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DTAC initiates e-mail listserv.
Access alternative program open in fall, 2003
Questions and Answers about ACCESS, 2003-4
Oregon State Department of Education issues Amended Order concerning TAG complaint.
Because of remodeling and changes at the Blanchard building (BESC) please check this website or your e-mail to confirm the location of DTAC meetings
1) DTAC meetings: Announcement for next meeting
3) Meeting the needs of gifted children in Portland Public Schools a DTAC position paper
5) Government Information (state/national)
6) Listserv and discussion gateways; listserv websites
7) Mailing list ("listserv") information
8) Links to "meta-sites" (sites with lots of links to other sites)
10) Other articles/websites/specific topics:
11) Proposal: The ACCESS School for Very Gifted Children. See also FAQS about the ACCESS school .
12) Articles on educating TAG children by Margaret DeLacy (links)
Tables concerning Per Capita Participation in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs by rank and region
DTAC adopts revised position paper
The District TAG advisory committee has reviewed its position paper on services for TAG students. The revised document was adopted by the committee on February 27, 2002. The original position paper can be read online at http://home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/position.htm
Our revised draft can be found at
http//home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/new_position.htm
No DTAC meetings have yet been announced for 2004
The website you are reading now "Links for Portland Parents of Talented and Gifted Children is at http://home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/tag.htm
Portland Public Schools' main home page: http://www.pps.k12.or.us includes information about individual schools, the central administration, and the school board.
The TAG department homepage, http://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts/TAG/ provides information about the TAG department, and school district policies, including the school district's "Framework" for providing TAG services. It is possible to find this page as a link from the main PPS homepage but it takes some searching. Select "directory" and then look in the list of "departments, services, projects."
The TAG department director, Amy Welch can be found at awelch@pps.k12.or.us
DTAC school liaisons can be found on the DTAC page of the PPS TAG department website. Check this list to locate the liaison for your school. If the position is "available" why not do parents in your own school a favor and volunteer? Call the TAG office, (503)-916-3358 for more information. http://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts/tag/resources/dtac.shtml
NEW! The PPS. TAG department High School Newsletter is now online. Check out current and past issues for advice on scholarships for college, internship opportunities, summer programs, grants and awards, getting into college, and everything else your High School student always wanted to know but never thought to ask about! Back issues are available as pdf files http://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts/tag/highschool/high_school_overview.shtml
Portland Public School district complaint procedure, from the Parent Handbook, copied here for convenience http://home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/complaint.htm
Portland Public School district Section 504 Manual (for students with disabilities) http//www.pps.k12.or.us/directives-c/pol-reg/504manual.pdf
The Oregon Department of Education has a section for TAG information on its website at http://www.ode.state.or.us/sped/spedareas/tag/tag.htm This includes a list of TAG contacts in every school district in the state, and information about the TAG mandate. Check out the page for "teachers" as well as the one for "parents".
Oregon Association for Talented and Gifted, http://www.oatag.org OATAG also offers an e-mail "listserv" for parents and TAG teachers, staff, administrators and coordinators, through Yahoo groups. You will have to go through a somewhat cumbersome process of obtaining a "username" and "password" from Yahoo, but after that it is plain sailing. If you already have a Yahoo username and password, you can just add this group to your list. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OATAG
You can also subscribe directly by e-mail by sending a message to oatag-subscribe@yahoogroups.com The message should read "subscribe" and the subject of the message should read "subscribe"
See below, "mailing list information" for directions on how to subscribe to the list for Portland area parents, pps-dtac
Coalition for School Funding Now, http://www.schoolfunding.org. This site offers links to other educational organizations in Oregon, such as the Oregon Education Association.
Oregon Technology In Education Council (OTEC) http://otec.uoregon.edu/index.htm offers a limited set of TAG links on its site as well as support for teachers interested in using information technology in the classroom.
Portland Schools Foundation offers grants to local schools and teachers
"SpectrumAPP" a site maintained by parents of students in gifted programs in Seattle. This site is tied to an e-mail discussion list, but the list requires registration and a password.
ASPIRE: a project of Americorps to provide mentoring and college application assistance to Oregon students http://www.osac.state.or.us/aspire.html
NEW! "Oregon Scores Stay High on ACT tests by reporter Betsy Hammond" for the Oregonian http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/1061380656263600.xml?oregonian?lced
Sounds good? Read the rest:
"...Oregon students who took the ACT test, "indicated they feel boxed in by their choice of courses
Nearly one in three Oregon students who took the ACT reported that they were dissatisfied with the number and variety of courses offered at their high school. About 43 percent said they were satisfied with the courses offered; the rest were neutral. Nationally, students were significantly more positive about their choice of high school courses.
Richard Ferguson, chief executive of the ACT, said the lack of preparation for college math and science was particularly striking among African American students, suggesting they are not getting the counseling or rigorous coursework they need in high school."
