High-achieving students get less attention
A Fordham Institute report released yesterday says high-achieving students aren't making the same gains in test scores as the lowest achieving students. (See my story today.)
The report also has some fascinating data about what teachers think about their high-achieving students. For instance, teachers say that their schools do not make high-achieving students a top priority. And that apparently happens much more frequently at urban schools where there are high numbers of students in poverty. So that means that if you a high-achieving, minority student in an urban school, you are much less likely to have a chance to be challenged than if you go to a suburban school. That may not be particularly surprising, but it documents what has been believed for years.
In addition, teachers told the researchers that they feel guilty about the fact that their most gifted students don't get challenged enough. "I feel like sometimes we are cheating them ... cheating them out of their own personal glory.... They could be so much more magnificent in their own right and happier, because I think they feel a level of frustration that they have to sit by while we are babysitting," said one teacher who was quoted in the report by researchers Steve Farkas and Ann Duffett.
Interesting, too, is that while most teachers say the low achievers are getting more attention than others, they also don't think that is right. About half of teachers reported they thought every student should get equal attention.
In the same study, about half of high school teachers surveyed said they believe the advanced-level classes at their school are truly rigorous and challenging. Another 40 percent said they are watered down.
Teachers also said that too often parents push their children into the advanced classes they are unprepared for or don't want to be in.
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
I would agree with the report that students at the higher achievement levels are often ignored. My own children were both supposed to be in gifted programs. I saw no difference in the materials that they received other than the assignments were frequently longer. They did not attend inner city schools but supposedly "good" schools that were challenging. The rigor of the advanced classes is dumbed down by the "include everyone" mentality. What good does it do any of the students if half the class is not prepared/does not have the skills to properly deal with the material? Take care of the higher achieving students as well as the lower end of the spectrum and schools will be better.
Posted by: tamedshrew | June 18, 2008 10:10 PM
I was glad the link to the report was posted online. I read the report and the comments from the teacher focus groups were very interesting. The one teacher said she had a kindergarten student she wanted to skip ahead because he was reading at fourth grade level and doing second grade math. She was told it wasn't allowed. How do you accomodate and challenge a child like that in room where some children are probably still learning their letters?
Most of the teachers surveyed said in classroom differentiation was very difficult and very few had any specific training for teaching high achieving students. As long as gifted programs are looked at as fun rewards for good students instead of more difficult faster paced classes everyone will want their kids to be included.
It would be interesting to see how the various school systems deal with high achieving students. The Ingenuity Project seems like a good example but I wonder what else is out there.
Posted by: duckduck | June 19, 2008 11:06 PM
As a former staff member at a "challenged" Baltimore County School, I know all too well about students being pushed into AP classes they're not ready for, (usually) with the best of intentions. The result, in my experience, was that the teacher of the AP class had to decide whether to a) give the (low) grades the students deserved, and deal with the attendant conflicts/ meetings/ arguments, or b) water the class down so everyone could do well and be happy (while failing to adequately prepare capable students for success on the AP test). Guess what happened?
Posted by: former BCPS teacher | June 25, 2008 2:46 PM