Each box that you mark on each test that you take,
Remember your teachers, their jobs are at stake.
Your score is their score, but don’t get all stressed.
They’d never teach anything not on the test.

From the lyrics to Not On The Test by Tom Chapin and John Forster

It’s a gentle song with a powerful punch.  And, despite the song’s digs at teachers, it’s intended in support of programs that help them reach their students.

Even as Secretary of Education Spellings is strengthening No Child Left Behind, Tom Chapin is gathering a groundswell of support  on notonthetest.com to speak up for keeping music, art, drama, and sports in education because:

It’s no secret that American industry has outsourced most factory jobs to other countries to take advantage of cheaper labor costs. So why are we putting so much effort into a form of education in which there is no creativity? This is the time that our youth should be taught to think ”out of the box,” not be put into a tighter one!

As some of my favorite public school teachers have described, NCLB is sucking the joy out of teaching (and learning.)

I’m signing up to act now for Not On The Test, but I’d love to hear a follow-up to this song that highlights how our nation’s brightest are being left behind.

The Fordham Institute’s latest report confirms that:

1. The nation’s top pupils have “languished” academically while the lowest-performing youngsters have gained dramatically.

2. Most teachers feel pressure to focus primarily on their lowest achieving students, and neglect the high achievers.

Any suggestions for a song title?  Here’s my lame song title attempt - Shut Up, Turn Off Your Mind!  Come on, I know you’ve got some good ones.  Share them in a comment.

More On Living By Learning articles on creativity and school:

In this TED Talks video, Sir Ken Robinson questions: Do schools kill creativity?

Advocating for change in education is a slow process.  In the meantime, creativity is one reason to homeschool.

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Online distance learning programs are helping to meet the needs of gifted students by providing challenging learning experiences and opportunities to connect with like-minded peers. 

Some of these distance learning programs, such as those offered by the  Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth or Stanford’s Education Program for Gifted Youth, are excellent but they are very expensive, and they tend to only list typical academic sequences in Math, English, and some languages. 

A new program, the Gifted Kids Network (GKN) is offering engaging, multimedia-rich classes that encourage student activism.  This is fantastic!

Bright, talented kids are learning how they can make this world a better place.

Eight-year-old Alex just completed the Beta program for the Gifted Kids Network.  Despite the work involved and the late start (we didn’t find out about the class until a month into the session), he loved it. 

Each week in his Space Colonies Class, he got to watch videos or play games that taught him about the factors to consider - such as atmosphere or geology - when assessing the habitability of planets. Later in the course, he read The Green Book, a story about a family that is forced to leave a dying Earth to colonize a distant planet.

If you ask him, Alex will loudly proclaim that “The Green Book is the worst book on the face of the planet.”  I still don’t know why he had such a negative reaction, but I suspect it’s because the main character was a girl.  And, even though he hated the book, it certainly inspired his latest writing, Alex’s Journal: Journey to the New Planet. (See above.) 

Take a look at all the amazing projects that these talented students completed in various classes on the GKN Student Blog Site.  You will be impressed.

I think that what he liked best about this class was the chance to connect with other kids who share his interests.  Alex has been asking for his own IM account for awhile, but I don’t think he’s old enough to handle a public account like AOL’s AIM.  However, on the GKN there is a “lounge” where the kids can chat in a safe, teacher-monitored environment.

Now, he’s looking forward to GKN’s Animal Planet Summer Enrichment Class where he’ll get to create a humane, virtual zoo.  Older sister Kayla is also excited about the Cool Tools Summer Enrichment Class where she will get to create an online multimedia project that will incorporate “digital photography, video creation, web design, and more.”

Personally, I’m thrilled that they will both get to participate in a fun learning experience from the comfort of our home, or wherever we take our laptops!

More articles on Gifted Programs:

Testing For Talent - Why we signed up for Johns Hopkins Center For Talented Youth Talent Search.

Taking the SCAT Test - Taking the test that all 2nd-6th grade students must ace for Johns Hopkins CTY Talent Search.

Book Resource:

The Green Book (Sunburst Book): Jill Paton Walsh: BooksISBN: 0374428026 ISBN-13: 9780374428020

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I just read an article that challenges readers to Value All Gifts and Talents by creating new school options rather than the traditional academic model.

The underlying assumption in this article is that the typical high school’s college preparatory classes fulfill the needs of gifted students, while unnecessarily stressing students whose strength lies in arts, athletics, crafts, mechanics, teaching, etc.