NEW! "Summer Lessons Tackle Neglect of Bright Young Minds" by reporter Elena Lesley for the Oregonian, East Metro edition, July 2003.
http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/metro_east_news/1059134952289110.xml?oregonian?en
Underachievers aren't the only students who need attention.
The brightest minds in a class are often neglected by teachers who assume that good students can do their work with little instruction, said Kristine Fosback, a Reynolds School District teacher for 25 years.
Just the opposite is true, she said.
"We have to feed that thirst for knowledge," she said. "There are so many programs for children below grade level, but children above
grade level have just as many needs. They need to be challenged; they need to work hard; they need friends they have something in common with."NEW! "Bright Students, Dim Budgets" by reporter Wendy Lawton for the Oregonian http://www.oregonlive.com/education/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1055419315322500.xml
"half of the state's school systems during the 2001-02 school year didn't set aside a cent to
test and teach their most academically accomplished students. ...Faced with the possibility of closing schools early or jacking up class sizes, districts are eliminating instruction programs, slashing teacher training and whacking testing and supply budgets.When sharp kids aren't challenged, research shows, they often tune out, act out or drop out. With money for Oregon's gifted and talented students at the lowest point in nearly two decades, parents and educators worry that some of the state's 45,000 gifted and talented students will fall through the cracks."
"Clarion Call to Action" An article by reporter Melissa Steineger for the NW Regional Educational Laboratory http://www.nwrel.org/nwedu/fall_97/article3.html ]
State findings in the Salem Complaint: http://www.kaltwasser.com/tag/articles/findings.html
Other school districts in Oregon
This is a great time to start talking to the Democratic and Republican candidates in your district about the need for TAG funding and services in Oregon.
State of Oregon Information:
State of Oregon: Legislature: Information about the activities of the current legislature is available at http://www.leg.state.or.us/.
See also the index at Oregon Legislature Online: http://www.leg.state.or.us/siteindex.html
If you have RealPlayer, you can listen to live streaming audio of the Legislature in session--or hear archived sessions http://www.leg.state.or.us/listn/listenset.htm
The Oregon Revised Statutes 1999 edition are available at http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/home.html
Oregon Administrative Rules, are found on the website for the Secretary of State http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/banners/rules.html .
From that site you can choose Oregon Administrative Rules, Department of Education http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/rules/OARS_500/OAR_581/581_tofc.html
The Oregon Department of Education http://www.ode.state.or.us/ has a section for TAG information on its website at http://www.ode.state.or.us/sped/spedareas/tag/tag.htm This includes a list of TAG contacts in every school district in the state, and information about the TAG mandate. Check out the page for "teachers" as well as the one for "parents".
U.S. Government information
FirstGov" is a site from the U.S. Government that provides search retrievals and links to federal, state and local websites. http://firstgov.gov/
Within "FirstGov" is the Students' Government Info Source, which offers a helpful set of links to all sorts of information of interest to students including travel information, volunteer sites, colleges and universities, "government 101" and scholarships. There is also a newsletter page which includes a newsletter for students and another for educational publications.
CongressLink makes it easy to find out what is going on in Congress, write your congressperson and find out who is serving on committees. Intended as a teaching site, it also features articles and lesson plans. http://www.congresslink.org/
Write your senator: contact information http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm
National Research Center for the Gifted and Talented NRCG/T in Storrs, Connecticut. Funded by the US Department of Education, provides TAG-related research studies by nationally respected scholars. Site offers publication list and abstracts-- http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt.html
"National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent" (1993) a report from the U.S. Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/pubs/DevTalent/
U.S. Department of Education-- main home page for entire dept.-- http://www.ed.gov/index.html
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) the place to look for information such as student enrollment http://nces.ed.gov/
State by state data can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/
NEW! The "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001 includes a separate section for the Javits program for Talented and Gifted Students. http://www.ed.gov/legislation/ESEA02/index.html
NEW! StudentJobs This site is intended to help students in college, graduate, and postgraduate programs and "career professionals" to locate grants, internships, apprenticeships and fellowships. It includes a wide range of opportunities for teachers, students and scholars including Javits and Fulbright grants, public policy, health and medicine, curriculum development, agriculture, science and overseas experiences. http://www.studentjobs.gov/
ERIC remnants
NEW! ERIC digests on Gifted Education: These were produced by the Education Resource Information Center which is now in the process of reorganization. However, the digests have been archived and are searchable by subject.
The list of ERIC digests can be found at http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/index/. These include
Sandra Berger's "Should Gifted Children be Grade-Advanced?" The digests are highly recommended. The Hoagies site is mirroring the gifted digests at http://www.hoagiesgifted.org.
