Although I been in one, it did not appear to be very useful. I had to leave class to take an IQ exam. That was pretty much all I could see. Nothing extravagant, additional labor, or unique lessons from the rest.
Is it only to spend tax dollars and give some individuals a secure job?
Attending a G&T Magnet program helped me develop excellent survival skills, be academically challenged for four years, and make lifelong friends who are honest, diligent, self-motivated, and lifelong learners. Every person I met from that program came from low-income backgrounds and went on to attend prestigious institutions and succeed in their jobs. They should grow these programs if evidence from prior graduating classes shows that their graduates had successful undergraduate and/or graduate studies and professions.
Gifted and Talented (G&T) programs in the U.S. are designed to cater to students who exhibit higher academic abilities or potential compared to their peers.
While your experience might not have showcased the full spectrum of what these programs can offer, they do have several intended benefits.
The benefits include:
The main benefit I got from going to a G & T Magnet program was getting academically challenged those 4 years, cultivating great survival skills, and making life friends who are hard-working, self-motivating, honest, and life-long learners.
Every person I ever met from that program came from low-income backgrounds and went on to attend prestigious institutions and succeed in their jobs. They should grow these programs if evidence from prior graduating classes shows that their graduates had successful undergraduate and/or graduate studies and careers.
In my case, I benefited from tag programs and also from being advanced for several years in mathematics.
If anything we should do more to separate and group people based on ability level.
It is a pointless differentiation that frequently ignores pupils exhibiting behaviors brought on by understimulation, ELLs, LI students, and so on. Additionally, it separates kids into “gifted” and “not gifted” classes.
In my elementary school, I participated in a GT program, which was awesome. We visited a committed teacher and classroom once a week. Among the many things we did were group projects, individual projects, and logic problems.
Just a few pupils in the lower grades were enrolled at first, and as the grade level increased, more students joined. For fifth graders, I do believe the aperture was opened a bit too wide; by then, we nearly need two levels of GT.
Even though I officially remained classified as gifted throughout middle and high school, the designation had very little bearing on my life after elementary school. I just recall a few haphazard examinations and conversations with the high school GT coordinator during my secondary education.
I am really ashamed to say that my daughter gained nothing from it, and the current GT teacher at our district is awful, I am even willing to bet that public school “GT programs” as a whole are underserving most serious kids. But there is a lot of BS PD and paperwork spent trying to placate parents and make it appear that GT is special.
My suggestion is that talented students should have the opportunity to engage in meaningful projects alongside other brilliant students. Overidentifying is a common issue with talented programs. Furthermore, a student who is exceptional in one district may not be gifted in another, depending on the demographics of the school.
What is job security in education, and is it just the use of public dollars?
In my reality check, they appeased your parents’ egos and in some cases kept you away from those of us from the other side of the tracks. There is also a placebo effect. I was normal, but you were always exceptional.
This is actually nice. Helping everyone in their particular way will always be my philosophy. Guys, we need more targeted help in general, even if cities, counties, and states have to kick in some coin.
The 3rd-6th grades were boring to me I can’t lie. In my 8th grade, the math teacher was miffed to have a 6th grader and had the class bully me. One of the most horrible teachers I have ever met.
I was also not left behind. I was in the program from 2012 to 2015 but later stopped during middle school and opted for a magnet program instead.
GT made my life quite difficult because we weren’t given a lot of direction as to what to do and a lot of times people just messed around. It was also another reason for adults to view me, an elementary schooler, as “mature,” which negatively impacted their ability to help me navigate my struggles with social, emotional, and executive functioning skills. The older guys figured that I could handle things better than most children since I was academically smart. The truth that I only knew was that I was worse at it than everyone else because I spent so much time in my head and had a learning difficulty.
I won’t actually blame them for that because they didn’t know any better, but I still wish they hadn’t put that kind of pressure on me.
I just hope that someone learns from my experience here that when a child appears to be “mature,” they might be struggling in other areas you just don’t see or realize.