shalahcollins
May 19, 2017
Parents
Hello. I am a parent who recently moved to Bergen County from NY where my child was identified as gifted. He had a 5th grade reading level from Pre-K, which only increased as he got into the natural rhythm of being a student. The teachers in NY recognized his gifts, and differentiated his curriculum accordingly. When he was in Pre-K he was receiving 1st grade level work, when he was in Kindergarten, he was getting 3rd grade level work. His teachers even had discussions about skipping him. They also used compact curriculum to address his abilities.
The problems started when I relocated to North New Jersey in the Fall of 2016. I began asking about resources for Gifted and Talented in my current school district, and was told that children are NOT assessed or evaluated until 2nd grade. Then if after the evaluations, they are deemed Gifted, they are placed in "enrichment classes" in 3rd grade, which still seems insufficient. What happens to the children that are gifted/high ability from Kindergarten? Are those children just to sit around for 3 academic years being unchallenged? This is detrimental to a gifted child. So essentially 3 academic years go by in this district where potential high ability children are being unchallenged. These children are becoming bored and labeled as a disruptive child, or a disrespectful child. They eventually develop bad behaviors in these classrooms due to boredom, and mismatched curriculum that is not addressing their needs.
There is a Public Notice that was published, and filed on January 18, 2017, by a Petitioner named Lenore Cortina. The petition is filed with the State Board of Education. This petition is to request that the State Board adopt amendments to N.J.A.C. 6A:9B, to add an endorsement that requires candidates to complete 15 credit hours from an accredited university in specified subjects and pass the Praxis Gifted Education Test, in an effort to enable teachers to develop, implement, and evaluate gifted identification processes, develop programming and appropriate challenging curriculum, and to provide effective instruction to Gifted and Talented students. This has truly been a nightmare. I am interested in advocacy opportunities, please let me know how I can help. I support your cause 110%.
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