Gifted Atlanta

A basic tenet of advocacy for gifted education is that gifted children come from all racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. That’s why advocates are always pushing for equal access to gifted education for all children, regardless of their family’s income.

Unfortunately, in many cases, children in schools that serve wealthier kids still get more opportunities than poorer children. That was the stated conclusion of a new study released by ProPublica, a non-profit, investigative journalism group. ProPublica compared schools, districts and states across the nation, evaluating the percentage of kids who take gifted or advanced classes, and how that percentage differed according to the wealth of the student population (as measured by the number of children receiving free or reduced price lunch).

The good news is that overall, Georgia seems to do better than some states in giving all children access to advanced learning. We have a higher percentage of disadvantaged children than the national average, yet we have a slightly higher rate of enrollment in gifted programs — 11 percent —  than the national average. We also do better than the national average in terms of the percentage of our students who take advanced math, chemistry and Advanced Placement classes.

However, the results for metro Atlanta schools show that school districts with more underprivileged children do have a lower rate of enrollment in gifted programs.

To see the data for yourself, go to the Georgia results page. From there, you can drill down to view results for your school district and, in some cases, your individual school. (Not every school is listed in the data.)

If you’re familiar with how schools are funded in Georgia, you’ve probably heard of QBE funding. (If you didn’t know, the QBE stands for Quality Basic Education.) In short, QBE funding is an allotment of money that every public school in Georgia receives based on the number of students they have enrolled. Some types of students — including gifted students — are funded at a higher rate, giving schools additional dollars to be used to meet their special needs.

[Note: Because of economic hardships and cuts in education funding overall, the state does not exercise any controls over the money it allocates via QBE funding. Schools and school systems have broad authority to redirect funds. So, although schools receive an additional amount for gifted students, that money is not always spent on gifted instruction. But that’s another post for another time.]

The QBE formula was developed in the 1980s and hasn’t been updated much since then. But that could be changing soon, as a newly formed commission has begun working on reviewing and possibly reforming the funding system. (I say “could be changing” because this is the sixth effort to revamp the formula, and the previous five task forces and committees didn’t change much.)

The State Education Finance Study Commission met for the first time at the end of June. I was there, and the question of how much money it takes to educate a gifted child was raised as something to evaluate.

That question, if it’s to be addressed, would fall under the realm of Subcommittee 1. Members of that subcommittee are:

• Georgia Senator Jack Hill (R-Reidsville)
• Scott Austensen, from the Office of Finance and Business Operations of the Georgia Department of Education
• Jadun McCarthy, Georgia Teacher of the Year, an English teacher at Northeast High School in Bibb County
• Dr. L.C. “Buster” Evans, superintendent of Forsyth County Schools
• Georgia Representative Tom Dickson (R-Cohutta)

This subcommittee will hold its first meeting on July 25 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the 20th floor of the Twin Towers East legislative building downtown.

In the first meeting of the Commission, chairmen Sen. Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody) and Rep. Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth) both encouraged people to get involved and share information with the subcommittees. I think the best way to do that is to attend the meetings and — when given the opportunity — share my point of view. That’s what I’ll be doing, and I will keep you posted via this blog.

You could also contact members of the subcommittee with your thoughts about funding for gifted education. I’ve looked up their e-mail addresses for you, so you can write to them simply by clicking on their names above. (Sorry, couldn’t find an address for Jadun McCarthy.)

You can also follow the work of the Commission and subcommittee via its dedicated web page on the Department of Education web site.

Legislation that would establish new standards for gifted education has been introduced in both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.

The TALENT Act (To Aid Gifted and High-Ability Learners by Empowering the Nation’s Teachers Act) was introduced in both houses of Congress in recent weeks. Elements of the bill would:

• require states, districts and schools to measure the academic growth and performance of high-ability students.
• support research into teaching methods that are most effective with gifted students.
• provide grants for teachers to learn new techniques to use with gifted students, with priority given to schools where high ability students are typically under-served.

The National Association of Gifted Children provides a summary of the bill on its web site, or you can read the full text of the House version or Senate version.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), one of the sponsors in the Senate, concluded his remarks introducing the bill with this statement:

For too long, Federal education policy has been so focused on preventing failure that we have neglected to promote and encourage success. We can no longer afford to ignore the needs of our brightest students and thus squander their potential. My legislation will put our country on track to tap that potential which is so essential to the future happiness of the students and the future prosperity of our Nation.

(If you have a minute, Sen. Grassley’s moving and pointed statement is worth reading in its entirety.)

The TALENT Act is in the Senate as S.857 and in the House as H.R. 1674. In both houses, the bill has been referred to the committee that handles education matters.

This legislation is sorely needed to help our gifted and talented students achieve at their best. I encourage you to voice your support for the TALENT Act. Here’s what you can do:

1. Contact our U.S. Senators, Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss, and ask them to cosponsor S.857, the TALENT Act. Sen. Isakson serves on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which has the bill now, so it’s also appropriate to encourage him to work with the committee to return the bill to the full House with a favorable report as soon as possible.
2. Contact your Representative in the U.S. House. (The “Find Your Representative” tool on the U.S. House web site makes it simple to locate and contact the right person.) Ask him or her to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 1674, the TALENT Act. No Representatives from Georgia are on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which has the bill.

I will be keeping an eye on both of these bills and will keep you posted on their progress.

I had posted previously that April 29, 2011 would be a legislative advocacy day coordinated by the Georgia Association for Gifted Children (GAGC). Looks like I got it wrong. Advocates for gifted education will not be converging on the capitol that day.

What is going to happen is that Gov. Nathan Deal is expected to sign a proclamation next week which will designate April 29, 2011 as Gifted Education Day in Georgia. While GAGC is not planning any activities for that day, they encourage grassroots recognition of the day.

So, it’s a good day to show your appreciation for gifted teachers, or to conduct awareness and advocacy activities with your legislator or school board member. GAGC has posted other suggested activities on its web site, although most of them look more appropriate for teachers than parents. (Click on the plus sign when you arrive at the linked page to see the information.)

Whether working on this blog or advocating for my family’s particular needs, thinking about the needs of highly capable children takes up a good bit of my mental real estate.

Even so, sometimes I need an infusion of enthusiasm, something to remind me why gifted education matters so much — to my child, my school, my country. Here are two articles I read recently that have helped me stay fired up.

• Education reform: the problem with helping everyone reach ‘average,’ an opinion piece which appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, penned by the president of the National Association for Gifted Children
• Myths of Science Education, from Science 2.0. This blog post gives a quick overview and links to a video from the Baltimore Public Schools which looks at 10 common myths — one might also call them excuses — about gifted education. The video is a little hokey, so you might opt to go straight to the source: NAGC’s list of Common Myths in Gifted Education.

If these inspire you as they do me, and if you’re wondering what you can do about it, here’s an idea: Mark your calendar for April 29, 2011. That will be when the Georgia Association for Gifted Children puts on Gifted Day at the capitol downtown. I will provide more details on the day as I get them.

Gifted Education Press Quarterly has posted its Spring 2011 issue. GEPQ is a free, online publication that focuses on high-level matters of gifted education policy and pedagogy.

The current issue includes an article on excuses that are commonly given for not allowing advanced students to fully develop their math ability — and why those excuses may not hold water; and an article on why gifted students need to be taught by gifted-certified teachers.

If you like GEPQ, you can sign up to be notified whenever a new issue is posted by sending an e-mail request to the publisher.