For a table of the location of other archived ERIC materials, go to http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/eric/where_now.html
The Educator's Reference Desk At the beginning of 2004, the U.S. Department of Education dismantled the AskERIC and ERIC web services. The Educator's Reference Desk appears to be the most viable substitute.
ERIC reauthorization news, including a table of relocated ERIC resources provided by Kate Corby, Education and Psychology Bibliographer, Michigan State University Libraries
The TAGFAM project: a webpage that provides information about the TAGFAM family of TAG e-mail listservs. Includes TAGFAM, TAGFORUM, TAGKIDS, TAGMAX, TAGPDQ and TAGTEENS. Current editor is Kathryn Finn. Also offers a way to find MonTAGe, the TAG magazine, which is recommended. http://www.tagfam.org/start.html
Gifted World--began as an offshoot of TAGFAM, has developed its own identity. Offers a MOO for parents to interchange information-- http://www.gtworld.org/
Our Gifted Online Conferences: a different sort of resource, this site sponsors and logs online "conferences" with a variety of experts. Conferences last for several days and focus on a specific topic such as college planning or twice exceptional students. You can sign on to a current conference here or view the logs. http://orion.neiu.edu/~ourgift/pages/Archives.htm
NEW! Parents of PPS TAG students now have their own e-mail listserv. To subscribe send the message
"subscribe" in the body (not the subject line) of the message to the following address
You will receive a message confirming your subscription. YOU MUST REPLY to this message to complete the subscription process. Please save your welcome message. It will explain how to unsubscribe, change your e-mail address, manage your subscription and post to the list.
A copy of the welcome message is available on this site
Information has been provided by the Comprehensive Gifted Resources Home Page Gifted Resources Mailing Lists Special Resources for Gifted and Talented Education
CPPSchools is a list for all parents of children in Portland Public Schools, provided by the Community and Parents for Public Schools of Portland. CPPS is a new organization which incorporates members of Schools for the City, Portland Citizens for Oregon Schools Education Fund, and Active Parents Network. It is a local chapter of Parents for Public Schools. This list replaces "Education-l". To subscribe, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CPPSchools
Oregon Association for Talented and Gifted, http://www.oatag.org OATAG also offers an e-mail "listserv" for parents and TAG teachers, staff, administrators and coordinators, through Yahoo groups. You will have to go through a somewhat cumbersome process of obtaining a "username" and "password" from Yahoo, but after that it is plain sailing. If you already have a Yahoo username and password, you can just add this group to your list. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OATAG. You can also subscribe directly by e-mail by sending a message to oatag-subscribe@yahoogroups.com The message should read "subscribe" and the subject of the message should read "subscribe"
FirstGov, the portal providing access to U.S. Government information offers a site for student information (see above, Government Information) and a set of links to newsletters including one for students and one for educational publicaitons. These are newsletters (announcements only) not listservs (subscribers participate).
gtot-l, the mailing list for gifted tots (generally under 6 years of age). To subscribe send a mail message with "subscribe" in the subject (not the body) of the message to GTOT-L-REQUEST@eskimo.com for a regular subscription, or send it to gtot-digest-request@eskimo.com for a digest subscription.
TAG-L, the mailing list for Talented and Gifted education. To subscribe send a mail message with "subscribe TAG-L firstname lastname" in the body (not the subject) of the message to listserv@listserv.nodak.edu Note: TAG-L also has archives available.
giftednet-l, the mailing list for the National (USA) Science and Language Arts Curriculum Projects for High Ability Learners. To subscribe send a mail message with "subscribe giftednet-l your-first-name your-last-name" in the body (not the subject) of the message to listserver@listserv.cc.wm.edu. Please note that the mailing list name ends in lower-case L, not numeral 1. Please also note that the William and Mary curriculum now has its own limited distribution list (WMCURRIC-L).
TAGFAM, the mailing list for families and support for TAG or GT children. To subscribe send a mail message with "subscribe TAGFAM your-first-name your-last-name" in the body (not the subject) of the message to listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu
NNFGC : the National Network for Families of Gifted Children offers a separate announcements-only list. Right now, this list is concentrating on federal legislation concerning gifted children. To subscribe to the announcement list, send a message to majordomo@scri.fsu.edu. Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the message type in lower case: subscribe nnfgc
The TAGFAM group also includes lists for adults, children, and teens. More information about TAGFAM is available on the TAGFAM web page (see above #6).