I believe that this is a popular assumption, and that this is one reason that there is very little funding or support for Gifted & Talented Programs in many school districts throughout the USA.

Definition of Gifted

In our egalitarian society, you have to be brave to describe your child as “gifted” with its suggestion of elitism and status-chasing.  Many people will tell you that all children are gifted, which is true, but not in the sense that the term is used in the field of education.

Here, gifted is a relative term that describes “individual exceptionality from the norm, about learning differences at a given point in time that require special educational adaptations.” (Mathews and Foster, Being Smart about Gifted Children)

Gifted just means that a student will have different education needs from that of most age-level peers, but those needs may vary drastically per individual.

Levels of Giftedness

Researchers are finding that there are many more gifted individuals in the general population than previously thought. However, the IQ of the gifted can range from Level One Moderately Gifted (117-129) to Level Five Profoundly Gifted (141+.) Note that these numbers reflect the new, lower IQ test results.

Early Indicators (prior to Kindergarten) of Intellectual Giftedness are found at all of these levels:

· Understands complex verbal instructions

· Shows interest and ability with shape sorters and 8-10 piece puzzles.

· Speaks in complex, correct sentences using comparatives and connective words

· Can sight read a number of words or familiar signs

· Completes 25+ piece jigsaw puzzles and complex mazes

· Recognizes and/or names a wide variety of colors and shades

· Knows the letters in or out of alphabetical order

· Makes letters by writing or using sticks, utensils, etc.

· Knows the numbers

· Shows keen memory for detail in spatial directions, past events, etc.

· Uses one-to-one correspondence in counting objects

It is interesting to note that in school districts that draw students from a high socioeconomic population, where most parents are highly educated professionals, most of the students are Level One Gifted but average learners. Also, a typical middle class elementary school will have 1-2 (out of 100) Level Three students at each grade level. Level 4 and Level 5 students are less likely to be found in schools, as they are more likely to turn to homeschooling or alternative schooling options.

Even more interesting is how the level of giftedness impacts academic abilities and needs. The Level One Moderately Gifted average learners already “show impatience with repetition and slow pace by age seven or eight.” Level Two students have the ability to do accelerated work often as soon as they start school. Level Three students can read youth or young adult books at around age 7. And Level Four students are capable of completing 8^th Grade work by 4^th grade.

(Source: Deborah Ruf, Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind. 2005: Great Potential Press.)

Gifted Domains

Identifying the gifted is further complicated by the wide variety of abilities that falls under the “gifted” umbrella.  Karen Rogers, one of the leading researchers in Gifted Education and the author of Re-Forming Gifted Education, sorts Giftedness and Talent into six domains: general intellectual; specific academic; creativity; psychosocial or leadership; visual and performing arts; and psychomotor. A gifted individual may display a mixture of traits from these domains.

While a Level Three Intellectually Gifted student who excels in class may be easy to identify as gifted; a disorganized, divergent “Creative Spirit” may be hard to spot as gifted.

Gifted Educational Needs

There are many options for providing an educational plan for the gifted, but – despite the prevalence of college preparatory school curriculums – “many experts in the field of gifted education have argued that the general school curriculum does not contain enough breadth or depth of content for bright, eager learners who crave knowledge.” (Rogers, p. 79)

Gifted Students want schools that:

· Provide advanced courses, honor classes, and other opportunities beyond the standard curriculum,

· Offer out-of-school options such as mentorships and community service projects, and

· Provide opportunities for teachers and counselors to learn about the special needs of gifted students.

Gifted students want to:

· Learn at their own speed

· Opt out of work they already know and understand

· Study things that interest them and go beyond the basics

· Work with abstract concepts that require more than simple thinking – such as creative, reflective, and analytical ideas

· Work with peers who share your interests and abilities

· Participate in options that connect your learning to the “real world.”

(Source: Surveys of gifted students reported in Galbraith and Delisle, The Gifted Kids’ Survival Guide: A Teen Handbook. 1996: Free Spirit Publishing.)

More Links:

Responding to the Needs of High School Level Gifted Learners

Dealing With the Needs of Underachieving Gifted Students In a Suburban School District: What Works!

Losing the Gifted

When the opportunity for relevant, meaningful learning doesn’t exist, gifted students may become bored and act out. Some become frustrated and angry, while others start clowning around. Many students who are forced to conform to the class standard may become withdrawn and/or apathetic. A student who started Kindergarten as a bright, eager, curious child can end up as a dull, uninterested adolescent. A pattern of underachievement can set in as early as the primary grades. By high school, many drop-outs are gifted students.

