GT at the middle and high school levels in Northern Dallas suburbs (Austin: credit, top schools)

[compSciGuy]

I was wondering if people could chime in on the differences, or even benefits of the GT programs in various ISDs at the middle and high school levels.

While I know no program is going to be perfect, I am exploring different potential options for my kids. I work in the Legacy area and am specifically looking toward the Northern Dallas suburbs, but definitely feel any comments on other areas will also be helpful to potential readers.

My oldest daughter absolutely loved GT at the elementary school level. However, based upon her current location, I'm not really seeing a benefit at the middle school and potentially high school level.

Personally, my oldest daughter is not exactly a fan of extra work for social studies and humanities. Also, many teachers seem to be lazy and my daughter complains about having to complete work for students that aren't responsible and shouldn't be there (forced group assignments, etc.). While I feel there are important life lessons to be learned, I don't want her learning them later in high school when it's going to impact her grades, college admissions, scholarships, etc.

I noticed that Coppell and Lewisville ISDs seem to have GT classes in high school based in other subjects like math, science, etc. Does anybody have experience on whether these classes are beneficial to GT learners, or just more busy work (high-level problem solving, critical thinking, etc. versus brute force busy work, rote memorization, etc.)?

Also, is the focus on individual contribution versus collaborative learning. I have nothing against collaborative learning if the kids are allowed to choose who they work with.

[mSooner]

My two cents. I was at Flower Mound HS in Lewisville ISD. I was in the G&T programs at other schools until high school, when we moved to Flower Mound. At that point, I opted out. There was a lot of extra "busy work" that was supposed to be enriching that honestly just seemed stupid at that point. What they did in those classes in no way resembled the college experience (and I chose to do the Honors curriculum at OU). I found the AP load to be more than challenging enough. The top students were a mix of G&T and kids on the regular track. I wasn't the only kid that opted out. I don't think the Valedictorian or Salutatorian were G&T either.

Granted, this was over 10 years ago. However, my youngest sister was also at FMHS and just graduated 2 years ago. She also opted out of LEAP (the G&T program in Lewisville ISD) for the same reasons once she hit HS. You're busy enough those years without extra fluff assignments.

You can still participate in Pre-AP and AP classes without being G&T. I'd leave it up to the child and see how they feel about it.

ETA: I enjoyed the G&T program in elementary & middle school, as did my sister. I can definitely look back and see the value. This definitely isn't about being biased against it as a whole.

[UnfairPark]

Once AP & IB classes become available in high school, there isn’t any advantage in staying on GT track if kid isn’t enjoying it.

For middle school, if a kid can pass credit exam, they can take advance math courses. You’ll be better off letting them learn leadership, athletics, arts and volunteerism as these traits are valuable and are highly valued by top schools.

[UnfairPark]

If you really want change, try TAMS or Hockaday.

[compSciGuy]

I don't know if they'll be interested in TAMS. I know that it would have been great for me.

Hockaday is out of the budget and although I'm a highly paid software engineer, ... I'm not that highly paid.

The oldest one is in Algebra as a 7th grader and she had a 100 last grading period (she wanted to take Geometry in the fall and Algebra in the summer to be better than daddy, but I said no).

I tried to get my oldest daughter interested in Stanford Online High School (which actually starts with 7th-grade classes), but she wanted to be the smartest one in the class, ... not just "normal". I don't think she'll be able to qualify for the Davidson school (although the younger one might when the time comes).

The oldest one is already involved in athletics, not too keen on arts, and has her volunteering planned for her high school years.

As far as the college experience, I'm planning on sending her to camp for Duke TIP this summer. Depending on if I can trust KD scores, she has been scoring between 1240-1340 on her mock SAT tests, so she's probably safe for making the "Center" level for Duke, Georgia Tech, or Rice.

I actually took some "honors" classes in CS, Math, and Engineering in college (UT-Austin), and wasn't too fond of those classes, ... Although I did find them easier in that they generally were more focused on thinking and solving more difficult problems rather than grinding through equations. I honestly didn't feel like I gained anything more from them, as perhaps I was too interested in self-study, and the books, teacher notes, etc. were generally markedly inferior to the textbooks for the regular sections and from my perspective too theory oriented.

