It has become clear that I can no longer provide at home the accelerated level of education Allegra requires. She could pursue a high school education online, of course, but then she would miss the valuable social interaction of the classroom. So she has chosen to attend a public charter school this fall.
Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development has recognized Allegra as being among the country’s ablest 10 percent of students in grades 6 through 9. Based on Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, Northwestern University’s Midwest Academic Talent Search identifies gifted students in order to ensure appropriate academic counseling within the school environment. Northwestern, Johns Hopkins and other universities believe America is failing some of its best and brightest students. In our quest for egalitarian education under “No Child Left Behind,” many school districts have failed to challenge their gifted students. One of Allegra’s former teachers admitted the new wave in education amounts to “Smart Kids Left Behind.”
When Allegra and I toured various local high schools, counselors, obviously skeptical about homeschooling, said they would place Allegra in lower level courses “just to be safe.” I didn’t want her to end up frustrated in high school as she was in middle school. I felt she needed to take a standardized test prior to her entering public high school so that counselors would place her in the appropriate courses. I found the NUMATS program through “A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students,” a Templeton national report on acceleration. Other talent searches exist, but some don’t accept homeschoolers. NUMATS obviously does.
The $82 fee to sign up for NUMATS was well worth it. Allegra took the SAT in March and achieved a combined score of 1850, well above the 1510 to 1520 average achieved by college-bound juniors and seniors. The SAT measures ability in critical reading, writing and mathematics. Based on the participant’s scores, NUMATS provides educational recommendations, which can then be submitted to the student’s school. I sent Allegra’s SAT scores, along with the NUMATS recommendations, to the school she will be attending. To the school’s credit, a guidance counselor called the day she received the information to learn more about Allegra and her educational needs.
Beyond attending parent-teacher conferences, I refrained from “advocating” for Allegra in the early years of her education; however, middle school brought to a head a problem that had likely been building throughout elementary school: her ability outpaced those at her grade level, and she became bored, frustrated and tuned out. In the absence of 1) class leveling according to ability (“tracking”) and 2) a gifted and talented program, she should have been accelerated. Her SAT scores support this. However, public schools tend to avoid accelerating students--for a lot of questionable reasons. Schools are now so focused on getting all students to pass standardized tests that they ignore the needs of children who have already mastered the material. Parents cannot rely on teachers to suggest acceleration. If you think your child should be accelerated, or challenged in other ways, you’ll need to introduce the subject. NUMATS is a great place to start.
Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development has recognized Allegra as being among the country’s ablest 10 percent of students in grades 6 through 9. Based on Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, Northwestern University’s Midwest Academic Talent Search identifies gifted students in order to ensure appropriate academic counseling within the school environment. Northwestern, Johns Hopkins and other universities believe America is failing some of its best and brightest students. In our quest for egalitarian education under “No Child Left Behind,” many school districts have failed to challenge their gifted students. One of Allegra’s former teachers admitted the new wave in education amounts to “Smart Kids Left Behind.”
When Allegra and I toured various local high schools, counselors, obviously skeptical about homeschooling, said they would place Allegra in lower level courses “just to be safe.” I didn’t want her to end up frustrated in high school as she was in middle school. I felt she needed to take a standardized test prior to her entering public high school so that counselors would place her in the appropriate courses. I found the NUMATS program through “A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students,” a Templeton national report on acceleration. Other talent searches exist, but some don’t accept homeschoolers. NUMATS obviously does.
The $82 fee to sign up for NUMATS was well worth it. Allegra took the SAT in March and achieved a combined score of 1850, well above the 1510 to 1520 average achieved by college-bound juniors and seniors. The SAT measures ability in critical reading, writing and mathematics. Based on the participant’s scores, NUMATS provides educational recommendations, which can then be submitted to the student’s school. I sent Allegra’s SAT scores, along with the NUMATS recommendations, to the school she will be attending. To the school’s credit, a guidance counselor called the day she received the information to learn more about Allegra and her educational needs.
Beyond attending parent-teacher conferences, I refrained from “advocating” for Allegra in the early years of her education; however, middle school brought to a head a problem that had likely been building throughout elementary school: her ability outpaced those at her grade level, and she became bored, frustrated and tuned out. In the absence of 1) class leveling according to ability (“tracking”) and 2) a gifted and talented program, she should have been accelerated. Her SAT scores support this. However, public schools tend to avoid accelerating students--for a lot of questionable reasons. Schools are now so focused on getting all students to pass standardized tests that they ignore the needs of children who have already mastered the material. Parents cannot rely on teachers to suggest acceleration. If you think your child should be accelerated, or challenged in other ways, you’ll need to introduce the subject. NUMATS is a great place to start.
