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IndexI think my young child is gifted. Should I wait for the school to recognize his/her abilities?No. First, take a look at a list of behaviors of young gifted children. Next, read a book or a few articles on raising and educating gifted children. Then contact someone at your child's school, school district, or at your local college who has some undergraduate or graduate training in gifted education or psychology. (If they are vague about their formal training in these areas, keep looking.) If your child shows signs of extreme precocity or has learning disabilities, then seek out an expert who has experience with these issues. He can answer your questions and serve as a resource later. If it appears that your child is gifted, then request that your school district perform a comprehensive evaluation. Make this request in writing. The most frequent mistake parents make is to forego testing because "the school district has nothing to offer gifted kids." If your child needs services, the school district must provide them. It is easier to prevent gifted-related problems (e.g., underachievement, defiance, withdrawal, depression) by changing a young child's environment than it is to correct these problems years later. Most importantly, take your child's point of view. For example, would you want to spend months learning the letters of the alphabet if you were already reading chapter books? What is the minimum that my school district should be doing for gifted students?
See the Rules and Laws for more information. My child's school refuses to offer acceleration because they will run out of things to teach him in high school. What should I do?If your child needs acceleration in a subject, then they must offer it. They will not run out of things to teach him later because they can offer dual enrollment (college and high school courses), distance learning, tutoring, and independent study. These options are outlined in the TN DOE manual "Intellectually Gifted." Can preschoolers be tested? Does the school district provide services for preschoolers?Some districts will balk at testing preschool children because it's difficult to measure their IQs. There is some evidence that tests scores are unstable for preschoolers; however, recognizing giftedness early is important to avoid emotional and academic problems down the line. The TN Department of Education recognizes that gifted preschoolers may sometimes need extraordinary educational services. You can contact your school district and request a comprehensive assessment or you can have your child tested privately. If your preschool age child is gifted and has exceptional educational needs, then the district must provide services including early entry into kindergarten or first grade if appropriate. Other options open to gifted children of preschool age are tutors, part-time kindergarten, and use of to the school library. Remember, the TN DOE is on your side when it comes to having your preschooler assessed and his educational needs met. See the last few pages of the TN DOE manual "Intellectually Gifted." Here are some articles on young gifted children: Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom, The young gifted child at school - strategies for teaching, Identification of Young Gifted Children, Assessment of Preschool Giftedness. I asked for a gifted evaluation but the school said they would instead screen for giftedness in a couple of years using a group achievement test. What should I do?Many districts will wait until 3rd grade to screen children, which is too late for many gifted children. Moreover, screening may miss a few children who do not perform well on group tests or who have poor grades. It is up to the parents to nominate these children for an evaluation. Put your request for a comprehensive evaluation in writing. You can use the following sample letter to get the ball rolling: Today's Date
(include month, day, and year) I would be
happy to talk with you or another school official about my child. You
can call me during the day at (daytime telephone number). Thank you. Before writing this letter, make sure you can justify your request. Print out a list of "gifted characteristics" and write a few sentences about each characteristic your child has. Make notes about when your child hit various intellectual milestones, such as when he read his first word, etc. You will need this information when you talk to school administrators and when you fill out the Parent/Guardian forms that are part of the evaluation. If the district refuses to test your child, send them a letter referring to the applicable law. You might also want to have an expert call the district and inform them of the laws (members of this list can recommend people in your area). Alternatively, you can have your child tested privately, but you need to make sure the tester is qualified and knows which tests are accepted. When all else fails, you should contact the TN Department of Education. There is a formal appeal process that you can use to challenge the district's decision not to evaluate your child. The school system says they don't have a gifted program nor do they provide gifted services. What should I do?The TN Department of Education mandates (i.e., requires) that districts provide services for gifted students using teachers who meet the minimum employment standards for teaching gifted students. If the district already has a magnet program or an integrated accelerated curriculum, then many students will not need additional services. However, gifted students in most districts will need compacting, a differentiated curriculum, subject acceleration, and in some cases grade skipping or a special class. The IEP Team determines the needs of the student based on the comprehensive evaluation. At the IEP Team meeting accommodations and services are designed to meet your child's needs. The TN DOE manual "Intellectually Gifted" lists a variety of accommodations and services that the IEP Team should consider. Where can I get expert advice?The best place to find an expert is your local university or college. Most colleges have a psychology or special education department, and someone there can direct you to a professor or someone in private practice who has experience in gifted education or psychology. In many cases the expert will attend the IEP Team meeting with you. What is an IEP? And do all gifted children get IEPs?An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a document that contains the following:
For hints on writing IEPs, see Wrightslaw Game Plan: Good IEP Goals & Objectives and the Gifted IEP Objective Menu. You can obtain a blank IEP form and the TN DOE IEP Procedure Manual from the TN DOE's web site. Not all gifted children receive IEPs. It must be shown that the child's needs cannot be met in the regular classroom without special accommodations. This means that many students who meet the gifted eligibility requirements will not receive IEPs. This will be especially true in schools with magnet or enrichment programs if these programs offer curriculum compacting and other curricula differentiation. If the enrichment program offers only grade-level enrichment, then an IEP may be required. What happens at an IEP Team meeting? How do I prepare?An IEP Team decides what accommodations and services will be provided. The members of the IEP Team must include a special education or gifted education teacher, a parent, a classroom teacher, a school administrator, and often a school psychologist . The team examines the comprehensive evaluation, explains the tests, and decides what services to provide. The resulting document that describes the agreed-upon educational plan is called the IEP. If you disagree with the plan, then you don't have to sign the IEP. You can rethink or research the issues and call another IEP Team meeting to present an alternative. Remember, you can call an IEP Team meeting at any time if you think the IEP needs to be changed. Before the IEP meeting...
