talented and gifted programs (Round Rock, Howe: middle school, college, eat)

[AGA]

Our school does not have pull out sessions that I am aware of, but the TAG kids have a "modified" curriculum. Within the classroom.

[Trainwreck20]

How beneficial was this tag program for your children?

Depending on the child, it can be huge...someone I know quite well (in Georgetown many years ago) was almost put in remedial math prior to the start of the eigth grade, but instead was 'tested' (not really a test back then) and ended up in the 'honors' (old term, too, I think ) program and went in to algebra instead, and ended up finishing calculus by the jr. year in HS. At that time, the GT kids were pretty much in separate classes for the specific classes they tested for.

The moral, I guess, is that under-challenged kids will possibly do quite poorly in a regular curriculum classroom and can excel in a GT class. Usually (not always, though) the GT teachers are better than the 'average' teacher in the schools - they may not be the 'best' teacher, but they rarely are one of the really poor ones that make you flinch when you remember the bad one you had in school . In addition, being surrounded by higher achieving kids can help your kid unconsciously set their standards higher.

On the other hand, not being in GT is not exactly some kind of black mark, either, so it is important (in my opinion) that the child does not even know that they are being considered for GT or tested with some goal in mind; if they do not make the GT program, then they may start thinking 'hey, I guess I am not really smart'.

[texastea]

Originally Posted by AGA

There is a process involved, at least in our case, where the child has to be nominated by either a teacher and/or parent. A form is filled out with lots of questions regarding your childs learning experiences, etc...
Then, testing is done so on and so forth.
In our case, I nominated my son in Kinder and in First, however it was not until I decided not to do it in 2nd grade, that his teacher encouraged me to try again. She supported his nomination and he ended up qualifying in all 4 areas!!

Good Luck with the process. I hope it works out well for you, too.

What are the 4 areas? My son just told me that he's being tested for the gifted program, again. Both his Kinder and 1st grade teachers have requested that he be tested. So I think this'll be his 3rd or 4th time? I haven't been too concerned about him getting in 'cause its a pull-out program with major projects at HOME. The advanced program is separate from the gifted one and he's already in that. If I could figure out which area he's not "proving" himself in, maybe I could send examples from home.

[HMS Pinafore]

Thanks chickenfry and traceyr13 as this personifies our situation. My son is a 'young' 1st grader who turned 6 in August close to the Sep 1 cut off date (Atlanta). Our neighbor is the opposite as her birtday is a month later so she is physically a year older and in the same grade. My son is bright and artistic (he has excellent penmanship) and the teacher recommended he test for the TAG program. He didn't pass probably due to some concentraton skills.

[AGA]

The 4 areas as I recall are
Math, Language, Social Studies and Science?
I honestly can not remember.

I never even told my son he was being considered for the program to avoid the possible disappointment of "not getting in".

[traceyr13]

The areas depend on the district. In Hutto, areas tested include: IQ, language arts, math, science, social studies, reasoning, creativity, and leadership. You must qualify in at least 3 areas to make the program. However, in Round Rock, they test language arts, math, verbal reasoning, nonverbal reasoning, and leadership. You only need to qualify in one area to qualify for the program.

Each district makes their own rules.

Unfortunately, there was no way for my son not to know he was being tested - the kids all know who are the 2 TAG pullout teachers, and it was obvious what was going on, and it's pretty open who is identified and when they are receiving services. He missed qualifying in math by 2 percentage points, and I did tell him he "almost" qualified, so he felt a little bit better about that.

[jenkirk]

Do the kids really know what they are being tested for and what it means?

When I was little and tested, I had no idea there was a gifted program. None of us really knew or cared that we were "gifted". We just liked getting pulled out of class everyday to go to the Dimensions trailer (the name of our program). We had to do all of the same work in our regular classes as the other kids, but in the Dimensions trailer we did logic problems, fantasy listening, art projects, and other fun stuff.

I do not know if my kids will be gifted, but if they are I think it is very disappointing that AISD just gives them different work. Being able to leave the classroom and open our minds was what made elementary school bearable. Just getting harder work seems like a rip off at the elementary level.

[traceyr13]

My experience is that most do. When I pulled out my kids for testing, I just said we were going to go do some puzzles and games (I had to pull them several different days) and my 2nd-4th graders definitely knew exactly what was going on...with my 1st graders, I think some did and some didn't.

My son read the nomination forms in his folder that he brought home, so he knew the moment he was nominated. On the days he was tested, he came home and said "Mrs. so and so (TAG pullout teacher) took me today to see if I can be in the program!"

Kids are pretty savvy these days.

[texastea]

Originally Posted by traceyr13

The areas depend on the district. In Hutto, areas tested include: IQ, language arts, math, science, social studies, reasoning, creativity, and leadership. You must qualify in at least 3 areas to make the program. However, in Round Rock, they test language arts, math, verbal reasoning, nonverbal reasoning, and leadership. You only need to qualify in one area to qualify for the program.

Each district makes their own rules.

I'm in LISD so I found the QUEST info on their website...apparently, the standards are pretty tough to meet...high and subjective.

"Leander ISD’s QUEST Program is designed to meet the needs of identified gifted students who have demonstrated above-average ability in the following two areas of giftedness as defined by the Texas State Plan for the Gifted: 1) high general-intellectual ability at the 95th percentile; and, 2) creative and productive thinking."

[AGA]

Here is the link to AISD info regarding G.T program! Hope that helps.

Austin Independent School District : Gifted & Talented