<font color='black' size='2' face='arial'><br>
<h1 id="story-headline">Some high-rated districts failing with gifted students</h1>
<div id="rail-beta" class="container-2">
<div class="column-2"><br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div id="story-author" class="clearfix">
<strong>By
<a href="mailto:cboss@dispatch.com">
Charlie Boss
</a>
</strong>
<div class="org-timestamp">
<span class="author-organization">The Columbus Dispatch</span>
<span class="timestamp">Monday April 22, 2013 7:41 AM</span>
</div>
<div class="share-block clearfix">
<br>
</div>
<div style="position:absolute;bottom:10px;right:-2px;" id="share-this-position-fix"><span class="st_sharethis_button"><span class="stButton" style="text-decoration:none;color:#000000;display:inline-block;cursor:pointer;"><span style="background-image: url("http://w.sharethis.com/images/sharethis_counter.png");" class="stMainServices st-sharethis-counter"> </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div>Most Ohio schools earn passing grades for making progress with gifted students.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The unexpected news: Those that received low grades for gains among gifted students are among
the state’s highest-performing districts.</div>
<div>“It’s an eye-opener,” said Ann Sheldon, executive director of the Ohio Association for Gifted
Children. “We’re seeing districts that you think would knock it out of the park with D’s and F’s
."</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Among 49 central Ohio districts, six that received overall grades of A+ and A on this year’s
state report card received D’s and F’s for their work with gifted students in a simulation of a new
state report card released this month. Statewide, 55 out of 610 districts fell into the same
categories.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The report card is based on last school year’s data and includes measures that haven’t been
reported before, such as achievement gaps among student groups and gains made by gifted,
low-performing and special-needs students.</div>
<div>The simulation offers educators their first look at how gifted students are performing, and it
should compel districts to look at how they are serving those students, Sheldon said.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>In Ohio, districts are required to identify gifted students, but they don’t have to provide
services.</div>
<div>Sheldon said the report-card simulation doesn’t show a complete picture of a district’s gifted
programs because it’s based only on the measure of how much progress students in grades 4 to 8 are
making.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Leaders of Reynoldsburg schools are reviewing the district’s gifted services, said spokeswoman
Tricia Moore.</div>
<div>The district received a D for its progress with gifted students; it earned an A+ on this year’s
report card.</div>
<div>“We’re not very happy,” Moore said. “It’s embarrassing.”</div>
<div><br>
Reynoldsburg provides a gifted program for elementary students and opened an academy for gifted
students in grades 5 to 8 last year.</div>
<div>The Granville district, rated an A overall, earned an F for its gains with gifted students. More
than half of the district’s 2,480 students have been identified as gifted.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Superintendent Jeff Brown said educators have spent the past year addressing the issue,
examining curriculum and visiting districts that have had success with similar student groups.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The district provides gifted instruction in all grades, where groups of students meet with
gifted-certified teachers on advanced coursework.</div>
<div>Other educators say the simulation validates the work they’ve done with gifted students.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>South-Western educators noticed five years ago that gifted students were not learning as much as
they should in a year. So teachers reviewed lessons and quickly made changes, said Jackie Traini,
who helps coordinate South-Western’s gifted-education program.</div>
<div>“They knew we needed to be pushing these kids more than we were doing,” she said.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Under the simulation, the district earned an A for covering ground with gifted students. The
district pulls gifted third- and fourth-graders out of their normal classes once per week for
special lessons. Gifted fifth- and sixth-graders have daily sessions with a gifted-certified
teacher. Middle-schools also offer advanced courses.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Groveport Madison can afford to provide a gifted program only at its middle schools and relies
on classroom teachers to serve gifted elementary students. The district received an A for its
growth with gifted students. Three elementaries — Glendening, Groveport and Sedalia — had enough
gifted students to earn a grade for how much progress is made.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>“It was a nice surprise,” said Glendening fifth-grade teacher Kelly Oldaker, whose school earned
a C. “It comes from internally making sure their needs are met as much as other students.’ ”</div>
</font>