NCLB: A Failed Policy that Hurts Gifted Children
If there was any doubt remaining, it now ought to be clear that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is an expensive failure and one that is hurting gifted children.
NCLB is a Failure
After billions of dollars spent, the results of NCLB have hit with a resoundingly dull thud. On October 20, 2005, The Washington Post reported the results from the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). According to the article, "Reading scores among fourth- and eighth-graders showed little improvement over the past two years, and math gains were slower than in previous years ... The disappointing results came despite a new educational testing law championed by the Bush administration as a way to improve the nation's schools."
Gifted Programs are Being Eliminated Because of NCLB
Coincidentally, On October 19, 2005, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that because of NCLB, gifted programs in Illinois are being eliminated. This report reflects what is happining in Illinois, but as an earlier blog entry I posted (Under Funding Gifted Education) noted, this is happening across the courtry.
Simply put, we are eliminating gifted programs across the country to fund a worthless education initiative. When is this going to stop?
Mentoring Disadvantaged Gifted Children
Guest Post by: Neil Satterfield, Ed.D.
Education is going through an unprecedented period of challenge: changing family constellations, economic shifts, galloping technology, two parent families where both have to work, single parent families in growing numbers, and quality child care which is scarce and often unaffordable.
These changes often result in new problems for children and the teachers who serve them. Marion, my wife, and I have seen growing numbers of "at-risk" children in the elementary levels.
Without intervention, growing rates of dropouts are inevitable, as is juvenile delinquency, drug dependency, crime rates, unemployment, and many other indices of social well-being for our whole society.
Unfortunately, as books such as Jonathan Kozol's newest bestseller, The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America, point out, the prevailing solution -- relegate kids from low socioeconomic backgrounds into schools run more like military camps than places of learning -- is a grand failure.
As Miles Corwin's wonderful book, And Still We Rise: The trials and Triumphs of Twelve Gifted Inner-City Students, makes clear, there are so many wonderfully gifted and talented children in our nation's poorest schools. However, these children are often all but neglected.
One solution to supporting such children is the one-on-one relationship and support offered by adult mentors. A serious commitment by adults to building strong mentoring relationships with students can have powerful effects on kids. Dynamic groups such as Big Brothers Big Sisters have made major efforts in this regard. Such programs ought to be applauded, but more is needed in some of our poorest schools.
A few years back, Dr. E. Paul Torrance and I began looking at strategies for building effective mentoring programs for ethnically diverse, economically disadvantaged youth. The result was our book, Multi-Cultural Mentoring of the Gifted and Talented. This book deals with some fundamental issues and needs involved with mentoring disadvantaged youth who need "one on one" intervention for a significant time period to make a lasting difference. It provides a basic guideline as to what mentoring is and can be.
Should your school or organization have a serious interest in starting and effective mentoring program, you are welcome to contact me for guidance or support. I can be reached by email at nebosa@comcast.net.
About this Blog Entry's Guest Author
Neil Satterfield, Ed.D, brings a multi-faceted base of experience to education that includes: An Ed.D. in Educational Psychology; 20 years as a professor of Sociology; An MSSW in Social Work; and 28 years practice in child welfare, juvenile corrections, and clinical social work in private practice. He was founder and department head of a bachelor 's level social work program. Dr. Satterfield served on the Savannah-Chatham County (Georgia) board of education.
How the Words of Leaders Help Gifted Children
Guest Post by: Philip Steinbacher
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948)
In addition to their advanced intellect, it’s not unusual for gifted children to show evidence of high levels of ethical sensitivity and leadership ability at early ages. Studies suggest that many gifted children demonstrate advanced levels of empathy, compassion, idealism, concern about world issues, and the condition of others well before their age-level peers. (Discuss the current calamity in New Orleans with a gifted child, and you’ll know what I mean.) We've all heard stories of the gifted kid who defends an underdog against injustice, stands up to the older, bigger bully who terrorizes on the playground, or sacrifices her own allowance to help the needy or advance some social cause.
Because of this, gifted children have a tendency to admire and identify with historical figures whose leadership and ethical characteristics mirror their own. Not only does this identification with great figures inspire and motivate these children to work toward achieving their own potential and accomplishing great things themselves, it also provides them with an anchor. Gifted children, who often feel isolated, misunderstood, self-critical, and out of step because of their advanced intellectual and ethical development, need to feel they belong, and will revel in finding out about others of similar ilk from the past -- especially the successful ones. "If they did it, so can I," becomes the mantra for gifted children who have someone they can relate to and emulate. Ask any true leader what motivates them and they will surely mention a figure from history. (Indeed, Martin Luther King, Jr. cites Gandhi as inspiration for his nonviolent protests during the civil rights era.)
In order to meet their social and emotional needs it is important for gifted children to have exposure to the men and women of the past and to learn about the industrious and humanitarian qualities that led to their success, be they politician, artist, inventor, sports hero, or everyday man on the street. Giving children access to the thoughts, words, and deeds of important figures from history is one of the reasons I wrote Quotation Quizzlers: Puzzling Your Way Through Famous Quotations. I wanted to create a fun "hook" that would introduce kids to these important individuals and their thoughts. Using quotations from the likes of Maya Angelou, Thomas Jefferson, Chief Joseph, Albert Einstein, Margaret Mead, and more than forty others, Quotation Quizzlers is a resource that integrates the study of famous figures and what they said and did with the challenge of an engaging brainteaser.
You can download free sample pages from Quotation Quizzlers by visiting the Quotation Quizzlers product page on the online Prufrock Press catalog. If you're interested in a free suggestion sheet for a variety of ways to use Quotation Quizzlers, or to find out how to get a free customized Quotation Quizzler for your own class, e-mail me at writer@ServesYouWrite.com. I welcome and enjoy e-mails and questions from parents, educators, and students, and I am happy to dialogue with teachers about using Quotation Quizzlers in their classrooms.
About this Blog Entry's Guest Author
Philip Steinbacher currently serves as the curriculum coordinator for a K-5 school in Kapa'a, Hawai'i and is the author of Quotation Quizzlers: Puzzling Your Way Through Famous Quotations. His newest title, Vocabulary Ladders: Climbing Toward Better Language Skills, will be available from Prufrock Press in spring 2006. Philip holds an MA in Elementary Education, and has completed 18 additional graduate hours in gifted education. Philip has taught in Hawai'i, Florida, North Carolina, and Illinois, where he served as gifted program coordinator for a small public school district in the Chicago suburbs for five years. Philip invites you to visit him at his personal web site, www.ServesYouWrite.com.