As the state Legislature prepares to return to budget talks next month, it will have its hands full. The devastating side effects of the economic recession must be addressed with urgency and devotion.
Though state lawmakers will need to tackle such issues as homelessness, hunger, job creation and retirement, they cannot ignore several critical education issues, including the curriculum and instruction available to children, particularly those who show talent and potential in the classroom.
Parents and teachers of gifted and talented children have long endured a lack of state resources and support. Indeed, gifted children typically learn at the whim of a patchwork collection of policies, programs, services and funding that vary widely from district to district.
A new report released by the National Association for Gifted Children, the “State of the States in Gifted Education,” confirms the depth of this underinvestment and the consequences it will have if unaddressed.
Unfortunately, Pennsylvania does not fare well, by comparison, in its investment in gifted learners. For school year 2008-09, the state’s investment in gifted and talented learners stood at exactly $0. And, though Pennsylvania has more than 72,000 gifted students, there is only one part-time employee at the Bureau of Special Education responsible for gifted programming — a job that entails monitoring only a minuscule 10 of 500 school districts for their compliance with state gifted education policy.
In addition, despite research linking gifted student learning gains to properly prepared teachers, most gifted students in Pennsylvania spend the majority of their school days in general education classrooms where they are taught largely by teachers who have not been trained to meet the needs of advanced learners.
Pennsylvania does not require all teachers to receive pre-service training, nor does the state require annual staff development in gifted and talented education.
As a result, teachers often are unaware of the unique techniques, skills and strategies that can be employed to recognize, target and instruct gifted learners and help them reach their full potential.
This new data comes on the heels of a national survey conducted last year by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute that found the majority of teachers do not feel adequately prepared to meet the needs of gifted and talented students, nor do they feel encouraged to invest their time and energies in working with these learners.
Yet our brightest students deserve to have resources to develop their potential. The continued, systemic neglect of this entire group of students will ultimately result in long-term negative consequences for the students, our communities and our nation.
For proof, one need look no further than annual student performance data measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
During the last decade, despite impressive gains by students at the low end of the performance spectrum, the scores of students in the top 10 percent have remained largely flat. Other indicators reveal that for bright students from disadvantaged backgrounds, the achievement gap between them and their more affluent peers is growing.
Anyone who has worked diligently to excel in any field — whether academics, athletics, the arts or a trade — knows that achieving proficiency is insufficient for attaining success. It takes commitment to the highest possible standards to make a real contribution and affect positive change.
By focusing many of Pennsylvania’s resources on helping failing students attain proficiency, the state is unintentionally fostering a troublesome underinvestment in the student population most likely to be our next generation of innovators, discoverers and pioneers.
If Pennsylvania wants to prepare our students for the challenges ahead, we must implement true support for high-potential children through a gifted education policy that addresses the needs of these students.
The Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education Board and members urge our Legislature to support and fully fund education for the high-ability students in the following ways: renewal of the governor’s schools of excellence, model programming development, PDE personnel and adequate resources to oversee and administer the mandated education, pre-service and in-service teacher training requirements, and rigorous and relevant real life learning leadership programs.
A renewed commitment to our gifted and talented children is a renewed commitment to education, our students, and our state and communities.
JUDITH MOSSE is president of the Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education.
ANN ROBINSON is president of the National Association for Gifted Children.