Loudoun County Parents of Gifted Students

~ LoCoPOGS ~

October, 2014Hot Topic: “Are American Schools Failing Our Brightest Students?”

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, November 13 PARENT RESOURCE MEETING Topic: "The G-Word; Defining Gifted.”

We will be joined at this meeting by the new Superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools, Dr. Eric Williams.

Location: Bean Tree Learning Pavilion, 43629 Greenway Corporate Dr, Ashburn, Virginia

7:00pm - 8:30pmRSVP on the

Facebook Event Page.

Upcoming Meetings

Tuesday, December 16 EXPERT PRESENTATION & HOLIDAY CELEBRATION

Topic: "Why Boarding School Might Be Right For your Gifted Student”

Bring a dish to share for our potluck dinner! Children will be treated to a complimentary cricket lesson by a certified coach.

Location: Wicket Club,45698 Elmwood Ct, Sterling, Virginia

6:30pm - 8:30pm

RSVP on the Facebook Event Page.

2015 Meeting Dates

Alternating Wednesday and Thursday, all from 7:00-8:30pm

Topics and locations TBA Th, January 22 W, February 25 Th, March 26 W, April 22 Th, May 28 W, June 24 Th, July 23 W, August 26

HOT TOPIC…“A Nation Deceived” & “Dumbing Down America”

“A Nation Deceived” was published in 2004 but is still talked about today

“Dumbing Down America” was published in July of 2014

Bonus… “Why Gifted Education Doesn’t Make

Sense” was published in WashPost by Jay Matthews this month (10/8/14)

“A Nation Deceived”

Promoting acceleration for students who are ready for a greater academic challenge

“Acceleration allows for educational flexibility” for gifted students

There are 18 types of acceleration to consider The big categories include…▪ Single subject acceleration (also called telescoping)▪ Grade skipping▪ Early entrance into K▪ AP/College courses in high school

“Nation Deceived” Research…

Of a group of middle school students who took the SAT… High scoring students can absorb a

year’s worth of high school instruction in 3 weeks

The highest scoring students could absorb a year’s worth of high school in 1.5 weeks

“Nation Deceived” Assertion…

Brown v. Board of Education has not resulted in equality in the classroom Grouping children by age is no different

than grouping children by skin color…it’s an arbitrary characteristic unrelated to a child’s readiness and aptitude for learning

“Nation Deceived” Why…

Teachers and Administrators are uneducated or misinformed about gifted students and their needs Most education degrees do not include a

single course on gifted students There are many misperceptions or

exaggerated disaster stories out there about acceleration

There are few other cases where research supports a concept so strongly but educators ignore the research

“Nation Deceived” For parents…

Characteristics about your child to consider Curriculum mastery Motivation Social-emotional maturity Interests

I would add one more… Physical size

Grade Skipping in LCPS…

The “IAS Kit” (Iowa Acceleration Scale) is available from Julie Kelly’s office

You can purchase it yourself at greatpotentialpress.com

Grade Skipping A Real Case Study