u-achiev, the underachievement list which addresses issues (family, school, peer, self) facing underachieving students (particularly gifted students). To subscribe, send a mail message with "subscribe u-achiev your-email-address" in the body (not the subject) of the message to majordomo@virginia.edu
OZGIFTED, a mailing list for teachers and parents of gifted children, and others interested in gifted education, in Australia. The list's primary focus is to facilitate practical, appropriate environments for gifted children's intellectual, social, and emotional growth, by supporting the teachers and parents involved. To subscribe, go to the listserv page at http://www.nswagtc.org.au/ozgifted/og.html
GIFTED-CHI-L, a new mailing list dedicated to increasing communication and cooperation between parents and educators interested in realizing the full potential of gifted children - particularly children themselves and gifted individuals now in adulthood. If there is enough interest we will start a separate list for children themselves. Although based in the UK, all are welcome to join. To subscribe, go to http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/GIFTED-CHI-L or send a mail message with "subscribe gifted-chi-l" in the subject and with "subscribe gifted-chi-l YourFullName YourAge " in the body of the message to GIFTED-CHI-L-subscribe@onelist.com GIFTED-CHI-L mailing list for gifted children, parents and educators. The homepage for the list is at http://www.tutorcom.dircon.co.uk/chi
WMCURRIC-L, limited to subscribers who have a specific interest in the William and Mary gifted curriculum units. If you would like to subscribe to WMCURRIC-L or if you'd like more information, please send an email message to: LNBOYC@FACSTAFF.WM.EDU
e-TAG-USA, a national list to discuss advocacy efforts for TAG students including, but not limited to, discussions about obtaining a national law, tips, suggestions, and ideas for advocacy at the district or state level, getting a bill passed, discussion about what state laws have helped or hurt TAG kids and why, and what laws *looked* good on paper but didn't help and more. For information on how to subscribe, please contact Monique Lloyd, at monique@rtinet.com
Three lists from GT-World:
GT-Families - for families of gifted and talented children. To subscribe, send a message with "subscribe GT-Families" in the body to lyris@gtworld.org
GT-Adult - for gifted adults. To subscribe, send a message with "subscribe GT-Adult" in the body to lyris@gtworld.org
GT-Special - for families of gifted and talented children with special characteristics, such as LD, ADD, etc. To subscribe, send a message with "subscribe GT-Special" in the body to lyris@gtworld.org
The Hoagies Gifted Education Page -- a personal favorite and by far the largest and most comprehensive web resource.. http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/ You can link to the Hoagies Kids page from here or go directly to http://www.hoagieskids.org/
Art Snyder's list of Internet links from Ohio http://www.oagc.com/ArtSnyderResources/GTHyperlinked.htm This flyer was created for Ohio teachers/TAG coordinators to copy and hand out so it is in a compact list form. It is now available on the website for the Ohio Association for Gifted Children (OAGC). It still makes a nice parent handout
Gifted Education Links from Massey University in New Zealand http://www.massey.ac.nz/~MBrown/NZCurr/SpecAbil.htm
National Association for Gifted Children: http://www.nagc.org/
See especially the NAGC Gifted Program Standards: http://www.nagc.org/webprek12.htm
Center for Talented Youth/ Johns Hopkins University: Provides information on programs for gifted students, the Johns Hopkins Talent Search and links to articles and resources.http://www.jhu.edu/gifted/
Links to articles on Gifted Education, from the Council for Exceptional Children--Well organized and recommended. See also the homepage for the Council, below-- http://ericec.org/gifted/gt-menu.html
Educators of Gifted Children in British Columbia-- http://www.bctf.bc.ca/PSAs/AEGTCCBC/index.html
PALS: Parents for Able Learner Students. A site for Florida TAG parents and educators, from an affiliate of the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC). This site is especially rich in curriculum and instruction resources for educators, but also has plenty for parents: http://come.to/gifted/
Introduction from the Tennessee TAG website provides well-organized basic information http://go.to/giftedtn
"Search Edu.com" is a search engine that searches only educational sites. http://www.searchedu.com/
World Council for Gifted and Talented Children, http://www.worldgifted.org/xindex.htm provides links to major sites worldwide. It is especially strong on listings for professional journals on gifted education.
Parents for Public Schools offers Resources for Parents, a set of links to many national organizations such as the Association for School Administrators, the Small Schools Workshop, Education statistics, the P.T.A. and the National Alliance for Business http://www.parents4publicschools.com/status.htm
Three research articles on grouping from the National Research Center for the Gifted and Talented (highly recommended):
"The Relationship of Grouping Practices to the Education of the Gifted and Talented Learner," Dr. Karen B. Rogers: http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/rogers.html
"An Analysis of the Research on Ability Grouping: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives" Dr. James A. Kulik http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/kulik.html
"Promoting Student Achievement and Exemplary Classroom Practices Through Cluster Grouping: A Research-Based Alternative to Heterogeneous Elementary Classrooms" Dr. Marcia Lynne Gentry http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/gentry.html
Other grouping articles:
"The Tracking and Ability Grouping Debate" http://www.edexcellence.net/library/track.html full-text of a study by Tom Loveless for the Fordham foundation, July 1998. A review of the most important recent studies on tracking and ability grouping, with recommendations. Recommended. This article came from Education Week, which offers searchable archives of many articles on education issues.