How to tell if your school district values the gifted and talented:

· There is funding for training teachers about Gifted Education.

· Gifted education options and resources are available from Kindergarten through 12^th Grade.

· There is a Gifted Education Coordinator in your elementary school.

· A Gifted Coordinator/Guidance Counselor is available to follow a gifted student’s progress from 7^th-12 Grade.

· There are opportunities for acceleration, at a minimum, in Math and English.

· Subjects that aren’t tested on the annual state standardized tests, such as Science and Social Studies, are given in-depth, meaningful coverage.

· Language arts programs include many opportunities for creative, as well as expository, writing.

· There is an Enrichment Program that provides opportunities for the development of higher level skills, such as divergent and evaluative thinking, problem-solving, and creativity.

· There are opportunities for self-directed or independent study.

· Availability of AP courses that follow the AP curriculum guidelines and offer the end-of-course exams for college credit.

· Library, Music, and Art instruction is given as much funding and time as physical education.

· Academic contests such as spelling bees, science fairs, or math counts receive as much funding and popular support as athletic or other programs.

So, do you think your school values the gifted and talented? What does your school do well? What else would you like to see your school doing?

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My son took his first standardized test today. 

In less than one hour, he took the SCAT test on a computer where he quickly clicked on the multiple choice questions.  Perhaps too quickly.  The test administrator mentioned that he didn’t seem to be reading all the possible answers, and he seemed to choose “A” way too many times.  We’ll find out in three weeks whether he chose well, or not. 

Afterwards, he told me that he didn’t understand some of the questions.  It took some digging but I finally figured out that he was introduced to analogy questions, the bane of college entrance exams.

I suppose that in our society this could be considered a rite of passage.  Today, he discovered the intricacies of  an analogy question.   Why, you ask?  Will he ever need to understand analogies in the real world?  Is this just a bizarre verbal question only found on college admissions tests?  What is the point of subjecting an 8-year-old to a standardized test?

I can’t say that I have a good answer.  The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth offers a list of testing benefits, and I have a few of my own.   Mostly, I’m still figuring our what I’m doing homeschooling a child who may or may not be intellectually gifted.  I guess I’m hoping that this test will give me some indication of whether or not he excels in verbal or mathematical reasoning. 

If he does excel in either area, I may need to reconsider whether I’m offering enough challenging instruction.  If he does poorly, I may want to review whether I’m giving him enough exposure to age-appropriate material. 

Still, it’s just one assessment tool, and perhaps not the best one.  I’m still debating meeting with a Gifted & Talented Counselor who can administer a barrage of tests and give me specific advice for my son, especially about some of the social and emotional challenges that we face.  We’ll see.  I have to ponder that for a bit.

In the meantime, I asked my son how he felt about the SCAT test.  He said it was mostly OK, except for the math material that he had never seen before.  And he really didn’t like the self-assessment at the end where he was asked to rate his performance.  When asked why, he responded, “Well, I really don’t like to face the truth.”

More articles on Gifted Education:

 Gifted? 

Testing For Talent

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One of the joys of homeschooling is the absence of tests. Yet, today I registered both of my kids in Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY) Talent Search. As part of this program, they can both look forward to taking the SCAT test which compares their verbal and math reasoning skills to that of students two grades above.

Why did I sign them up for the Talent Search? CTY provides an excellent list of benefits:

1. Reveal or reaffirm academic abilities
2. Provide statistical data about Talent Search participants’ test scores by grade
3. Recognize your child for academic talent
4. Provide access to CTY’s rewarding Family Academic Programs
5. Give your child a chance to qualify for CTY’s Summer and Distance Education Programs

These are all good reasons to have your child participate in the Talent Search; but I would add two more: academic check up and ammunition.

First, the Talent Search test is a kind of academic check up. I already know or suspect that both of my kids are gifted learners. This has been confirmed through tests and experience with my older child, while my younger child appears to have similar abilities. What I don’t know is what impact our school choices (project based private school for one, homeschool for the other) will have on their ability to perform well on the standardized tests that determine academic opportunities. Testing this year, and in future years when required for the homeschooled child, will give us some insight about the efficacy of our schooling while giving them a chance to practice their test-taking skills.

