[Ohiogift] gifted parents as advocates

[Rosado Feger, Ana]

As parents, we are the single most important advocate our children will ever have.  I have just gone through a rather crazy-making, but in the end successful exercise in combining acceleration and credit flex.  (THANK YOU GIFTED COORDINATOR!)  We initiated the process after our son participated in NUMATS this year.

The greatest challenge of managing your gifted child's education is to discover and implement what works for them as individuals in a system designed to serve the norm.  It's not necessarily that teachers and/or administrators don't want to do the right thing, it's that the right thing is different for each high-ability child, and in general, requires creative solutions.

I also encourage parents to communicate with other parents within their district, share notes, and help each other along the way.  Join your local OAGC affiliate or other parent group.  Be informed, and help inform others.  No one person can know everything, but together we can help create better outcomes.  Our recent adventure caused me to read through a number of Common Core documents.  I fear that we are going to need each other more than ever before in the near future.

--Ana L. Rosado Feger

From: ohiogift-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu [mailto:ohiogift-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu] On Behalf Of Colleen Boyle, PhD
Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 12:32 PM
To: Jane Brewster
Cc: Ohiogift at lists.service.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Re: [Ohiogift] gifted parents as advocates

Jane, I am glad you spoke up and are now seeing great progress with your daughter.  I am also glad your daughter's teacher was open to your suggestions.  I know that is not always the case.  I do think the statement your daughter's teacher made about never having a child like your daughter before is telling.  Most teachers don't know what to do with these kids.  One thing I think is important for parents to remember is that, unless they have a degree in gifted education, most educators - teachers and administrators included - have had little to no coursework or training in the nature and needs of gifted learners.  Gifted coordinators try to get some professional development in where we can, but with all of the state initiatives demanding attention, we are usually lucky to get more than 20 minutes, if that, at a staff meeting to mention gifted kids let alone provide any meaningful training to most teachers.  It is my experience that most teachers want to do what they can for a gifted child, but they don't know what that is.  I know it seems crazy that there are no gifted education courses in teacher or administrator preparation programs; but, unfortunately, that is the sad reality.  I share this as a way to encourage parents to start a dialogue with their children's teachers and school administrators.  Don't assume they know what to do.  You don't have to know what they should do, either.  But, make your concerns heard and get your district's gifted coordinator involved in the conversations, too.  (We often won't know these conversations are happening unless a parent calls us first or if it escalates to a building principal.  Encourage the teacher to bring us in from the beginning.)

Colleen Boyle, Ph.D.
Gifted Coordinator and Educational Consultant
Columbus, OH
boyleconsulting at me.com<mailto:boyleconsulting at me.com>

Specialities:
Educational Psychology
Gifted Education and Psychology
Educational Administration




On May 28, 2013, at 8:36 AM, Jane Brewster <JBrewster at brewsterandbrewster.com<mailto:JBrewster at brewsterandbrewster.com>> wrote:


I have never posted before, but this topic is near and dear to my heart.  I am not an educator.  I am the parent of several gifted children (and a past school board member).  Parents absolutely MUST step in and advocate for their children, beginning with the local classroom.  My daughter entered kindergarten a year early and is currently in second grade.  During an early conference with a teacher this year, I was told my daughter was not motivated.  She was disruptive in the classroom and not progressing beyond the beginning second grade reading level the teacher had given her.  I discovered it was the teacher's habit to make each child read the same book three times.  I asked the teacher (okay, I wasn't that nice) to quit making her read the same thing three times, when she clearly already understood it, provide her with more challenging work, increase the difficulty of her spelling assignments, and, in addition to the usual test for the reading level, allow my daughter to p
rovide a report or project for each book she had read.  Amazingly (not really), she has progressed in her reading level to about the end of the fifth grade.  She and I did some really cool projects at home, too (no help from the teacher).  Sadly, had I not intervened, I believe my daughter would have continued to disrupt the classroom and refuse to do her work, making it appear that she was actually BEHIND rather than ahead of the other kids.  I will say that the teacher later indicated to me that she had never had a child like my daughter and was thankful for the insight I had provided into differentiation in the classroom.

Jane



Katie and other gifted parents,

Margaret is absolutely right.  You must advocate for your son. Talking to your legislators is crucial.  Ann Sheldon and/or the Ohio Association for Gifted Children website at oagc.com<http://oagc.com> can give you advice.  Click on advocacy on the left, and then advocacy alerts you will see that gifted is once again embroiled in a fight to have units reinstated so that districts actually have gifted teachers and gifted coordinators who understand and actually like gifted students and know how to address their needs.  The House had addressed this issue, but the Senate seems poised to revert to the initial budget which did not specify exactly how money should be spent for gifted--if at all.  Regrettably most classroom teachers have had zero coursework of any kind on gifted children.  Your representative needs to hear your story.
Good luck to you,
Barb



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