afterschooling and gifted/talented

[Word Nerd]

What is the usual process for getting a child tested for the district's gifted program? Is it better to wait until a teacher suggests it and supplement at home, which is what I've been doing; or should I just go ahead and request that they test her? I'm pretty confident that she would qualify.

 

I was in the gifted program myself, and though it was mostly a positive experience, I still have mixed feelings about it. I haven't pushed the issue and have talked myself out of having her tested more than once. I'm not even sure what our district does with gifted students, as we're in a rural area and it's a very small school, so at the very least I feel like I should talk to someone about what it would entail.

 

Just curious to hear other afterschoolers' experiences with gifted programs, testing, and whether it changes your approach to afterschooling.

[Mandamom]

You are going to need to talk to your school and find out their policies.

 

At my daughter's school, they don't do g/t until 3rd grade -- although with some good teachers she has managed to get work at her level and the school identified a group of students who has been in my daughter's class since Kindergarten. Our county g/t program just allows for a particular challenge teacher to assist the classroom teacher in finding material at a more accelerated level.

 

I have been fairly happy with my daughter's experience in school as she has been challenged. It hasn't really changed our afterschooling.

 

All that to say, different schools have different policies and the only way to find out your is to ask.

[BabyBre]

I would call the head of the GT program and ask your questions there. It's been my experience that classroom teachers aren't always aware of the oportunities available for bright kids, let alone the policies regarding testing.

 

Dd is only in a 1 day a week GT program. We've got our fingers crossed that she'll be drawn for the full-time program next year. I'm planning on that changing our afterschooling because she'll (hopefully) be far more challenged and actually moving forward in this program. In the regular classrooms, there's very little she's learned that we hadn't already learned at home and I feel like she's idle.

[aly9712]

we did private testing at the preschool level (the summer before Kindergarden). I guess it would depend on what you need the "label" for. Do they do additional enrichment at her grade level or have separate gifted services? If so, I think most public schools go group ability/achievement tests to identify gifted students pretty early.

 

I would just keep enhancing/ encouraging strengths at home unless you are looking for specific additional supports at school.

[Caroline]

My older two boys tested into the gifted program in first grade. In elementary school here, it is a one day per week pull out with extra field trips and other experiences. For example, third grade does a water study during which they adopt a local stream that they visit once a week, visit the water treatment plant, the hydroelectric dam, attend a legislative session about water (we have these every year because GA and TN and AL are ways fighting about water rights), and take a three day long raft trip down the Chattahoochee. They also dissect a shark in third grade. They do a three year history cycle 3rd-5th grades. First grade does a lot of math, especially geometry. Fifth grade gives the kids a chance to specialize with different units including robotics, law, economics, and literature.

 

Middle school has advanced classes in all core subjects. High school has honors and Advanced Placement classes.

 

Students are first identified for further testing based on fall first grade ITBS scores. Students then undergo individual testing. Identification takes place in first, third, and fourth grades. You can also request that your child be tested for the program if their ITBS scores don't make the cut off. Teachers can also identify students. You have to give permission for your child to be tested. I think the cut off is 99th percentile in 3 out of 4 areas.

 

Is it worth it? My older two sons' good friends are from these classes. My oldest is a sophomore, and is in classes full of advanced kids, although I am sure not all gifted kids. These kids are not just super smart, they are also SGA members, varsity athletes, rec athletes, volunteers. I think it has been awesome for them.

 

Is it as good as homeschooling? No, probably not as great as some of those awesome women on high school board. But we still do a lot at home. My oldest and I are working through TWEM together. My middle two are doing a lot of LCC stuff. (My dd is not old enough the be in the gifted program, but I have little doubt she will be next year in first grade.)

 

Probably a lot more information than you wanted.

Edited May 1, 2011 by Caroline

[YourFidgetyFriend]

I'm currently going through this process with my daughter's school and I will officially be an afterschooler next year. Some districts are probably tons better than mine, because we've been waiting months to get the testing done. At my daughter's school they have a once weekly pull out program starting in K and it is supposed to be very good. My daughter is in Pre-K now, but her teacher suggested she get tested because the teacher keeps running out of things to supplement my daughter with. Although the teacher suggested it, she had no clue my daughter was as advanced as she was until a parent teacher conference. It was only then that the teacher began to try to match her level leading to the testing recommendation.

 

It is fairly easy to qualify for Encore, but we are trying to get her an IEP. This, at the very least, will follow her throughout school when she is no longer with her current teacher (who is excellent!) and needs differentiation.