"One Size Fits All? Age based tracking versus ability grouping in elementary school mathematics." An article by Mike Robison http://www.msu.edu/user/robiso12/Grouping.htm A very clear and useful review of the most important studies on this topic. Recommended.
"How should we group to achieve excellence with equity?" by Bonnie Grossen, 1996 http://www.uoregon.edu/~adiep/grp.htm
'The Other Crisis in American Education" by Donald Singal, from Atlantic Monthly, 1991, http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/educatio/singalf.htm Discusses the implications of the fact that falls in average SAT scores were caused by falling scores for the top quartile of students. Recommends curricular and administrative changes. Discusses the measures taken by schools that continued to succeed when other schools were falling behind.
Research Synthesis on Educational Provisions for Gifted Children by Professor Karen Rogers. This is an update of her "A Best-Evidence Synthesis of research on accelerative options for gifted students." published in Colangelo and others, eds., Talent Development (1991). It looks at studies of various educational programs such as acceleration, multi-grade classrooms, curriculum compacting, and cooperative learning and estimates the "effect size" of each as fractions of a school year gained in comparison to other gifted students who are not in these programs.
Rogers also found that:
- the learning rate of children above 130 IQ is approximately 8 times faster than for children below 70 IQ
- GT students are significantly more likely to retain science and mathematics content accurately when taught 2-3 times faster than "normal" class pace
- GT students are significantly more likely to forget or mislearn science and mathematics content when they must drill and review it more than 2-3 times
- GT students are decontextualists in their processing, rather than constructivists; therefore it is difficult to reconstruct "how" they came to an answer
Another version of these results can be found as "Research-Based "Essentials" of Gifted Education Services" from the Minnesota Talented and Gifted Development Center. This link worked better for me and has been updated through 1998:
http://www.nswagtc.org.au/info/articles/RogersResearchSynthesis.html
(note: this is a very select list. Much more comprehensive collections of articles are available from the "meta-sites" above. Start with the Hoagies site.)
see also "government" above
ERIC digests concerning advocacy:
Know Your Legal Rights in Gifted Education. ERIC Digest E541., Karnes, Frances A.; Marquardt, Ronald http://ericae.net/edo/ED415590.htm
AP test participation per capita in 2001 by 1999-2000 Student Enrollments, 2 sets of data, sorted by rank and region http://home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/ap_by_rank.htm
Summary of "A Study of AP students in High Schools with Large Minority Populations," Educational Testing Service, 1992). http://home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/apminority.htm
Testimony before the Oregon Legislative Revenue Options, School Funding and Accountability Task Force. 12.11.02 http://home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/testimony.before.htm
A speech by Lou Gerstner, then CEO of IBM: "It's time we swept out the "one size fits all" mindset that we apply to the pace at which we expect children to learn...." http://www.ibm.com/lvg/educ99.phtml
Parents for Public Schools, Advocacy links http://www.parents4publicschools.com/status.htm
National Network of Families with Gifted Children: http://www.nnfgc.org/. A parent organization that is supporting national legislation benefiting gifted children. The NNFGC also offers an announcements-only listserv mailing list (discussions take place on TAGFORUM, see below). This mailing list can be found through a link on the website or at http://mailer.csit.fsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/nnfgc
Testimony submitted by the National Network of Families with Gifted Children before the U.S. Senate http://members.aol.com/pals222/testimony.htm A very useful short explanation of why gifted children need special programming. Recommended. Take this one to your principal or P.T.A.
Articles by Dr. Mark Shapiro, the "Irascible Professor" on education issues. http://irascibleprofessor.com See especially his comment on Gifted and Talented Education, a forgotten stepchild" dated March 17th. http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-3-17-01.htm and his comment for March 1 on "losing the race" http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-3-1-01.htm
"The Other Crisis in American Education" by Daniel Singal comments that the level of preparation of college-bound students declined sufficiently to cause overall SAT scores to drop 60 points despite a slow but steady improvement in the scores of students in the lowest quartile. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/education/singalf.htm
Speeches by Craig Barrett, CEO of Intel (pdf. file) http://nab1.wperfect.com/PDF/Intel%20Barrett%20Speech%20Nov%202001.pdf
"Neither the business nor the education community has done enough to convey the important message that U.S. education is an extremely serious problem, really a ticking time bomb. If not resolved, this inadequate education could eventually lead to enormous repercussions for our citizens, our economy and our nation as a whole. Our educational system needs drastic repair, yet our national leaders are sitting around debating a few details – whether we should have tests, whether we should have assessments, etc. – and really ignoring the task of forging an overall solution to our problems."
http://nab1.wperfect.com/PDF/Intel%20Barrett%20Speech%20Nov%202001.pdf
"The kids at the top of the heap are smarter than ever, but they're a decreasing slice of the pie. You can argue whether we rank 17th, 18th or 20th out of 20 countries in math and science comprehension among our 12th-grade kids. The longer they stay in the system, the worse they get. Who could [and should] tolerate such a system? [It's almost as if we said,] "Let's take a generation of our young people and legislate them into a system where the longer they stay in [school], the worse off they are to compete in the world's economy." This is bloody crazy."
