[Ohiogift] Letter to the Editor in today's Dispatch

[Gifted and Talented in Ohio Discussion List]

 Hi, everyone,

There was a great letter in the Columbus Dispatch this morning as a follow-up to Sunday's article about the disparity of AP opportunities across the state. Hats off to Jim McNamara for sending this in to the Dispatch.

Ann
anngift at aol.com
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Programs for gifted students easy to overlook

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2014/12/04/1-programs-for-gifted.html

Implicit in Sunday’s Dispatch article “Rural kids get fewer AP classes” is that the education of gifted children is no less important than the education of other children. A local district official is quoted saying, “We can’t afford to have a class with five students in it.” True, Ohio’s school-funding formula is broken, but we still need to make better efforts to meet the needs of our gifted students. We cannot continue to overlook their educational needs.

The typical thinking is that gifted children will “make it” on their own. We would love to help them, but when resources are limited, they are not a priority. They will pass state tests, they will graduate, and they will enroll in college. In the age of school accountability, districts are understandably more focused on helping the slower students to achieve the minimum benchmark standards, which isn’t wrong. It’s just not fair.

Gifted students require our attention. We should enable them to realize their full potential, instead of having them merely “make it.” All gifted students, regardless of school location or socioeconomic status, should be afforded access to advanced courses. Our challenge is to challenge them.

JIM McNAMARA
AP calculus teacher
Bloom-Carroll High School
Pickerington 

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