More government school accomplishements
Onward to Denver, Colorado!
Denver public schools has decided that there are too many of those evil white kids in their Gifted and Talented program. To fix the “problem” they have instituted a new program that gives minority children “extra credit” to boost their acceptance level in the program.
The principal of the sole elementary school in the district said that this program is “…a much more holistic look at the kid. I wanted this system to look at much more than test scores.” So rather than test the child and see how intelligent they are, and group them together for more focused and accelerated learning, you’re going to “look at something other than the scores” to boost a child into a “gifted and talented” status. Let’s see… if we have a white child, a black child, a mexican child and a native american child… and we’re looking at something other than their ACCOMPLISHMENTS, just what would we be looking at… maybe… wait, let me work on this for a second… oh! I’ve got it… the color of their skin?
Lets say you have eight spots opening up in your GT program… and 10 children are brought in to “apply”. 2 of the 10 are what you would deem “minority” children.
Since the districts policy looked at IQ as a big measure of their gifted status… lets assume they drew a line at 130. If 8 of the children scored above 130 on the test, and 2 tested below you would obviously want to include the 8 who met your requirements as they would be “gifted” by your standards. What if the 2 children who scored below the mark were of minority status? Does that MATTER? Holding your thumb on the scales when you’re measuring a minority students talents, doesn’t make them MORE gifted. If you gear your lesson plans towards gifted children and allow a child who doesn’t fit the lessons into the class, THEY will be left behind by those who ARE in tune. All you are doing is dragging in a child based on the color of their skin because it make YOU feel good, when in most cases, they’re going to feel like the outcast when they “don’t get it”.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
I really wish you would sometimes link to outside stories about what you’re talking about.
Will do 
If your gifted program included artistic challenges for the children then yes, I could see including artistic ability as a measure of ones “giftedness”.
Regardless of WHY, being poor (even mildly) does NOT make you gifted at all. When you stress the “fact” that minority students need “bonuses” to elevate them into a program they don’t qualify for based on merit alone, you’re talking about affirmative action style plans.
I’m all for modifying educational plans, but elevating children into focus and accelerated learning groups when they don’t meet the requirements does no good for the child.
If you look into WHY your latino and black students aren’t doing as well, I’m sure ways to improve their education will become clear. Fix that, don’t force.
The federal government defines all the facets of special education but there are no state or federal laws / policies / guidelines about a Gifted and Talented program. The entire subject has no particular yearly review or eligibility requirements. If a district chooses to provide it, it is locally defined and paid for by local taxpayers. It is 100% up to the district and that means the curriculum and measuring student progress is the district’s responsibility. That district makes up the rules and totally pays for it. For all the folks who thinks the federal government is extensive or should have a smaller role….this type program is the perfect example!
I considered not saying anything, but I couldn’t seem to avoid it.
First, I really wish you would sometimes link to outside stories about what you’re talking about. Instead readers are either left to trust you 100% or go seek out the information themselves.
For example, this Denver Post story makes it sound rather benign and completely nonracial.
I’m not sure what’s wrong with measuring with writing and artwork as well. And it may be offensive to you that they weigh poverty and ESL, but those clearly aren’t racial variables. I think it’s interesting idea and at least worth a try.
In a majority-Latino district like Denver, the fact that the program was 75% (non-Latino) white should be considered scandalous, not that the district is taking step to correct it.