‘Gifted’ Label Takes a Vacation in Diversity Quest

[Fade the Butcher]

More idiocy in the name of diversity.

Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/21/AR2006022101822.html)

Middle school magnet programs in Montgomery County have traditionally operated as schools within schools, offering specialized curriculum to a few select students—who have been mostly Asian and white.

But this fall, educators decided to try a different approach. Instead of selecting a few hundred students for traditional school magnets, officials opened magnet programs at three middle schools to everyone.

In doing so, county educators—like officials of a growing number of school systems across the country—are trying to find a more diverse pool of students. They are experimenting with new ways to reach out to students who might have special abilities but may not have been recognized through traditional screening methods.

“In the future, where we want to move is where it’s not so much identifying children as gifted and talented so much as getting them the services they need to reach their potential,” said Martin Creel, director of the accelerated enriched instruction division.

In Fairfax County, educators have created the Young Scholars Program, aimed at identifying kindergartners from underrepresented populations who have potential but might need extra support. The school system also has added expanded honors classes at its middle schools in hopes of giving a broader spectrum of students more opportunities, said Carol Horn, coordinator of gifted programs for the school system.

“We’ve changed from labeling children to labeling services,” Horn said. “It’s not whether you’re gifted, it’s what’s appropriate for you.”

The approach has its critics—those who fear that curriculum will be watered down because too many kids with varying abilities are being thrown together. But Montgomery and Fairfax officials—like those undertaking similar efforts across the country—insist that the quality of education will not be diminished. Key to the task is offering high-quality training that helps educators understand how to reach all students, Creel said. . . .

[Fade the Butcher]

LMAO. You know what this reminds me of? The Medieval alchemists who spent centuries trying to turn lead into gold. I admit that isn't the best analogy. We can transmute elements today with particle accelerators. Maybe this methodology would work on blacks if we were able to pulverize them at the atomic level.

During the spring, Montgomery officials came under fire from a group of black parents who were concerned about the low numbers of blacks and Hispanics who were being admitted to middle school magnet programs. They were also alarmed by how few of them were being labeled “gifted and talented” by the school system’s second-grade screening process, which uses a variety of yardsticks. School officials said they were working diligently to narrow the gap between students but acknowledged that they have more work to do.

[sugartits]

"They are experimenting with new ways to reach out to students who might have special abilities but may not have been recognized through traditional screening methods."

That's very popular in education these days. It should be a good idea, but "special abilities" often ends up being "special needs". :p

[Starr]

In the future, where we want to move is where it’s not so much identifying children as gifted and talented so much as getting them the services they need to reach their potential,” said Martin Creel, director of the accelerated enriched instruction division.

All children are equally gifted and talented, even if all they are capable of is drooling and grunting. All that is needed to recognize this truth is the lowering of standards. If you are alive and have an IQ of 50, you are just as smart and capable of great deeds as someone who has an IQ of 150, just in a different(not lesser) way.

That's very popular in education these days. It should be a good idea, but "special abilities" often ends up being "special needs".

I have never understood why retards are referred to as "special" when did this start? I think the people who come up with these ideas must have "special needs":p

[Fade the Butcher]

That's very popular in education these days. It should be a good idea, but "special abilities" often ends up being "special needs". :p

The most laughable example of this I have seen so far is "anti-racist mathematics." It doesn't surprise me in the least, however, that anti-racism continues spawns such quackery. Here is a good article on the subject, The New Creationism: Biology Under Attack (http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Debate/Ehrenreich.html).

"When social psychologist Phoebe Ellsworth took the podium at a recent interdisciplinary seminar on emotions, she was already feeling rattled. Colleagues who'd presented earlier had warned her that the crowd was tough and had little patience for the reduction of human experience to numbers or bold generalizations about emotions across cultures. Ellsworth had a plan: She would pre-empt criticism by playing the critic, offering a social history of psychological approaches to the topic. But no sooner had the word "experiment" passed her lips than the hands shot up. Audience members pointed out that the experimental method is the brainchild of white Victorian males. Ellsworth agreed that white Victorian males had done their share of damage in the world but noted that, nonetheless, their efforts had led to the discovery of DNA. This short-lived dialogue between paradigms ground to a halt with the retort: "You believe in DNA?" . . . [/quote]

[Donny the Punk]

The gifted education programmes to which I was exposed were nothing special, and were already full of (high-IQ) dysfunctional children with 'special needs' a decade ago.

International Baccalaureate is a far superior educational institution and standard. Anyone with good marks may apply, the criteria are stringent - thus weeding out both the unfit and the lazy - and firmly enforced, and I found it excellent preparation for a bachelor's university education.

[Donny the Punk]

The most laughable example of this I have seen so far is "anti-racist mathematics." It doesn't surprise me in the least, however, that anti-racism continues spawns such quackery. Here is a good article on the subject, The New Creationism: Biology Under Attack (http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Debate/Ehrenreich.html).

"When social psychologist Phoebe Ellsworth took the podium at a recent interdisciplinary seminar on emotions, she was already feeling rattled. Colleagues who'd presented earlier had warned her that the crowd was tough and had little patience for the reduction of human experience to numbers or bold generalizations about emotions across cultures. Ellsworth had a plan: She would pre-empt criticism by playing the critic, offering a social history of psychological approaches to the topic. But no sooner had the word "experiment" passed her lips than the hands shot up. Audience members pointed out that the experimental method is the brainchild of white Victorian males. Ellsworth agreed that white Victorian males had done their share of damage in the world but noted that, nonetheless, their efforts had led to the discovery of DNA. This short-lived dialogue between paradigms ground to a halt with the retort: "You believe in DNA?" . . .
What is The Nation?

[Fade the Butcher]

What is The Nation?

It's a popular left-of-center American news magazine.

http://www.thenation.com/

[Jimbo Gomez]

LMAO. You know what this reminds me of? The Medieval alchemists who spent centuries trying to turn lead into gold. I admit that isn't the best analogy. We can transmute elements today with particle accelerators. Maybe this methodology would work on blacks if we were able to pulverize them at the atomic level.

I wonder how much gold you'd get from a single negro.