an
affiliate of National Association for Gifted Children
FROM: Terry James Mohaupt, Chairman, Parent Affiliates
Greetings,
Many of you are aware of the Public Broadcasting, Lehrer News Hour, John
Merrow Report on No Child Left Behind and gifted students
that was recorded during the IAGC Convention in February and afterwards. The
show was aired this past May 25 on TV. For those of you who missed the airing,
it can be viewed at the following site:
http://www.pbs.org/merrow/tv/newshour/gifted.html
Excerpts:
JOHN MERROW: Effingham used to have a gifted program that included separate
classes, a gifted coordinator, and a tailored curriculum. When the program
was cut, gifted students like fifth grader Parker Johnson moved back into
regular classes, repeating what he and others had been taught two years
earlier.
PARKER JOHNSON, FIFTH Grader: Every time we have a spelling test, I always
get a 100 on it because I already know the words. Because in third grade we
were having... the words were like "pandemonium" and all kinds of
words
like that. It's boring because I already know all of this stuff, and I
don't want to learn it again.
JOHN MERROW: The federal No Child Left Behind Act has put schools under
pressure to help the lowest-performing students. The law requires that all
students be achieving at grade level by 2014. If schools do not make annual
progress toward this goal, they stand to lose funding. Is it possible that
No Child Left Behind is actually causing gifted children to be left behind?
=======================================================
"If gifted education is being compromised, you're going to have to be able
to make the case to me that it's because of "No Child Left Behind" as
a statute, as opposed to the way it's being implemented. You have the
responsibility at the state and local level, through a combination of revenues
from all levels, to provide a curriculum that helps every child achieve his or
her potential."
-Eugene Hickok, U.S. Undersecretary of Education, The Merrow Report, Jim Lehrer
News Hour, May 25, 2004
=======================================================
"Would you, in good conscience, ever cut programs for the mentally
handicapped? No. And when 'gifted' is just the other side of the same coin, how
could you, in good conscience, cut that?"
-Penny Choice, The Merrow Report, Jim Lehrer News Hour, May 25, 2004
=======================================================
"Who is going to help those children? If they can't have their needs met by
the educational system at school, if gifted kids are not being challenged,
sure, some of them will make it, some of that cream will rise to the top. But
there's an awful lot of kids who could have, and should have, who won't."
-Jessica Rommell , The Merrow Report, Jim Lehrer News Hour, May 25, 2004
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ILLINOIS ASSOCIATION FOR GIFTED CHILDREN
an affiliate of National
Association for Gifted ChildrenHUNT
800 East Northwest Highway, Suite 610
Palatine, Illinois 60074
Phone 847-963-1892
Fax 847-963-1893
http://www.iagcgifted.org