At the IEP meeting...
For more information, see Seven Habits of Highly Effective IEP Teams and Step by Step Guide for Parents. What is a "least restrictive environment?"According to the TN Board of Education, a least restrictive environment (LRE)
Another important LRE rule is contained in section 300.522 of the IDEA:
The three principles are: (1) gifted kids should be educated with nongifted kids, (2) gifted kids should not be removed from the general educational environment unless needed, and (3) gifted kids should be placed in age-appropriate classes. Some administrators infer from these principles that the only LRE for gifted students is the "same-age regular classroom." Some even believe that in-class ability grouping, or having more than one gifted child in a classroom, is prohibited. These are misinterpretations of the LRE rules. LRE rules say nothing about keeping children all day with their age-mates, or spreading gifted kids out among classes or in-class groupings. "Age-appropriate placement" means that students are placed in an environment where age-differences in the classroom are not developmentally harmful. For example, one would never place an 18 year old in a regular first-grade class. It does not mean same-age placement. The group called LRE for LIFE puts it this way: LRE rules remind us that "schools are a microcosm of society, that all students belong, and that all students can learn at higher levels." Learning disabled students are placed at least part of the day with students who may be much more cognitively advanced. As a result, learning disabled students will often try harder and learn more. But, placing gifted students with their age-peers in a regular classroom often has the opposite effect -- they tend to mask their abilities to fit it. If an educational environment does not "lift up" a student to new challenges, then it is a violation of LRE because it is too restrictive. This is especially true if the placement eliminates a gifted student's contact with students of equal or greater cognitive abilities. IEP teams do a disservice to any gifted student if they isolate him in a classroom away from intellectual peers. For gifted students, the general educational environment may include people younger and older -- even adult co-learners -- as part of their educational experience. As the "severity" of giftedness increases, the definition of "general education environment" extends across multiple grades because of the child's need for advanced academics and his need to spend time with intellectual peers. Therefore, IEP teams should consider alternatives to same-age inclusion -- whole or subject grade-skipping, self-contained gifted classes, pull-outs, individualized tutoring, mentoring, and dual enrollment -- in order to comply with LRE rules. Are private schools better than public schools for gifted children?Some private schools are better and some are worse. Be wary of private schools that emphasize "structure," "discipline," or "values" and are not aware of the emotional or intellectual needs of gifted children. The more selective private schools will have many more gifted children than public schools so the chances of more advanced academics and a better peer group increases. However, you may have more leverage in a public school to design an individualized education plan. According to a recent study, 70% of public schools had services for gifted students while only 24% of private schools offered gifted services. Although there are many private schools for gifted students in other states, Tennessee lacks such a school. There have been several attempts to start gifted schools in the Nashville area, but money problems caused them to close their doors. What tests will they use to determine if my child is gifted?The school district is required to give a battery of tests in the areas of creativity, achievement, and cognition. In addition, they are required to collect information about academic performance. The most commonly used cognition (IQ) test is the WISC III, but they are allowed to use other IQ tests such as the K-ABC, CAS, UNIT, or SB4. Achievement is measured by a standardized achievement test, such as the Terra Nova (TCAP), the EXPLORE test, or an individually administered test such as the WJ III, the MBA, or the WIAT. Creativity is measured by tests such as the Torrance Tests for Creativity or the Williams Scale of Divergent Thinking. Information about academic performance is gathered by check sheet and by evaluation of grades, awards, and student products. For more information about achievement and intelligence tests, see GT World and "Intelligence Tests." Another excellent reference is Assessment. What is the WISC test?The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, or WISC, is the most commonly used, individually administered intelligence test for children ages 6 to 16. Designed to measure verbal and visual-conceptual intelligence in children, the WISC test is usually given by a trained test professional. The verbal sections of the test ask children to define words, answer factual questions, solve arithmetic problems without using pencil and paper, and perform several other tasks that require understanding and using words. The visual-conceptual sections of the test ask children to identify the missing part in a picture, copy symbols, assemble puzzles, arrange pictures to tell a story, and complete other tasks that require no verbal response.The test results yield three intelligence quotient (or I.Q.) scores. These scores indicate strengths and weaknesses in the child's ability to learn, and can be used to determine the academic level at which the child should be functioning. The results are also analyzed to determine whether or not the child has any specific learning disabilities. Some educators criticize the WISC test as being biased against racial and ethnic minorities, ESL students, and children who do not work well under time pressure. Educational psychologists argue that the WISC has a fairly low subtest ceiling and in many cases gifted children hit the ceilings and need additional testing using the Stanford Binet 4 or the Stanford-Binet Form LM. For more info, see Assessing Gifted Children and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - III. How can the school counselor help my gifted child?The American School Counselors Association adopted a position paper that outlines the role of school counselors with respect to gifted students. Parents should consider interviewing the school counselor to determine if he or she can be an "internal" advocate.
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