”Keeping Minnesota’s Gifted Learners in School”

University of St. Thomas Conference

Summary of Jan Hansen’s Presentation: “Gifted Dropouts: A Message of Educators”

Prof. Jan Hansen reported on research she has started that involves examining students who dropped out of high school. This research is in its early stages, and currently includes a small sample of students (11), who have been surveyed and interviewed about their school experiences and the reasons behind their decision to leave school early.

The sample includes 7 boys and 4 girls, ranging in ages from 14-18 when they dropped out, with current ages from 16-31. For the females, the key reasons given for leaving school included:

• Poor learning environment
• Teachers with no respect for others and bad teaching skills
• Family problems
• Social problems: drinking, drugs, pregnancy, depression

For the males, the reasons for leaving included:

• Poor relationship with faculty, teachers
• Lack of respect from teachers and other students
• Lack of academic challenge
• Social problems: drinking, drugs, didn’t fit in

Prof. Hansen noted while each student had his/her own situation, the common themes across all students interviewed were that each had suffered a significant loss (death or suicide of parent or family member); each was a highly sensitive person, and each felt a strong lack of trust. When asked what would have kept them in school, the students reported:

• If I had someone to trust
• Better teachers
• More challenging courses
• A chance to learn more

While noting that all the students in the survey came from families with problems, it was clear that all believed they would have stayed in school if they felt a connection to someone at school whom they could trust. According to Prof. Hansen, this further emphasizes the important role teachers can play in a young person’s life: perhaps being the person who recognizes the abilities of these students, and helps them stay in school.

Summary of Karen Rogers Presentation: “Stories of School Change: The Changes That Have Been Made and the Ones That Need to Be!”

Based on her experiences with approximately 250 Minnesota families over the past six and a half years, Prof. Roger’s summarized actions needed to keep gifted learners in school and ways in which Minnesota schools have responded to those needs. Although the overall improvement is encouraging, Prof. Roger’s recommended that more is needed to serve the needs of G/T students, to keep them engaged in school, and achieving their full potential.

Her population data was described as follows:

• 60% boys
• 40% girls
• 80% Caucasian
• 60% middle class or higher

Reasons for seeking educational planning:

• 35% concerned that high performing child is unhappy at school because of lack of challenge
• 30% concerned that child is acting out or being acted upon at school because of “differentness”
• 15% concerned that high performing reader will not be challenged in Kindergarten or first grade
• 10% had a preschool teacher reported child gifted or “unusual”
• 5% had a child that failed to pass district test criteria
• 5% knew of giftedness in the family; want to know child’s level

For elementary students, Prof. Rogers recommended several options to keep gifted children in this age group engaged, including:

• Identifying knowledge and skills GT students can learn beyond grade level
• Use school counselor for social/emotional groups for GT students on weekly basis
• Bring computer keyboarding skills and speed up to adult levels
• Provide consistent academic challenge at their level
• Provide DI, Inventors’ Fairs, etc. for creatively and spatially gifted
• Develop zero tolerance policy for hazing and bullying related to ability or disability
• Develop K-2 options for individual GT students that are academically based, including online learning options, special groups, etc.

For middle school students, Prof. Rogers noted that, contrary to common opinion, this is NOT a plateau time for G/T students. In fact, Prof. Rogers noted that it is the critical decision time for G/T students to decide whether or not they will be achievers and show their gifts. For girls, this critical age is around 12, while for boys it occurs a year or two later, 13-14 years of age. Several educators and education professionals in the audience reported observing that this critical time may be even earlier: as early as 8-10 for girls, and 9-11 for boys. Therefore, Prof. Rogers recommended several actions to keep late elementary - middle school G/T students engaged:

Daily, consistent challenge in all four academic areas through regrouped-by-performance classes;

• Provide SERIOUS foreign language learning, with accelerated pace and high expectations;
• Encourage participation in Talent Search testing and programs;
• Consider grade telescoping to change pacing of curriculum;
• Provide opportunities for creative expression in GTs’ non-academic passion areas, including writing, dance, theater, music, visual arts, computer graphics;
• Provide classes or after school opportunities for reading the “classics”;
• Focus on history and chronology in most academic subjects;
• Provide opportunities for abstract thinking through studies in philosophy and the Humanities.

The good news is some progress has been made in improving services to GT students, as seen by services received by families Prof. Rogers has worked with. Several of them were allowed to grade-skip or enter school early; several were given compacted materials in area(s) of strength or provided special projects in lieu of regular work, some were allowed to join a high ability cluster group or pull-out program. Of the 250 students seen by Prof. Rogers:

• 33 were allowed to grade skip (13%)
• 32 were given compacted materials (13%)
• 29 were placed in a school pull-out program (12%)
• 22 were cross-graded in specific area of academic strength (9%)
• 22 were encouraged to engage in some arts experience (9%)
• 19 were placed in school-sponsored competition (8%)
• 17 were re-placed with teacher who was supportive of giftedness (7%)
• 14 were allowed to enter school early (6%)
• 13 were placed in a cluster group or regrouped class (5%)
• 9 set up friendship group with like ability children (4%)
• 7 placed child in another school in the district (3%)
• 6 provided a mentor or volunteer to tutor in area of strength (3%)

While this progress is encouraging, Prof. Rogers called for continued efforts to improve and expand upon these options in order to keep gifted learners in school.