"The Blame Game" ever wondered why the conference you thought would be about providing services to your child ends up being about what's wrong with your child? This article explains why. Written for Special Education parents but equally persuasive for TAG parents .http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/ALESSI1.html
"From "the saddest sound" to the D Major chord: The gift of accelerated progression." Miraca U.M. Gross, http://www.eddept.wa.edu.au/centoff/gifttal/EAGER/MiracaGross.html
"Gifted Children, the myth." An Australian article by Helen Dowland ("Reception" is Kindergarten). Everyone should read this one. http://helendowland.terminus.net.au/gifted_children_the_myth.htm
David C. Baird's Gifted Children Website: a very friendly, straightforward introduction to gifted students and their academic needs. A great source of materials for new parent presentations, school board members, new teachers etc. Written by a teacher and a librarian in Ontario. http://www3.sympatico.ca/daba/gifted/index.html
"Highly Gifted Children in Full Inclusion Classrooms" by Kathi Kearney. Highly Gifted Children, 1996. "Gifted students, especially the highly gifted, are probably the one group in our schools for whom the inclusionary principle of "Age-appropriate placement in local
Internet Resources for Children http://www.ericit.org/weblinks/weblinks.shtml Short list of great websites and search engines, arranged by subject, provided by ERICpublic schools" (Conn, 1992, p. 28) is not developmentally appropriate. " http://www.hollingworth.org/fullincl.html
The Koret Report: "Our Schools and our Future--Are We Still at Risk?" a reassessment of A Nation at Risk by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Reviews information concerning American student achievement and finds the answer is "yes." http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/publications/books/osof.html
"Quo Vadis Gifted Education?" A helpful overview of what in needed to create truly effective programs for gifted students by Joyce VanTassel-Baska. Recommended. http://www.cfge.wm.edu/Professional_Development/VanTassel-BaskaNCNCSpeech2003.pdf
"To Be or Not To be.... Gifted? Identification and Education of the Young Gifted Child," by Susan Grammer, From Gifted Education Press Quarterly http://home.netcom.com/~grammers/ToBeOrNotToBe081501/
"Urban educational challenges Is reform the answer?" Susan Fuhrman, Ph.D::
"My topic for this address is Urban Education Reform. Clearly, there are challenges in urban schools, but what's important and what I want to focus on is that there is no shortage of reforms intended to address them. The question I want to address is - why is reform so prevalent and so disappointing?" http://www.urbanedjournal.org/articles/article0004.html
College advice/admissions/scholarships/minority college advice
http://www.blackexcel.org/ Created to encourage young black and minority students to attend college and to provide information about the historically black colleges and universities. Provides all sorts of college advice and help including scholarship links, advice on attending medical and law school, articles on being an african american in college, financial aid, and a newsletter. Highly recommended for black/minority students; useful for any student.
ASPIRE: a project of Americorps to provide mentoring and college application assistance to Oregon students http://www.osac.state.or.us/aspire.html Check out the "web links" for a wide range of information
WiredScholar. A portal for help with all aspects of college preparation. Provided by Sallie Mae, the leading college loan corporation. Especially helpful on financial advice http://www.wiredscholar.com/ Test information is provided by Kaplan and is limited in scope
ACT testing: ACT also administers the Explore test, widely used by talent searches. Site includes other information.: http://www.act.org/
SATs, AP tests and more: http://www.collegeboard.org Provides articles and research as well as just testing information
U.S. News college pages http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php
StudentJobs This site is intended to help students in college, graduate, and postgraduate programs and "career professionals" to locate grants, internships, apprenticeships and fellowships. It includes a wide range of opportunities for teachers, students and scholars including Javits and Fulbright grants, public policy, health and medicine, curriculum development, agriculture, science and overseas experiences. http://www.studentjobs.gov/
See the Distance Learning Links on the Hoagies site at http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/distance_learning.htm
Center for Distance Educaiton from the Center for Talented Youth, Johns Hopkins. Includes the EPGY program jointly offered by CTY and Stanford University. http://www.jhu.edu/~gifted/cde/
See also http://www-epgy.stanford.edu/epgy/ for Stanford's version
"High School and Beyond"--a list of free online courses fulfilling Maine High School Course requirements. Compiled by Kathi Kearney, this site offers a comprehensive list of online classes including many from the CyberSchool in Eugene. http://www.homeschool-maine.org/high_school_&_beyond.htm#Free%20Online%20Courses
Learn online! http://www.migrant.org is a website developed by the State of Kentucky to assist migrant families who move frequently from school to school by enabling them to take courses online. It is completely free, but to obtain credit for the work you must have a school district representative to supervise and assess the work. The "lessons" are assemblages of websites created by other organizations--migrant.org just puts them together sequentially and offers some organizing help. When I toured I found the math sections seemed to be comprehensive, if uninspiring, but the social studies and humanities/arts sections were inadequate and better used as a supplement to more conventional instruction.
