The February 18-24 issue of The Madison Times has a front page article on Donna Ford's recent visit to Madison by Laura Salinger.
Talented and Gifted program boosts student achievement
by Laura Salinger
Closing the achievement gap remains a hot topic in education these days. While statistics suggest that Black and Hispanic students are narrowing the academic-achievement gap that separates them from White and Asian students, the problem persists in schools nationwide.
An equally troubling problem is the small number of students of color in Talented and Gifted (TAG) programs. Along with other schools nationwide, the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) is struggling to increase minority representation in TAG programming.
"We know that our numbers are typical of what we are seeing nationwide," TAG program coordinator Welda Simousek said. "We have [fewer] minorities represented than we would like."
Simousek estimates that only 1-2 percent of students participating in MMSD TAG programs are students of color. It is a problem that the TAG department is addressing by working with students, parents, and other MMSD departments.
The TAG parent group, with support from MMSD’s Parent Community Relations Department, West High School, UW-Madison Counseling and Psychology, and American Family Insurance, recently invited Vanderbilt University professor Dr. Donna Ford to speak to parents and educators. A well-known expert on recruitment and retention of minority children in gifted programs, Ford discussed what can be done to increase minority participation in TAG programs.
Dr. Ford knows firsthand the effects that poverty and race have on education. She is a minority who was raised by a single mother in an economically disadvantaged family. These are among some of the biggest factors that increase risk for student underachievement.
"We grew up in a very economically disadvantaged community in east Cleveland," Ford said. "Basically, I grew up in poverty. I grew up with a mother who didn’t have a college degree. I grew up without my father."
But, Ford had one thing in her favor. Her mother was a strong advocate for education. Rather than buying shoes for her kids, Ford’s mother bought books. Rather than watching TV and playing video games, the children were expected to read and study diligently.
"She knew that the best way for us to be successful was to keep our focus on school," Ford said. "My mother demanded respect and we feared that."
Ford went on to earn her Ph.D. in Urban Education before turning 30. She also has a Masters of Education degree in counseling and a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications and Spanish. Her work has been recognized by numerous professional organizations, including an Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association and the Esteemed Scholarship Award from the National Association of Black Psychologists. She is the author of numerous articles and books, including Reversing Underachievement Among Gifted Black Students and Multicultural Gifted Education.
Ford’s mission is to increase minority participation in gifted programs.
"African American and Hispanic students are underrepresented by 50 percent in gifted programs," Ford said. "I am determined that before I leave this place, I am going to desegregate gifted education."
Dr. Ford attributes the low number of minorities in TAG programs to a variety of factors, including the quality of schools and teachers, peer pressure, home environment, and psychological makeup. Standardized testing can also be an unfair and biased measure of intelligence, she said, considering that most tests are written by middle-class White people.
Other factors leading to underachievement include culturally incompetent teachers who simply don’t know how to teach a multicultural classroom and teachers who place low expectations on minority students.
Teachers who are quick to refer minority students to special education, Ford said, may be too slow in recommending minority students for gifted programs.
Peer pressure also plays an important role in minority-student achievement. When minority students are identified as gifted, their peers may accuse them of “acting White,” Ford said. Parents can be the biggest influence in fighting peer pressure.
"Parent involvement is essential at home and in school," Ford said. "Parent involvement is being consistent, being a role model, and investing in your children’s education."
Minority students also need to be comfortable in the skin they are in. Ford said this is often not the case.
"Children who have high self-esteem do well in school," Ford said. "If children don’t like the skin they’re in, then these students are not going to do well. I’m really concerned that too many students of color are not comfortable being who they are racially."
Ford stressed over and over the importance of parent involvement and/or adult role modeling for students of color.
"We have to encourage children to like school, to challenge themselves, and to learn from their mistakes," she said.
In Madison, the achievement gap has received plenty of attention, but little attention has been paid to the potential that minorities are overlooked for TAG programs. Simousek says that MMSD utilizes a unique model for identifying gifted students. Rather than solely using teacher referrals and test scores, as many school districts do, TAG resource teachers spend time in classrooms to seek out additional gifted students who are not referred. When a student is being evaluated for TAG programming, the whole class is then evaluated in search for other gifted students.
TAG has also implemented a pilot program in several middle schools, in hopes of increasing minority participation.
"We have met with minority students and tried to make them aware of programs that are out there," Simousek said. "We are also working to increase awareness among parents."