 

The general process at my daughter's school (Middle TN) is first getting a teacher's recommendation. This is followed by achievement testing for qualification for Encore. Depending on the scores, this may be followed by IQ testing that will determine if your child gets an IEP.

[Word Nerd]

Thank you everyone for the information! It really helps, and I'm going to ask the gifted contact some questions and go from there. I think they do test all students early on at our school, but my DD would have missed that opportunity because she was homeschooled for the first few years. (I had to go back to work or we'd still be homeschooling.)

[Momling]

At the school my kids used to go to, the gifted talented program was all on paper and did not exist in real life. The state of Oregon mandates Talented and Gifted education, but provides no funding for it. So the school was able to have the district school psychologist give her the WISC, label her as gifted, have a nice meeting, and provide no services at all until AP classes in high school. :001_huh:

[....]

My daughter went thru gifted testing at our school district. Every school is different, but here's what ours did...

 

From K-3, all kids take the Naglieri or another standardized test. They had to score in the 95th percentile and they were recommended for gifted testing. My daughter then had an interview with a gifted specialist and there were 2 more tests she had to score through to get into the program.

 

At the 4th grade level, they were no longer eligible for gifted testing. So, they have to catch them in 3rd or below.

 

My daughter's teacher also said...if they are identified for gifted testing (thru their Naglieri scores), even if they don't get in THAT year, they will eventually get in the program. She said that she never saw one that didn't get in eventually (some kids are late bloomers). She also told me that there are different categories of gifted. The category my daughter fell into was the Creativity/Artistic category and the lady said that category was really hard to test for and it was rare that kids were identified for that category. The other categories...math, language, etc...if you go onto the Hoagies website (google hoagies gifted), they have tons of articles about it.

 

You could call and ask what your school does, specifically. A lot of schools don't have much of a gifted program. The teacher was saying, tho...gifted kids can be sometimes disruptive to the rest of the class (mine was). I ended up pulling mine out of school because of this (and I know you used to homeschool also).

 

Anyway, I think I'm rambling here...good luck! :001_smile:

[Word Nerd]

The school's gifted coordinator resigned and it sounds like next year's plans are still up in the air, so I guess I'll wait!

[mich311e]

My older two boys tested into the gifted program in first grade. In elementary school here, it is a one day per week pull out with extra field trips and other experiences. For example, third grade does a water study during which they adopt a local stream that they visit once a week, visit the water treatment plant, the hydroelectric dam, attend a legislative session about water (we have these every year because GA and TN and AL are ways fighting about water rights), and take a three day long raft trip down the Chattahoochee. They also dissect a shark in third grade. They do a three year history cycle 3rd-5th grades. First grade does a lot of math, especially geometry. Fifth grade gives the kids a chance to specialize with different units including robotics, law, economics, and literature.

 

Middle school has advanced classes in all core subjects. High school has honors and Advanced Placement classes.

 

Students are first identified for further testing based on fall first grade ITBS scores. Students then undergo individual testing. Identification takes place in first, third, and fourth grades. You can also request that your child be tested for the program if their ITBS scores don't make the cut off. Teachers can also identify students. You have to give permission for your child to be tested. I think the cut off is 99th percentile in 3 out of 4 areas.

 

Is it worth it? My older two sons' good friends are from these classes. My oldest is a sophomore, and is in classes full of advanced kids, although I am sure not all gifted kids. These kids are not just super smart, they are also SGA members, varsity athletes, rec athletes, volunteers. I think it has been awesome for them.

 

Is it as good as homeschooling? No, probably not as great as some of those awesome women on high school board. But we still do a lot at home. My oldest and I are working through TWEM together. My middle two are doing a lot of LCC stuff. (My dd is not old enough the be in the gifted program, but I have little doubt she will be next year in first grade.)

 

Probably a lot more information than you wanted.

 

 

Wow, what an impressive program!

 

My son goes to a small charter so he gets a pull out class once a week and they cluster the kids so I believe his class moves faster. I've looked at the district's gifted program and I'm so on the fence. I think he'd have more opportunities but we like his little school.

[matilda]

You may want to find parents of other gifted kids in your school. If the gifted program is in danger of being eliminated with the loss of the coordinator, another parent advocate may help.

 

Assuming the program continues, I would start the process early in the fall. Some schools only do one testing session per year, and if you miss it, you have to wait a year. Other schools, (like mine), have a 7-9 month wait from initiation to placement.

 

As for how it will affect your afterschooling, I suspect that it won't. Many gifted programs are enrichment only, so if you already feel the need to do things after school, it is unlikely that a gifted program at school will make your afterschooling unnecessary.