[UnfairPark]

Here are some links for you and your kids to explore. There is a lot to do outside of school.

https://cty.jhu.edu/resources/academ...ions/math.html

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by compSciGuy

I don't know if they'll be interested in TAMS. I know that it would have been great for me.

Hockaday is out of the budget and although I'm a highly paid software engineer, ... I'm not that highly paid.

The oldest one is in Algebra as a 7th grader and she had a 100 last grading period (she wanted to take Geometry in the fall and Algebra in the summer to be better than daddy, but I said no).

I tried to get my oldest daughter interested in Stanford Online High School (which actually starts with 7th-grade classes), but she wanted to be the smartest one in the class, ... not just "normal". I don't think she'll be able to qualify for the Davidson school (although the younger one might when the time comes).

The oldest one is already involved in athletics, not too keen on arts, and has her volunteering planned for her high school years.

As far as the college experience, I'm planning on sending her to camp for Duke TIP this summer. Depending on if I can trust KD scores, she has been scoring between 1240-1340 on her mock SAT tests, so she's probably safe for making the "Center" level for Duke, Georgia Tech, or Rice.

I actually took some "honors" classes in CS, Math, and Engineering in college (UT-Austin), and wasn't too fond of those classes, ... Although I did find them easier in that they generally were more focused on thinking and solving more difficult problems rather than grinding through equations. I honestly didn't feel like I gained anything more from them, as perhaps I was too interested in self-study, and the books, teacher notes, etc. were generally markedly inferior to the textbooks for the regular sections and from my perspective too theory oriented.

By Davidson school do you mean Davidson Academy in Nevada? FWIIW and unless something has changed they require a 145 IQ minimum on Wechsler or Stanford Binet verbal, non-verbal or full scale tests. They may have a different standard for online students.

Bright kids present a panoply of interesting problems. Enjoy it.

[GigiTer]

We are in the process of relocating to TX and have been talking and touring high schools in the Dallas suburbs for next year as I have a current 8th grader. You have all just enlightened me as to why they want to test him for G&T. I just assumed they wanted to test him to track him into higher level classes sooner. Where we presently are separate G&T pull outs stop after elementary. In middle school they just track them into a high honors pathway and continue that in high school and expect them to be taking AP’s. Having a current senior also I can’t really see the benefit of continued G&T specific classes, I’d rather he concentrate on the AP’s and classes that interest him like engineering and computer science. He would definitely opt-out if that scenario is presented!


QUOTE=UnfairPark;53736396]Here are some links for you and your kids to explore. There is a lot to do outside of school.

https://cty.jhu.edu/resources/academ...ions/math.html[/quote]

^OP This is a great list of potential extracurriculars your daughter might be interested in exploring! IMHO these type of programs are more interesting and involve a student with a purpose of more complex learning than any G&T pull out! My daughter has been involved in TSA, Science Olympiad, math league, and Odyssey of the Mind since middle school. In high school in addition to these she added FIRST robotics. All of these are great but have to say the FIRST programming is phenomenal! As a middle schooler your daughter could join an FTC FIRST team and then jump to FRC in high school. Both are completely engaging programs teaching hands on experience in mechanical and electrical engineering, programming, and so much more through strategy of play, collaboration in a team and with other teams, public speaking, media relations etc... FIRST Robotics competitions are like a varsity sporting event for the brainy set!!

Through FIRST, TSA, OM, and Sci Oly my daughter has traveled around the country as she has qualified for national competitions. That is an education in itself!

[TXNGL]

Our experience, and this was over ten years ago, was that GT was not very popular past elementary. Kid adored it in elementary school. When she entered middle school (a Dallas ISD Academy) GT would have taken time out of other things she wanted to explore. I don't know if that is still the case and I don't know about other districts.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by TXNGL

Our experience, and this was over ten years ago, was that GT was not very popular past elementary. Kid adored it in elementary school. When she entered middle school (a Dallas ISD Academy) GT would have taken time out of other things she wanted to explore. I don't know if that is still the case and I don't know about other districts.

This was my experience in school. TAG until 7th grade when you could move onto the advanced tracks in math and foreign language and then Honors / AP in high school. I think in middle school TAG was either considered an elective or homeroom period, can’t remember which.