The Backstory

Years ago, I had the privilege of teaching a multi-age gifted and talented classroom. What I should really say, is I had the privilege of learning and growing as an educator because of my time with the dynamic group of gifted and talented students I taught for two years.

The classroom was an experiment.  I taught in a Title 1 school that no longer exists.  It was shut down and restructured as many schools were during the No Child Left Behind era. District administration decided to place a 3rd, 4th and 5th grade gifted and talented classroom into every elementary school in the district.  When my principal at the time asked if anyone was interested in teaching it, I ran back to my computer and emailed her that it interested me. I am so grateful I was granted the opportunity to teach this class.

Filling the class was a challenge.  The tests, which are the same tests used today, were not identifying enough students.  While most of the class began with the identification, some did not.  (One of the cool parts was, some of the kids who were not identified at the beginning of the year were identified at the beginning of the year.)

So why is it so important to find our gifted and talented students in Title 1 schools?  If I were to answer in terms of the now, I would say the identification is necessary to make sure they are getting the enrichment and challenges needed to keep them engaged in the public school setting.  If I were to answer in terms of years from now, I would say the identification is important for access to enrichment, access to advanced classes and access to opportunities that may otherwise not be offered to the students.

As for the experiment, I'd say it was a success.  What metric am I using to judge the success of this class?  I watched several of the students from trail blaze through school and matriculate into college.  

This year, I am working in another Title 1 School, and the identification challenges remain very real.  For this reason, my professional growth plan at my workplace and my TED-Ed Innovative Educator project focus on 1) providing opportunities for enrichment and 2) exploring paths for identification.