Second, the Talent Search results provide a kind of ammunition when advocating for your child. School administrators and teachers are more likely to believe that a student is a gifted learner when there are test results backing up that assertion. Even with this kind of empirical evidence, there may be very little that a school district can do for your child. For now, we chose to remove our children from the public school because there wasn’t adequate programming for them at their grade levels. In the future, if things change, we may want to let them return to public school, and then these test results may help them get into desired programs.

If I thought that these tests would be stressful to these kids, none of these reasons would be worth any amount of emotional hardship. So far, neither kid has ever worried about a test. So, why not test for talent?

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I’m homeschooling my son to ensure that there is room for creativity in his education.

This may come as a shock to my husband and mother-in-law.

They think I’m homeschooling Alex because he wasn’t learning much in the public school, especially in science.

It is certainly true that with the current focus on school achievement in New York State’s Math and ELA tests given in 3rd-8th Grade, there is a tendency to focus on raising the scores of low-scoring students while the brightest students are virtually ignored as it is assumed that they do not have any special needs. Also, there is a tendency to spend the greater portion of each school day on the Math and English Language Arts course work that will result in the highest scores on these tests. Even 2nd grade teachers have to make sure their classes adhere to the pacing guidelines for those subjects. Other subjects and projects are often given cursory attention, or are dropped altogether.

As students and teachers are pushed to conform so that schools achieve the numbers needed to maintain funding, child-centered learning and creativity are the casualties.

How is child-centered learning and creativity part of our homeschooling experience? I’ve paraphrased the classic children’s book, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, to describe our recent experience.

If you give a kid freedom to learn, he is going to want to choose his own books.If you give a kid his own book choice, he is going to want to read the entire Captain Underpants series.

If you give a kid the opportunity to read the entire Captain Underpants series, he is going to want to visit the Dav Pilkey website.

If you give a kid free reign on the Dav Pilkey website, he will want to start creating superheroes just like Dav Pilkey did in second grade.

If you give a kid art supplies to create superheroes, he will want to write a book.

If you give a kid time to write a book, he is going to want to write a novel during National Novel Writing Month.

If you give a kid membership in NaNoWrimo’s Young Writers Program, he is going to ask if you want to write a novel too.

And then you get a mommy who is overbooked, but a kid who has lots of time and energy to find new ways to keep mommy busy!

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A homeschooling mom of a 2 and 4 year old recently posted a cry for help:

I need some advice. The thing is I think he may be really smart, not mensa style, but he learns so fast and he keeps wanting to learn other things, now he wants to learn piano, spanish and gymnastics besides his regular studies. I have him in a gymnastics class, but the rest is all me. I can’t seem to schedule enough time to get it all in. Also my 2 year old now is wanting to read I think. She wants to know what the words are for everything and she doesn’t even know her letters yet. So I realize I need time to focus on her too, educational wise, of course she has been getting regular attention. I am starting to feel overwhelmed.

These very bright kids are a gift and a challenge.

My own children are very creative and bright, but I never guessed they had any special needs. However, Kayla was identified as gifted in 3rd grade, the same year that she started goofing off in school. She was too busy daydreaming or helping others to do her own work. The gifted & talented pull-out program helped with her motivation, but it was just 2 hours a week. Supplementing her education put a heck of a burden on all of us. Now she is thriving in a child-centered program that allows her to follow her own lead.

I’m trying to avoid years of frustration by homeschooling my son. So far, we are both really enjoying learning together.

Each child is unique with their own gifts & talents. Within the Gifted & Talented community, you will find that there are the gifted (IQ: 120-140 range) and the profoundly gifted (IQ: 140 +). Of course, these IQ ranges are just general guidelines and there is a lot of disagreement on the use of IQs to identify the gifted. I’m just including this to explain that children can be gifted without qualifying for MENSA. Also, gifted students can exhibit talents in 6 or more domains: intellectual ability, specific academic ability, creativity, leadership and psychosocial ability, visual and performing arts, and athleticism. A child may excel in just one or all of these domains. (See Re-Forming Gifted Education - How Parents and Teachers Can Match the Program to the Child by Karen B. Rogers, Ph.D.)

I told the overwhelmed mom to visit the following websites: the Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page , the National Association for Gifted Children page, and for New Yorkers, the AGATE (Advocacy for Gifted and Talented Education in New York State) page. Here you will find lots of information on every topic related to gifted education, including guides to identify gifted students.

Gifted students can be high energy and a challenge, but they are also so much fun.

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