Carol’s Summary:
Experts claim that only 2.5 % of students are truly gifted, but many students’ talents don’t show up in school. Moreover, some children are both gifted and learning disabled, exhibiting characteristics of both, a combination that makes their gifted identification and childhood learning much more challenging than either their gifted or average peers. I know a highly gifted student who is now in college who was diagnosed with ADHD in elementary school and had difficulty with reading, but who was a whiz at working with animals, particularly reptiles. When he was in middle school he made $200 a week at birthday parties showing his collection of reptiles and sharing facts that he researched about them. Like this student, every child deserves to have their area of inherent interests and talents developed, as Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences confirms.
Many districts are struggling financially right now to serve this population of students (TAG), but we are working with the Thompson school district in Colorado (and other districts) to creatively offer programs to students and their parents. One of our books and curriculum for middle grades titled, GIFTS AND TAKENTS FOR TEENAGERS, is designed to help students discover and capitalize on their unique strengths. For a review copy, please call our national toll free # at 877.737.8520 or email contact@lifebound.com.
ARTICLE:
More Pre-K Pupils Qualify for Gifted Programs
New York Times
By SHARON OTTERMAN
April 30, 2010
The number of students qualifying for gifted kindergarten programs in New York City public school districts rose by 10 percent this year, and those qualifying for the elite citywide program jumped by a third, raising the possibility that parents and their children have begun to master an admission process that was retooled three years ago.
According to figures released Friday by the Department of Education, the spike in students eligible for gifted programs occurred despite a 16 percent drop in the number who took the exams. The city described the decrease as a “leveling off†after an increase in test-takers last year, which they attributed to a publicity campaign.
Of the 12,454 in New York City who took the test this winter, 3,542 (or 26 percent) scored at or above the national 90th percentile, up from 3,231 the year before, qualifying them for one of the 70 gifted kindergarten programs spread through the city’s school districts. But the most striking increase occurred in the number of children scoring at or above the national 97th percentile: 1,788, up from 1,345 last year. Those students qualify for one of the five citywide gifted programs, which have only about 300 seats in all, meaning the competition for them this year will be even fiercer.
To view this entire article visit www.nytimes.com
