I have been in the field of gifted education for 16 years. Six of those years have been as supervisor of the Anchorage School District Gifted Program. In addition to my administrative duties, I am an adjunct instructor for University of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University. A majority of the classes I teach relate to gifted education, differentiated instruction, poverty and gifted children as well as the educational needs/differences of boys and girls.
What is my philosophy of gifted education? I believe that children who are gifted and talented (and even those who are underachievers) need to be given the opportunity to explore academic subjects, interests, and even their own abilities. They need opportunities to collaborate and to be challenged in a homogeneous setting at some point during their school experience. It is important for educators, parents and the community to acknowledge that gifted children are children first before they are gifted. This means that we need to respect and consider their developmental and social/emotional abilities before we address their academic abilities.
What is my opinion on acceleration versus enrichment? I believe that acceleration should not be a band-aid approach to a child’s education nor can it be the long term solution to perhaps a short term problem. I am a big believer in subject acceleration. Students who are academically ahead by several grade levels in certain subjects can accelerate. For example, a 3rd grade child who scores at the 4th or 5th grade level in math can accelerate to that grade level in math as long as he or she has mastered the content and skills. I caution whole grade level skipping because the child may not be prepared for the physical, academic and social adjustments that may happen in the future. For example, if a child skipped the 2nd grade (they are eight years old) and will move to the 4th grade (10 years old), eventually they will be ten when their peers are hitting puberty. Furthermore, they will be 12 or 13 years old going to school with 18 or 19 year old students in high school. Grade skipping can have lasting ramifications, therefore, schools and families really need to explore all aspects of the decision.
I believe that enrichment can be a portal to learning for any child or adult. In the ASD Gifted IGNITE Program, teachers focus on the enrichment of content, process and product. Students have an opportunity to explore topics in depth and a varied level of complexity. This is very difficult to do in a regular classroom setting with multiple ability and interest levels.
What improvements would I like to be made in gifted education? I would like the Federal and State Department of Education to recognize gifted children and gifted education in public schools. Presently, 1/100 of 1 cent for every $100 in the US Education budget goes toward gifted education. $64 of every $100 goes to No Child Left Behind and $33 of every $100 goes to Special Education. In the state of Alaska, $0 goes toward gifted education. Every cent that is funded for gifted education must come from district dollars. Students in the Anchorage School District are fortunate to have a suppportive school district which works very hard to maintain adequate services for its gifted children. This is not the case in surrounding school districts in Alaska.
I would like the families of gifted children as well as the educators of these special learners to organize a state alliance or association that focuses on gifted children and learning.
I would like schools to provide gifted services for children more than one day a week. Gifted learners are gifted every hour of the day not for 2 hours a week. This task is do-able with the adequate funding and resources. I could go on and on about my wishes and hopes for improvement but perhaps there are more people out there who can think of other needs.
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