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Chapter 1: Reversing the Decline in Gifted Middle School Education This is a time of crisis for our education system, yet few are sounding the alarm. International studies repeatedly document that the achievements of the most able students in the United States are far behind those of other industrialized nations—a big problem as the world depends increasingly on technology and globalization. This gap between American students and others is most notable for students performing at the highest levels of gifted ability, with about half of our top 1% of intellectually gifted students underachieving academically.2 In addition, fewer and fewer students who score highest on college admission assessments are selecting careers in mathematics or science, resulting in potential scarcity in these essential fields. This is a frightening loss of resources. In parallel fashion, funding for gifted education and support for teacher instruction in gifted education has dropped relative to the allocation of funds to bring up the lowest student scores. Although the extra time and money funneled into projects such as the repetitive drill of phonics-heavy reading instruction may result in higher standardized test scores, it is at the expense of higher cognitive functioning like reasoning and abstraction. Students taught this way do not learn to think critically and reason creatively. Approximately 30 states have a mandate to serve gifted children (although accountability varies from state to state); the remaining states have permissive legislation, meaning that schools are allowed to have services for the gifted. The state of gifted education nationwide is exemplified in the 2006 report by the Ohio Association for Gifted Children, titled The State of Gifted Education in Ohio, which notes that although gifted children have been identified in Ohio since 1984, the law does not require districts to provide adequate educational opportunities for these students. As is true in many states, the 2006 report illustrates the problem of policymakers often mistakenly believing that the needs of gifted students can be ignored because these students will “get it on their own” and that gifted education is somehow “elitist.” In contrast, research repeatedly documents the need for gifted students to be provided with challenging work at a brisk pace with instruction from teachers who understand the needs of these students. Without appropriate services, gifted students regress to the mean, and the top 20% of student populations make the least amount of academic growth. In fact, further disturbing research shows an increase in the drop-out rates of gifted students. One Ohio district study reported that 40% of the drop-out population were identified gifted students. Middle School: The “Black Hole” of Education? While elementary schools generally have at least some gifted services, and most high schools have a variety of advanced courses and other academic options for gifted students, middle schools in America typically have little rigor or academic challenge for gifted children. Since the late 1970s, middle school years have been considered primarily a time for social development. In preadolescence and adolescence, children’s hormones begin raging, and middle schools focus on enhancing children’s social adjustment and self-esteem, with a reduced emphasis on academics. At education conferences these days, I seldom see sessions designed specifically for middle school—whether for gifted or regular students. It’s as if middle school doesn’t matter. No broad trend or “movement” exists to improve middle school education, to make it a stepping stone to higher academic challenge in high school, or to help students explore possible future careers. I am generalizing, of course, and some will take offense, but this is my experience as an educator who travels frequently to other parts of the country. I hope that this book will prompt rethinking as a result of new understandings about the brain development of middle school students, what these students need to be motivated, and how to maximize their learning. But first, let’s look at what it’s like to be in middle school today. Problems in Middle School Gifted Education Schools have changed in recent years. There is less individualization and more emphasis on teaching to the test so that schools can achieve a high rating for having all of their students meet the minimal grade-level standards. Yet educators remain dissatisfied with the quality of such education. Public school teachers are almost twice as likely as other parents to choose private schools for their own gifted middle school students. I, too, after consultations with school specialists and administrators, decided to send my gifted daughter, Alani, to a private middle school. It was the right decision; she was able to thrive through individualized and appropriately challenging instruction, with social and cultural experiences suited to her gifts and talents. My daughter’s story is not unlike that of many gifted middle school students. Although Alani scored an IQ of 144 and math state achievement scores of 98%, she achieved only a mediocre score on the one and only test used for entry to the gifted program in our district. Moreover, as I investigated, I found that the gifted program no longer consisted of increased cognitive challenge and enrichment. Instead, it, too, had fallen to the pressures of standardized testing, reduced priority, and decreased funding. For the most part, it consisted of classes with a larger volume of information taught at a faster pace, but with little opportunity for greater cognitive or creative processing. In the private middle school that my husband and I selected for Alani, our daughter became motivated by choice, interest, in-depth thinking, cross-curricular projects, and open-ended class discussions that were student- (rather than teacher- or curriculum-) centered. She was stimulated academically and received opportunities to develop her artistic ability. Once her abilities were nurtured and solidly in place, she made a successful transition to the public high school, where she participated in a specialized Visual and Arts Academy that used cross-curricular themes to connect academic courses with artistic talents. This discovery and nurturing of her gifts, as well as the development of her areas of academic challenge, helped our daughter ultimately become a motivated, engaged University of California student. What I am highlighting is that in public schools, the individual needs of gifted students are under recognized and underdeveloped in the financial quest of getting all students to meet minimum standards. In my experience, teachers are generally not the problem. I have worked with teachers both as a physician (I needed their input when treating students who were patients) and also as a teacher. I am continually impressed by the dedication and professionalism of my colleagues in education. Instead, the problem appears to be a lack of education and training. Preservice programs for classroom teachers and administrators seldom include any instruction on the needs of gifted students. Much of the current problem is funding. The 2001 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal legislation resulted in public school funding being directly linked to performance on rote memory-based standardized tests. Low performance is severely penalized, while high-end success is minimally rewarded. Severe financial sanctions and school closures can be the consequences for schools that fail to bring all children up to minimum proficiency. In contrast, there are no penalties for failing to advance gifted students who already meet and exceed the standards. Thus, the pressure is on teachers to direct instruction to the lower one-third of the class and to neglect the gifted students. In particular, gifted middle school students are increasingly underchallenged and left without individualization in schools that are struggling to bring the lowest quartile up to test-passing level. |