Thoughts on treatment of gifted kids/politics in schools

I thought I would post a copy of an email I wrote to Drake's former principal. It has probably too much info but it has some of my thoughts on his experience the last few years getting properly labled as gifted, and how much better he is doing now that he is. I wasn't aware that there is a faction of teachers very opposed to doing so, and now I know to look out for it,

Hi Principal X,
I hope I have made it clear in the past how highly I regard both both you and your school. I say so whenever I get the chance to whoever will listen. My high esteem of you also has helped me be able to trust your opinion in cases where it differs with mine, something that is very rare for me, and also very useful, because I am sure all too often parents make emotional decisions without the benefit of heeding the advice of professionals.

So my purpose for writing is to give a bit of feedback on the outcome of a circumstance we discussed a few years back. Actually it came about in regard to whether to separate the twins or not. I wasn't sure they were ready, but I deferred to you because of my regard for your experience and my trust that you knew the boys well individually. Overall I am sure that you were right about the twins and the separation was good for Chase and helped him escape his brother's shadow at a crucial time. So my trust in you paid off and I thank you.
One of the peripheral issues that I had at the time was that I was less than thrilled with my oldest son's experience in Ms. X's class and was even more concerned about how his experience would play out with Chase.

I didn't exactly even notice how distinctive certain aspects of her teaching philosophy were until Drake happened to be placed in her sister's class at (another school). It appears that they both have a rather strong preference against labelling children, at least mine, as advanced or gifted, and she seems to be less than laudatory of any prodigial achievement in her students, seeming to for some reason concentrate instead on whatever aspects they do less well at, such as handwriting, and defer any pronouncement on their abilities at a higher level.

The affect of this on my oldest son was quite profound. She was his first teacher that declined to label him as gifted, advanced, or whatever word in current parlance that encompasses those qualities. It happened that it was at a crucial time for him in several ways. One was that my illness made it so that I was less able to focus on what was happening and compensate for it and make any changes. Also the stressful time in our family made it such that he was more likely to respond to the downward shift in his reception at school, and it caused him to disassociate himself with advanced students or higher achievement in general.

Practically, she was the teacher right before his transition to (the new school) causing him to not be recommended for the advanced 'continent' there. He floundered badly his two years there, with one teacher that seemed overbearing to him and thus he was reluctant to do much of anything, and last year with Miss X who was very much the same in philosophy and practice as Ms X. Slade and I had gotten on top of the situation by then and so we fought hard against her decision to not recommend him for advanced placement at (middle school). His test scores were borderline, probably somewhat because of his less than great experience the previous three years, so her opinion had a good deal of weight. Luckily Slade was able to sway the right people and convince them that lowering expectations on a student that was very probably capable of more would result in a reduced performance, and that they should instead do the opposite for the opposite result.

Unfortunately, not being at all times in the best mode of controlling myself, at a P/T conference I expressed to Miss X with frankness that I thought they had mishandled my son and led to his floundering the past three years. She was upset, and very much concentrated on how I had made her feel, rather than at all attempting to evaluate the truth of what I had said, which she never ended up doing. This is very commonly how people respond when they feel aptly criticized, to concentrate on the inappropriateness of the exchange rather than the content. If people feel that they can actually respond and counter what you say to them they more likely choose to do that instead.

My apology for the inappropriateness of what I said was all that she really wanted, and after I gave it to her, she never ended up keeping her end of the bargain to fairly consider what I had said.

But the story has an ending which is mostly happy while still somewhat unfortunate. During Drake's first month at (middle school) we had a constant barrage of notes and such requesting that he be evaluated immediately for placement as TAG, and some teachers expressed open confoundment that he had not been previously labeled, considering how clearly advanced he is in their opinions. Because Slade had basically all but insisted, he was placed in Algebra rather than Pre-Algebra as Miss X had suggested, and though he is doing well (he has the highest grade in the class of mostly classmates that have had Pre-Algebra) and has finally found his voice so to speak to inspire him as an achievement-oriented student, we are all very frustrated that he is now behind. He has to spend hours every night on his homework doing things he should have been learning at (other school), and this is not a good situation for the family at this time when my health is still easilly destabalized with the slightest stress. He clearly should have been in Pre-Algebra last year and now feels, even though he is doing as well as he is, that he is having to play catch up.

Though Ms X and Miss X philosophy about this subject seems quite clear and distinctive, I am not, however, able to explain it. It may be a political thing--some teachers feel it is unfair to distinguish some students above others and thus choose not to. They feel education should focus on a common minimum that all can achieve rather than encouraging each to do the best he can, because the latter would have results that would unfairly stratify society in their opinion.
I have no particular answers to these issues other than how they have affected my children. Drake almost visibly shrank in his interest and estimation of school performance during and after Ms X tenure. As soon as he was again made to feel that he was capable of good things, he blossomed immediately. I so wish that he hadn't wasted the last three years like this. He would have been so much better served if he had been in Africa like the twins now are. They are receiving the treatment and preparation that Drake should have had, for he is in no way less capable than either of them. Archer is going to be sent over to the middle school for Algebra even earlier than many of Drake's classmates, and he is no more capable than Drake was.

