for gifted education. It is difficult to find from MPS’s home page, but here’s the link:

http://www.mpsaz.org/gtp/ Familiarize yourself with the program and with what MPS is trying to do. List any questions or suggestions you may have.

Second, email MPS gifted administrators. Email them your concerns, your wishes for the future, and that you support our efforts. Cris Barnett, the head of the department, has no email listed on the MPS website, but Lawson Donald, the head of gifted curriculum and instruction, can be reached at ladonald@mpsaz.org , Dr. Suzie DePrez, assistant superintendent, can be reached at sdeprez@mpsaz.org , and Cindy Ketterer, department specialist, can be reached at cketterer@mpsaz.org . Also, call or email your principal and your gifted classroom and regular classroom teachers. Ask them what they’re doing to differentiate and serve the needs of the gifted kids in their regular classrooms. Let them know that you appreciate their difficult job in serving the needs of gifted kids and that you would be happy to help them any way you can.

Third, speak out to parents whose kids have not been identified as gifted. Explain to them that it’s not an elite club or a gateway to AP classes in high school. It’s a program designed to meet the academic needs of a small percentage of kids. And if you have any great suggestions on how to educate the general public about gifted education, I’d love to hear them. I’m currently trying to think of a different title for the program that would appear less elitist—one idea is “Think Tank,” since the primary focus of the elementary program is teaching our kids better thinking skills. Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Finally, if you do send emails, please forward them to me so that I can compile them for my next meeting with the district. I would love to hear what you have to say.

Please take the time to do this in the next few days. I will be calling the district on Tuesday to set up our next meeting, and the more they can hear from concerned parents before I call, the better. If you are interested in attending this (or a future) meeting with me, let me know by email and I’ll see what I can do.

Thanks for your support in this endeavor. Thanks for loving your gifted kids and working and fighting for what is best for them. If you have any questions, please email me.

Thanks,

Jenny