Distance Education links from the Oregon Department of Education. http://www.OregonOne.org/ This site includes both k-12 and college-level distance learning links. Note that some of the links are to school district programs that may require enrollment or fees for credit.
North Dakota Divsion of Independent Study. High School Distance Education for a fee which includes tuition, textbooks and study guides. Some placement tests are offered. http://www.ndisonline.org/
Virtual School for the Gifted, located in Australia http://www.vsg.edu.au/
National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent. Classic report issued by the U.S. Department of Education in 1993 http://www.ed.gov/pubs/DevTalent/
A collection of 42 full-text conference articles from the Australian Conference on the Gifted and Talented in Adelaide, http://www.nexus.edu.au/teachstud/gat/gat.htm
Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education by the Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education of the U.S. National Research Council. Clunky, frustrating web server requires endless patience and sharp eyes. Weighted toward special education rather than gifted education. http://www.nap.edu/books/0309074398/html/
"Reaching the Top: A Report of the National Task Force on Minority High Achievement" (1999) --go to http://www.collegeboard.org/ and search for the title "reaching the top."
Short Web-Based Version of Answers in the Tool Box: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor's Degree Attainment by Clifford Adelman Senior Research Analyst, U.S. Department of Education. finds that the intensity and quality of the secondary curriculum is the single most significant factor in students' attainment of bachelor's degrees. http://www.ed.gov/pubs/Toolbox/toolbox.html
Pursuing Excellence: Initial Findings from the Third International Study of Math and Science, Chapter 4: the Context of Learning" Finds that advanced U.S. students lag behind those of many other countries and that the slower pace of the U.S. mathematics curriculum may be one factor. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/twelfth/chap4.html
The Australian Senate Employment, Workplace Relations, Small Business and Education Committee held a series of hearings across the country on the education of Talented and Gifted Children. in 1999. Both the submissions and the actual testimony are available online.
The submissions are available at http//www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/eet_ctte/gifted/sublist.htm
The submissions consist of about 280 documents. Some of them are simply questionnaires that were returned to the committee, but some of them are very substantial documents including very recent research (one person submitted findings from her just completed PhD. thesis). In particular, there is a moving submission by Shaun Hately about growing up gifted (number 95) an extremely substantial document from Miraca Gross and the GERRIC that is almost a manual of gifted education, (number 215) and a very extensive and carefully researched submission by Tracy Chaloner on the needs of exceptionally gifted children (number 230).
Research resources
A comprehensive bibliography of articles on gifted education and gifted students, classified by subject, and including a summary of each article, from the Center for Talented Youth/Johns Hopkins http://www.jhu.edu/gifted/research/biblio.html
National Research Center for the Gifted and Talented NRCG/T in Storrs, Connecticut. Funded by the US Department of Education, provides TAG-related research studies by nationally respected scholars. Site offers publication list and abstracts-- http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt.html
H-Education is a listserv on the history of education intended for academic researchers. It is part of the H-Net consortium of academic listservs
See also: "Government information" above and "Rports and proceedings" above
Auditory Processing Disorder, often known as CAPD. UK site. http://www.geocities.com/dolfrog/APD_in_UK
American Association of the Deaf-Blind http://www.aadb.org/
Asperger's Syndrome: OASIS - Online Asperger Syndrome Information and Support http//www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/
"Gifted children with AD/HD" by Dierdre Lovecky. This is the most sophisticated article I have seen on this subject. http://ericec.org/fact/lovecky.html
"Before referring a gifted child for ADD/ADHD evaluation" by Sharon Lind. A very informative checklist. http://www.sengifted.org/lindadhd.htm
The Hoagies website offers an extensive set of links on ADD/ADHD at http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/adhd.htm
See also "symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder" on a site sponsored by the National Center on Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] and the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/symptom.htm
Council for Exceptional Children, recommended for parents of "double identified" children, and others seeking advocacy advice-- http://www.cec.sped.org/
Dual Exceptionalities" Concise ERIC Digest guide to recognizing signs of giftedness in students who also have disabilities. Recommended. Copied on the LD Online site http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/gt_ld/ericE574.html
Dysgraphia or trouble with handwriting seems to be a particular problem for gifted boys. See http://www.cdl.org/resources/reading_room/graphomotor.html Provides no advice on left-handedness.