So telling you this is not to be understood to be any criticism of you or my belief that you were wrong about even a part of your decision. In fact I assume that part of the reason Chase didn't share Drake's fate was that I had expressed this concern to you and you were monitoring the situation, with clear benefits. And it may be that no one had given you this particular feedback about Ms X and the consequences of her teaching philosophy, and so if that is the case it might benefit students down the road to have this feedback from me if you happen to find it useful.
I bear no ill will toward any of those involved, I just happen to disagree with both their decisions and the philosophies that apparently motivated them. The empirical results as soon as he was treated differently have been obvious to everyone, including to him.

At the P/T conference I mentioned, he was initially very embarrassed that I spoke so frankly (I didn't lose my temper or anything, I just said that I didn't agree with how she and her sister had failed to identify him as TAG unlike any of the rest of his previous or subsequent teachers and said that it seemed to be negatively impacting him). Now, though, looking back, Drake sees exactly what I was saying, he agrees fully, and has thanked me for speaking up for him. He sees the episode as evidence that I understand him and am motivated for his interests. My energy level doesn't always allow such enthusiasm.

So it isn't too late for him even though he has to work harder. It may be that it benefits him to resolve the issue of whether he wants to self identify as an achiever now rather than later when the stakes are higher.

And in a somewhat related aside before I conclude, this has not been the only case where the political views of a teacher are somewhat frustrating to me. We tend to tolerate this type of thing because we feel we can usually make up for it at home (this above issue happened to be one that had a large impact), but I wouldn't be fully honest if I didn't express some frustration at the free hand teachers seem to have in expressing their ethical views.

Ms. X, (another teacher) who I personally love and adore and has been very good for my kids so I would forgive her a world of foibles, a few years ago had a political debate in class on the presidential candidates in which she personally cast a vote. Teachers typically are considered to have the 'right answers' so a vote cast openly for a candidate probably does not leave a remotely neutral connotation to students. She also led the class in a debate, with herself as the leader for the D candidate, and my son Archer as the leader for the R candidate. Archer led the president to a victory in his class by one vote (a somewhat similar margin to the national election), but I think that it was a bit inappropriate for a teacher to express such preferences openly to her students considering the influence they would naturally have as an authority figure so often in a position to tell children right vs wrong. Again, this was not a big deal and I didn't want to say anything at the time, and am now doing so because I have brought up the larger context.

Other issues, such as a classroom with a solitary poster theme year after year of evolution or natural selection all over the walls, of all the principles and facts of the natural world to focus on, could perhaps be seen to be chosen because it counters a worldview the children might be taught at home. It could be a reasonable request in my opinion to focus on a natural science theory less associated with controversy and more generally accepted by all worldviews, and any hesitation by teachers to acquiesce might mean they are indeed interested in the indoctrinating potential it provides them.

Today, in Ms X's class, Sadie was taught about Global Warming. I don't think this is inappropriate per se, except that to teach six year olds a theory which has components (planetary atmosphere, states of matter, etc.) that are individually far beyond the level of the students to understand to me smacks a bit of indoctrination--the hope that the overall ethic can be transmitted wholesale before there is an ability or interest on the students' part to analyze what is being presented to them.

These last issues are not that concerning. Overall, unlike the issue of class placement, we feel that they aren't issues that we can't counteract with our own teaching. It is a bit unfortunate, though, that with all the things on earth and in the heavens, teachers often seem motivated to teach things that are of a controversial nature and not among the basic skills or facts that all parties could agree on as a fundamental part of an education to be built on in all cases. For instance, why couldn't these teachers, instead of making manmade GW theory, evolution, environmental activism their focus, couldn't they choose a component such as teaching them some part of understanding the natural or physical sciences to which no parent, no matter the worldview, would object?

I think again, the answer to my own question is that perhaps education is not their only objective, and they are potentially using their influence to guide the ethical and political choices of their students. I feel this is an unfortunate circumstance, particularly because if the ethical and political beliefs that i happen to have were so openly expressed to children those views would certainly be censored, even though they represent another half of the political spectrum and thus one would think they would be equally respected in the education system.
But rather than ask that anyone show respect for my own views, I would much rather any topics which have a controversial nature be avoided altogether.

It is an unfortunately hostile environment for parents with certain non favored politics, and I think it is what forces many of them out of the public school system. We won't go that route, but still we think that it is unfortunate that our efforts need be spent undoing things done at school when it could instead be augmenting something that no one would have any problem with. I would much rather, for example, spend my time supplementing my son's math background than presenting the other sides to controversies. The one is essential, the latter is only required by circumstance.

And certainly I think while my daughter still needs to learn to read and do basic math, controversial political theories don't belong as a prominent part of her school curriculum. I understand that you have many people to please and will again trust your judgement, but I didn't think that there would be any purpose served by my remaining completely silent on the issue, even though I will continue to be supportive of you and your school in any case.
Best,