Simousek stressed the importance that TAG reach all students who could benefit from TAG programming.
"We’ve lost something that we can’t get back when we’ve lost a child’s potential," she said.
Leave it to New Yorkers to leave no sacred cows. Read on and enjoy the picture -
Gift to the City — is it Art or for the Birds? "The Crackers" is as much a public happening as it is a tasty snack, defying the domino theory. Peanut butter or cheddar cheese. They poured their hearts and souls into the project for over 26 minutes. It required three dozen crackers and spanned over nearly 23 inches along a footbridge in the park at a cost (borne exclusively by the artists) of $2.50. Is it art? You decide. The installation was completed with no permits or bureaucracy, and fed to the ducks after about a half hour. "The Crackers" is entirely for profit
From University Communications
Workshop focuses on using algebra to teach arithmetic
(Posted: 2/21/2005)
Helping grade-schoolers make the difficult transition from arithmetic to algebra is the goal of a one-day workshop on Tuesday, March 1.
"Thinking Mathematically: Teaching Elementary Students to Use Algebraic Reasoning to Support the Learning of Arithmetic," sponsored by the Office of Education Outreach, will be held at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St.
The aim of the workshop is to increase teachers' understanding of how the fundamental principles imbedded in arithmetic can provide a foundation for learning arithmetic with understanding as well as learning algebra.
The session, which runs from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., will be led by Annie Keith, a teacher in the Madison Metropolitan School District and a member of the Cognitively Guided Instruction research project at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER), and Linda Levi, associate researcher at WCER.
Participants will learn about research that demonstrates how the principles of algebra apply to the learning of arithmetic. Keith and Levi also will discuss how to teach arithmetic so that the concepts and skills that students learn in elementary school are better aligned with the concepts and skills that they need in order to learn algebra.
Ensuring the individual applicability of the program, participants will be asked to pose certain problems to their students before the workshop and bring to the workshop information about how their students solved the problems.
Cost for the session is $135 and participants will be awarded 0.6 continuing education units for attendance. This workshop addresses Wisconsin Teacher Standards 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8.
For more information, contact Julie Seaborg, Office of Education Outreach, at (608) 263-5140 or visit the Office of Education Outreach's Web page.
Kurt Kiefer via email:
I'm writing in response to your questions from last week re: boundary change options. Tim Potter, research analyst on my staff who is handling all of the GIS work on the project, provided the details.Big props to the very active Kiefer's - Kurt's better half Jone' is an excellent elementary school teacher while son Oliver is the student representative on the Board of Education.a) Leopold at 1040 students. I seem to recall the original plan was 800? (it's now much less than that) Is this correct?
We are not sure how the 1040 figure is derived. Leopold with current boundaries is projected to have 750 students by 2010. Since the new developments are all within the Leopold attendance boundary they are incorporated in that projection. The McGaw Park development, for which there is no plat yet created, would not be included in the projection. Capacity at the Leopold site WITH a new school would be 1120. Students in Leopold in the various modules ranges from 582 to 875.
b) What are the implications of that growth on cherokee and west?
Depending on which plan you are referring to, yes, there could be an impact on Cherokee and West. Cherokee is currently projected to reach 100% capacity in 2010. The two new, platted developments (i.e., Swan Creek and Oak Meadow) are already in the Leopold attendance area so they are already in the projections. Thoreau already feeds into Cherokee and West so the return of those areas to Leopold would not have an impact at middle/high. The return of the area from Chavez could have an impact. On 3rd Friday, there were 31 and 33 middle high students in this area. On 3rd Friday, 21 of the middle school students were enrolled at Toki and 5 at Cherokee. Of the 33 high school students in this area, 11 attend West and 18 attend Memorial. Capacities at Cherokee and West are 648 and 2173 students, respectively.
c) What about Wright Middle School?
Wright is listed with a capacity of 324 and currently they have 207 students. Wright could alleviate any problems at Cherokee that might be caused by new developments.
d) Some wondered why Velma Hamilton was not affected by any of the
scenarios.Any changes being made to the elementary schools which feed Hamilton would affect the latter. None of the plans affect Franklin, Randall, Shorewood Hills or Van Hise Elementary Schools. These schools are not experiencing significant changes in enrollments due to changing housing patterns or developments.
Let us know if you have any further questions.
Kurt Kiefer
Madison Metropolitan School District
Planning/Research & Evaluation
608-663-4946
kkiefer at madison.k12.wi.us