"Guide to the Individualized Education Plan", from the U.S. Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html
"Section 504, the ADA and IDEA" From the Wrightslaw website. A concise account of the distinction between Individualized Education Plans (created under the Individuals with Disabilities Education ACT or IDEA) and a Section 504 Plan (created under the Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA). http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/sec504.summ.rights.htm
An even more concise version, in the form of an ERIC digest, http://ericec.org/digests/e606.html
Learning Disabilities Association of America -- http://www.ldanatl.org/ See especially their "advocacy memos" including "advocacy memo no. 1, denial of eligibility because of gifted intellectual ability/lack of failure" -- http://www.ldanatl.org/bulletins/AC_1_96.html
Learning Disabilities Self-Advocacy manual: something different: a manual written just for students. Well-written, clear and helpful for both kids and adults. Recommended. http://www.ldinfo.com/self_advocacy_manual.htm#top
"Meeting the needs of twice-exceptional children" by Merideth Warshaw. A good place to begin. A general article with links to other important sites. The author maintains the "uniquely gifted" website (see below) http://www.ditd.org/Cybersource/Record.aspx?lib=1&sort=SourceName&scat=902&stype=110&sid=11330&sterm=%22Tips+For+Parents%22
Resources for aiding gifted underachievers, provided by EAGER,-- Encouraging Achievement Gifted Education Resources, an Australian organization -- http://www.eddept.wa.edu.au/centoff/gifttal/EAGER/UAch-Offline.html#anchor102306
See also the EAGER home page with links to other resources http://www.eddept.wa.edu.au/centoff/gifttal/EAGER/Contents.html
"Uniquely gifted" a website for gifted/special needs children http://www.uniquelygifted.org/ edited by Meredeth Warshaw, a co-founder and listowner of GT-Special (see listservs above)
Wrightslaw
Parenting
Tips for Parents: A whole set of articles on parenting and parent advocacy from the Davidson Institute http://www.ditd.org/Cybersource/library/category.aspx?cat=Tips+For+Parents&mid=246
In the category of general parenting advice I especially liked Barbara Clark's article "Tips for parents - Self concept and self-esteem regarding gifted learners"
http://www.ditd.org/Cybersource/library/category.aspx?cat=Tips+For+Parents&mid=246
"Understanding Tests and Measurements for the Parent and Advocate" by Peter D. Wright and Pamela Darr Wright. Written for parents of learning disabled children, but a very thorough explanation of different sorts of testing and how to interpret test scores. Long and somewhat dense, but worth the time. http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/tests_measurements.html
See also the article on testing profoundly gifted children from the Davidson Institute at http://www.ditd.org/floater.php?location=172
The Hoagies site (see above) offers an extensive collection of resources at http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/testing.htm
Unusually, Highly, Exceptionally, or Profoundly Gifted
The Davidson Institute for Profoundly Gifted Children http://www.davidson-institute.org/ . The Institute has been around since 1999 but recently overhauled their website. It now contains a good collection of information and links about meeting the needs of extremely gifted TAG children. See especially their pamphlet for educators which can be downloaded in .pdf format or ordered on the site. The Institute also offers some limited scholarship assistance.
Resources for Students who are Highly or Profoundly Gifted....from ERIC http://ericec.org/fact/gt-profound.html
Radio Show on Exceptionally Gifted Children--from National Public Radio/Boston. Highly recommended. This This program features a 14 year old girl who started to read at 2, and is skipping High School going directly to college as well as experts. Ellen Winner does a great job of articulating the issues. Look for the link "Listen to the show" Requires RealPlayer. Works ok on dial-up connections. http://archives.theconnection.org/archive/2001/07/0712b.shtml
11. Proposal: The ACCESS school for very gifted children http://home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/proposal.htm
See also Access School Frequently Asked Questions(FAQS) http://home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/accessfaqs.htm
Draft 5, the draft that was approved by the PPS school board on February 11, 2002 http://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts/tag/announcements/access5.pdf
12. Articles on educating TAG children by Margaret DeLacy
Is early entry beneficial? a letter to the PPS. Tag Department http://home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/earlyentry.htm
Comments concerning the Portland School District Math adoption http://home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/mycomments.htm
Summary and comments on the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment system (TVAAS) http://home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/tvaas.htm
Grouping Options, Benefits and Disadvantages http://home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/grouping.htm
Acceleration for Gifted Students http://home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/accelera.htm
My comments on student achievement to the School Board, 4/9/01 with test score data. http://home.pacifier.com/~mdelacy/margaret/studentachievement.htm
Summary of "A Study of AP students in High Schools with Large Minority Populations," Educational Testing Service, 1992).
Tables concerning Per Capita Participation in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs by rank and region
page compiled by Margaret DeLacy, Last update, Friday, March 19, 2004. Links to this page are welcomed.