Gifted & Talented Programs in Suburban Public Schools (Wheaton, Glen Ellyn: how much, transfer to)

[Czem]

I have already searched the City-Data forums on this topic, but I found that many of the threads are at least a few years old. In the past few years, many suburban school districts have cut or reduced their gifted services. I am hoping some of you could provide me current information on any suburban public school districts that have a gifted program, specifically elementary schools. I believe Barrington schools have (or had?) a gifted program but that's the only one I've heard of.

[KSJA2003]

Barrington does have gifted programs in all of the elementary schools. You'd have to get more information from the school (I believe there is information on the district 220 website), but in general, there is a pull out program that works ahead approximately two years in math and reading. There is also a centralized gifted program that runs 3rd - 5th grade, and kids are tested to get into that. Approximately two kids from each elementary school go to that program each year. There are also extended classes throughout middle school in some subjects.

[Lookout Kid]

Glen Ellyn District 41 has accelerated math and literacy for kids grades 3-5.

Glen Ellyn School District 41 - Gifted Curriculum Information for Parents

[4122]

Deerfield School District 109 has an advanced program called TAP for grades 3-5 math and english. It's a pull out program where they work 2 years ahead of everyone else. They just recently added TAP science a few years ago for the middle schools. Not sure if they have TAP science for the elementary schools too. Many districts have something similar to the TAP program too.

[holl1ngsworth]

We have one in Wheaton:

Gifted Education Program of Accelerated Curriculum & Enrichment (PACE) | CUSD 200

As well as a special parent group for gifted students:

Gates 200 / Gifted Education | CUSD 200

[drss01]

Frankfort D157C has it

http://www.fsd157c.org/static.asp?path=2851,3025

[Czem]

Thanks guys! I will look into all of these.

[4122]

Originally Posted by drss01

Frankfort D157C has it

http://www.fsd157c.org/static.asp?path=2851,3025

Frankfort's seems really good. Lots of great opportunities for the kids. Also, I like how it's not just for language arts and math like most school districts.

[chet everett]

The buzzword / trend shift in education currently seems to be against anything other than "inclusive differentiation". Not sure how much this is driven by the penny pinchers and "angry special ed" types and how much might actually be sensible but it is important to understand what the current "thought leaders" are doing.

Personally I have taught kids of all abilities and from a practical standpoint it hard to say that that even the most talented teacher can truly meet the needs of all students in a completely heterogeneous classroom. At the other end of the spectrum, anything that is too rigid in excluding students will clearly not have broad community support and likely won't serve students particularly well. In my own district the staff that formerly served the "gifted and talented" have been re-purposed as "differentiation specialists" and I know that is not well supported by the community members in Hinsdale / Clarendon Hills...

Further I personally know that many district leaders have felt a need to be "intentionally vague" about how different "gifted" classes might be from "standard" Common Core -- this leads to kind of overly generic expectations -- http://www.dist102.k12.il.us/system/...0Website_0.pdf

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by Czem

I believe Barrington schools have (or had?) a gifted program but that's the only one I've heard of.

In general (may be variation across elementary schools), Barrington 220 gifted students receive differentiated instruction in K/1st grade and are identified/pulled out in 2nd/3rd grade into separate gifted classes for reading and/or math (2nd/3rd through 5th). Gifted students may also be clustered together for other classes (science/social studies). There is also a separate self-contained program 3rd-5th grade.

Admission in both programs is based on Cogat (and/or Stanford-Binet) and Maps testing, while there are additional teacher/psychologist evaluations for the self-contained program. These are highly competitive programs and rather inflexible on testing criteria (i.e. not easy for a parent/teacher to recommend child who does not meet testing threshold, however there is a review/appeal process). I believe all students in these programs are testing above 95%, with a good number above 98-99%, on nationally normed tests.

Material can be 2-5 years above grade level (dependent on school/gifted teacher/class makeup). There also may be some differentiation within the gifted classes. Having had children in both the pull-out and self-contained programs, I believe the academic achievement levels are quite similar when the students enter the middle school program. Personally, I think there are social advantages to being in a rigorous pull-out program within the strong community/social setting of the neighborhood elementary school, but the self-contained program may be a better social setting for some.

In 6-8 grade, there are gifted (or "extended") classes in math, English, science (starts 7th) and art. There are also high-honors and honors level math. The extended English students are typically grouped into the same social studies class, and there seems to be honors level grouping in English/Science as well, but none of this is really advertised.

The 7th-8th grade gifted math program (called Meggs) requires that the kids have an early start (7:20) so that they may be transported to the high school for math class. Meggs is a non-traditional, theoretical approach that does not follow the traditional textbook/math subject sequence. There seems to be significant student attrition as the subject-matter is highly advanced and not something a parent/tutor/outside course/rigorous study is likely to be able to help much with - you either have the thinking process or you don't - it addresses gifted problem solving process, not merely accelerated learning. Science is also highly competitive as only the top students in gifted Reading/Math are eligible to take a placement test/interview for admittance in 7th grade. The 7th grade curriculum covers Physics, 8th Biology, and 9th Honors Chemistry.

The Extended path continues throughout high school. There are accelerated/gifted courses as well as 34 AP classes. There is gifted English and Math Freshman year. Students start Calc sophomore year and may take advanced independent math study after completing AP Calculus BC. The highest levels of AP Science are offered, including AP Physics 1, 2, 3... Some students transfer to IMSA, or other highly-selective high schools. However, I believe high school/gifted programming meets the needs of top students. Graduates go on to do well at top colleges. E.g. I recently attended a meeting where current MIT students related how their Barrington gifted programs more than prepared them for the rigors of MIT.