No Child Left Behind vs. Honors Programs?

Question

I read an article in TIME or something (my friend showed it to me), about how the School System is failing now, and I must agree.

Thanks to the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) program, we are spending millions to push ahead kids that NEED MORE TIME to learn! I understand wanting people to graduate instead of fall back, but they really need to be in special classes pertaining to their NEEDS, not the School's wants.

And because of this program, Honors and Advanced Placement programs are falling fast. In the article, a girl was tested at age 7 with an IQ well over 145. In first grade, when other people were learning how to read, she was learning ALGEBRA II. She should have been in college by age 12, but they would not allow her to skip more than two grade levels.

I find this ridiculous. People with special needs, whether it is a lack in ability to learn at an "average" pace, or an IQ that falls off the charts, need to be helped! This NCLB is only making our school system decline furt

Answer 1

No Child Left Behind is just the latest try at fixing a broken system that's having the same results. I worked in an inner city public school in Philadelphia, and we pushed kids ahead long before NCLB. A passing grade is a 60 there while in most places, and the Catholic schools I worked in before going to public school, 70 was the norm. Nonetheless, it didn't matter since most students did so poorly that they actually earned 0s even when I did the tests with them and often gave them the answers!

They won't test first graders because the administration insists that all of them are just "immature" rather than learning disabled as if a teacher couldn't tell the difference! The truth is that there isn't enough money to test all the kids in the system who need it and there isn't enough money to give all the kids who already qualify for services to get them let alone if we tested all those who should be tested.

I had a girl in 3rd grade, for example, who was 12. I've had much older kids in classes before and they've always been a disruption, but not her. She fit in perfectly with the 8 year olds. That was my first clue. The teacher she had before me who had left would email me to get her tested. Apparently this was her 4th time in 3rd grade! Since there are so many disruptive students, many who are emotionally disturbed in some way, she didn't get the attention she deserved because she was quiet and cooperative. Yet when she would write a paragraph, she'd string letters together incoherently and leave spaces between the "words." Finally, I insisted she be tested and she was found to be retarded, but her special ed class, again with many emotionally disturbed students in them, wouldn't be much better than my class. Mainstreaming in most districts means throwing special needs kids into regular classes with little or no support.

We had Mentally Gifted classes at this school. It was a pull-out program rather than an all day sort of program where these kids would be immersed in classes that were at their level. However, one 2nd grade teacher wanted to place a student in MG simply because he was out, on average, 63 days a year but was able to pick up when he returned. He wasn't able to do that once he came to me in 3rd grade. That, as you know, is NOT mentally gifted. I would bet that most of the kids in that program, if put up against better schools in, say, the suburbs, wouldn't be able to manage.

It is totally ridiculous on both ends of the scale, which is why I finally left after 7 draining years of banging my head against the administration wall. Don't blame the failure all on NCLB. The intentions were good and at least the President tried to fix it. I think the problems are so varied, complex, and so many that one program isn't going to do it. I hope you go on to come up with a solution.

Answer 2

My daughter who is now 13 is considered "gifted"  She has been taking higher level courses in her gifted area since 3rd grade.  However, this year (8th ) she only sees her gifted support teacher 1nce a week for 40 minutes.  It is so frustrating for her and the other kids in this class (7 others) because they are in regular classes for English when there should be a "gifted " English program like there has been in the past!  We feel that she is not getting challenged enough which is causing problems with her other classes because she has never had to try or study so now she thinks of them as "blow-off classes" In the gifted class that she does attend, she is being taken out of French, but the problem is that the gifted teacher is doing nothing with these kids!  I along with the other parents have spoken with her about this.  As a matter of fact, I just requested a meeting with the GIEP Team Participants.  It's really frustrating.

Another thing is really bothersome, is the fact that she relates to kids who are a couple of years older than she is and always has been this way.  One of her friends who was not in the gifted program, but who just turned 15 at the begining of the school year was moved up to 9th grade.  Just because a kid is not a certain age, doesn't mean that he/she is ready to advance or not to advance to a higher grade level.  This girl is definately very smart, so I'm not saying that she didn't need more of a challenge, but my daughter probably wouldn't stand a chance, even though she is intellectually able  and she gets 100%'s on her report card for most classes because she is one of the youngest kids in her class!  Why can't someone in the school district see that she is not challenged enough????

I totally understand your frustration on the whole subject for both categories!  By the way, we live in PA also.

Also, she has always hated being referred to as "gifted" just like someone who needs more help is referred to in other ways.   I do believe that these kids fall through the cracks either way, regardless of needing more help or needing more of a challenge.

On her last Notice of Recommended Assignment, there was  a list of her strengths. One of them is that she possesses high verbal ability, as well as, critical thinking and writing skills.  Okay, so why is she not doing this?  It is so irritating!

Answer 3

I am a parent of a child who also was very gifted. Adam was tested in the 2nd grade by an outside firm because our school system did not want to move him ahead.I did not want to fight the system so he did grade level work but every teacher he had I went in and talked to and explained he would become bored and be a problem if they didnt challenge him. He would do a page of 3rd grade math and a page of algebra. I took him to summer classes at the area colleges. He did just fine and graduated with a 4 point and is in college now working hard at his own pace. Dont let the system slow you down.. find other ways to move ahead.

Answer 4

I agree...  Here is another example of a broken system: six 8th graders (SpEd) in my district have been "grandfathered" into 9th grade this fall. One was a kid who refused to go to 8th grade, another I was told was 17 and driving to elementary school everyday- the others, just because they were causing problems and all had been retained in k or 1st grade.

So, what message does that send? What does that do for my own kids who work 3-4 hours a night on H.S. homework when they all walk across the stage in four years?

By the way only FLA and PA consider gifted under special ed.

Answer 5

Ah, the age old question of the Amercan School System. Perhaps my first statement should be that school is pointless. That's right. Pointless. You need to study at home to learn advanced subjects. My IQ is well over 160 and I took Calculus at an early age. Still, most math I learned at home or after school.

I remmember my parents telling me about school in their home country. One wrong, B. Two, a C and so on. They learned yes, but mostly it was an introduction to what tey learned in college and at home.

Homeschooling, when an educated parent is available, is best.