International, National and State laws support the importance of differentiating instruction for GATE students. Once laws are passed, it is the duty of the District to enforce those laws to the best of their ability and then require the follow-through by the District school sites. Generally speaking, the breakdown of supporting GATE students seems to happen at the District level. In the article, "Are We Differentiating Effefficetivelly for the Gifted or Not" by Gifted Child Today. it states that there are several reasons why a District may not support GATE students as much as they should.
1) PD Trainings and GATE Curriculum can be expensive and time-consuming. 2) A District may not be sure that at GATE curriculum will "cover" the CCSS as well as the standard District-issued curriculum. 3) Stakeholders haven't expressed a desire or need to promote GATE growth. 4) Adjusting the learning styles and curriculum of GATE students may negatively affect District test scores. There are many misconceptions and legitimate concerns in the GATE world. My belief is that a District needs to follow laws and open the door to discussions with stakeholders about needs and how to best support this school group.
9 Comments
Kirsten
10/1/2019 06:02:43 pm
After reading your blog it makes me wonder more about how these kids are getting their needs met, if at all. If we are so focused on meeting students needs why are these kids getting overlooked so much?
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Joel
10/2/2019 08:15:32 am
Thanks for reading. I hope to explore this topic and get some answers to your question as we move along in the program.
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Melissa Newman
10/1/2019 06:07:18 pm
I agree that the GATE curriculum needs to be overhauled. The students absolutely need the support, and standards need to be met. Our site calls this program ALPS. Some of my students end up having hard feelings toward the program. Trying to stay caught up with their classroom work, along with their ALPS projects can be a lot. At secondary is this program offered after school hours, or in place of an elective?
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Joel
10/2/2019 08:16:48 am
I agree, sometimes GATE students can be "rewarded" with extra homework or extra out of school work. We need to find a way to reach these students during the school day. Thanks for reading Melissa.
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Kathy Martin
10/1/2019 08:23:51 pm
There are so many different opinions about having GATE specific program. Some believe a GATE specific program is a great way to provide a place for these students to work at a higher level. However, some students may feel awkward being identified as one of those "smart" students. How can we support our GATE students in the classroom daily? Is there a way to push them academically in the regular school day? Would it be a better way to use a schools resource to give teachers an opportunity to attend trainings, or work with other teachers to help create a plan of how to challenge those students on a daily basis?
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Joel
10/2/2019 08:17:46 am
These are all great questions Kathy. I hope to get some answers as we move along in the program. I will keep you posted.
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Jeremy Smith
10/7/2019 07:58:31 pm
Joel! It's a very valid topic for our school, where identified GATE students have been "left behind" in recent years without a viable program to meet their needs. (Judging by the list of qualifying students that our vice principal gave out, it's important to note that several of these students are very recent immigrants from Spanish speaking countries. GATE is not just a program for socially and economically advantaged white kids.) The idea of "fairness" has been skewed to favor economically disadvantaged students from immigrant families, who typically score lower on the "high stakes" standardized the tests that seem to disregard their particular needs and evolution into integrating LINGUISTICALLY, academically, and socially into our local context. (If I had been given the CAASPP test when I was an exchange student in a foreign country, I would have TOTALLLLLY bombed it, even more than I bomb the tests I am used to in California. How would this make me feel? How does it make our students feel? Can the parents of these kids take us seriously if we are telling them their kids are failing by comparing them to students who are more integrated into our society? I think this kind of testing creates a subordinate mindset for these students. But I digress. In any case, the vast majority of our educational efforts are aimed at closing the academic achievement gap for these students. I think it is because their growth is much more important for our school to "look good" in showing how we are addressing student needs. In the process, however, students with high levels of academic achievement have fallen by the wayside, in our district at least. I think if our school is to be taken seriously as a school that meets the needs of ALL students, a good hard look at our programs for GATE students must be done. This is why I think your choice of study is a very important one. I hope that this your interest in helping GATE students might help help lead to an effective program for these students, dare I say in our school? (Have been tasked with taking on GATE this year, by the way?) A quality GATE program is going to take higher level academic re-structuring and an increased funding and focus on high achievers, but they deserve it. You should talk to the superintendent. haha!
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Jeremy Smith
10/7/2019 08:15:14 pm
Oops. Excuse the typos, please.
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Valerie Miner
11/3/2019 07:29:57 pm
Joel,
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AuthorJoel Kriner of the Touro Innovative Learning Masters Program. Archives
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