Spotlight on Giftedness – September 2011

A collection of news articles regarding gifted children and education for September 2011

September was an amazing month for articles on gifted education.  Not only did the Christian Science Monitor dedicate an issue to it, but the beginning of school has really shone a spotlight on the topic.  Here are some of the best from this past month.

This month I would like to highlight “Our Achievement-Gap Mania“, an amazing article about how a focus on the achievement gap has harmed education reform.

A decade ago, the No Child Left Behind Act ushered in an era of federally driven educational accountability focused on narrowing the chasms between the test scores and graduation rates of students of different incomes and races. The result was a whole new way of speaking and thinking about the issue: “Achievement gaps” became reformers’ catch phrase, and closing those gaps became the goal of American education policy.

Today, the notion of “closing achievement gaps” has become synonymous with education reform. The Education Trust, perhaps the nation’s most influential K-12 advocacy group, explains: “Our goal is to close the gaps in opportunity and achievement.”
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The truth is that achievement-gap mania has led to education policy that has shortchanged many children. It has narrowed the scope of schooling. It has hollowed out public support for school reform. It has stifled educational innovation. It has distorted the way we approach educational choice, accountability, and reform.

Many more great articles are provided in the links below!

Training The Intellectually Elite For The Big Leagues
Schools train athletes and actors to win the competition.  Why won’t they do this for academics?

Early Achievers Losing Ground, Study Finds
Education Week looks at if No Child Left Behind is harming high achievers.

A better fit
A teacher says mixed-ability classrooms are politics, not best policy.

Why Passion Is a Gift
Should passion be regarded as one of the forms of giftedness?

‘Equal access’ to a lesser education?
A college admissions interviewer reflects on the damage removing gifted education causes.

Live Chat: Gifted Students Click on E-Learning
Transcript of an Education Week chat on e-learning.

New class challenges higher-level learners
An Illinois school district increases their commitment to gifted students.

Back to school: Are we leaving gifted students behind?
Why are gifted children not challenged?  Christian Science Monitor examines this issue.

‘TALENT Act’ could assist best US students in math
Top math students in the U.S. are neglected, while other countries help theirs.  Could an act of Congress change this?

A public school for the brightest
The Davidson Academy helps the profoundly gifted succeed.

Gifted students shine when mined
The Dr. Joseph S. Renzulli Gifted and Talented Academy in urban Hartford, CT, makes great strides with gifted students – all with the same state funding as standard schools!

Teachers learn to reduce learning barriers through STUDI
A new program in Wisconsin helps with differentiation in the classroom

Thank you for reading Rochester SAGE!  Together we can make a difference for gifted children!