November 02, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Too smart for school?

by Alexandria Rocha

Elaine Miller's youngest daughter soaks in mathematics like some children absorb video games or candy. The first-grader at Duveneck Elementary School constantly inquires about high-level math terms and asks her mom to give pop quizzes.

This affinity to math, however, has led to a conundrum of sorts for the Millers.

"She's not challenged by the school's current math curriculum. The teacher is making an effort to make the problems harder for my daughter, but it's not challenging her enough," Miller said. "My feeling is that every kid shouldn't be pushed in math, but if a kid has a passion for it, you should feed it."

Miller is not alone. In fact, many Palo Alto parents are concerned that their academically-advanced children, particularly those with a knack for math, are not being offered appropriate-level material. As a result, the kids can become bored in class, miss picking up necessary study skills, and in extreme cases, grow depressed.

"You go into a classroom of 20 kids and there are invariably four or five kids who have complete command of the subject and could be doing so much more. We need to do a much better job as a district of serving that population," said Xenia Hammer, a parent of three district students. "Kids in sixth-grade in junior high are bored to tears in their math classes."

The issue is not unique to Palo Alto. It is occurring across the nation, and has led one expert to say it's the "slow but steady erosion of American excellence."

According to "A nation deceived," a 2004 report by the John Templeton Foundation, the nation's school system "keeps bright students in line by forcing them to learn in a lock-step manner with their classmates. Teachers and principals disregard students' desires to learn more -- much more -- than they are being taught."

The report, endorsed by the National Association for Gifted Children goes on to say it is "a national scandal."

Like schools everywhere, Palo Alto campuses are under increased pressure to make sure students annually test "proficient" in math and English language arts, as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Students here traditionally meet the benchmarks easily -- about 80 percent of the kids tested last year scored proficient or advanced in those subjects -- there is still a major focus on the students who are, or are at risk of, falling through the cracks.

"We're turning off some of the kids who are the most adept," said school board Vice President Mandy Lowell.

Many districts answer this problem by operating Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) programs, where identified students are pulled out of mainstream classes for advanced lessons. The Palo Alto Unified School District has never had such a program.

A small number of students are identified as gifted each year, starting in the fourth-grade. For example, 33 students at Fairmeadow Elementary School, 11 at Walter Hays and 26 at Nixon were flagged as gifted and talented last year, according to the elementary school site plans released this week.

But after a student is identified, either through standardized tests or teacher recommendations, parents are sent a notice and that's where the gifted and talented education for most of those students ends, according to some parents.

Part of the problem has been the recent budget cuts. This school year, federal government funding for GATE programs dropped to $11 million, while Bush's No Child Left Behind act was allotted $24.4 billion. The district eliminated its GATE coordinator position a few years ago.

Other school officials say there are too many accelerated students for a full-scale GATE program to operate properly.

"The student population is unusually exposed, skilled and capable. To have a pull-out program means we would probably have to pull out half or two-thirds of each class," said John Lents, principal of Addison Elementary School. "We prefer to address it from the curricular angle, increasing the pace, deepening the instruction, learning experiences, and building relationships."

Lents is referring to what is called "differentiated instruction," which essentially means that teachers provide students material appropriate to their level of learning. Some parents say it's a great idea, but just isn't happening.

Lowell said it does happen, but varies from school site to school site.

"That asks a lot of the teacher. It really places the whole burden on the teacher and it's really hard to do well," said Hammer, an active parent volunteer.

Lowell said there is more effort to challenge the high-achieving students at certain sites, including Addison, El Carmelo and Nixon elementary schools, than others.

"Even when we had a gifted coordinator I think many people would describe the services to high-achieving kids as uneven at best," she said.

Lowell said she would like to see more teachers pre-testing students in material before it is taught. That way, when a student already has a strong command of the topic, the teacher can assign different work.

"Some kids will score 95 percent before the material is taught. They shouldn't be sitting through material that they've already mastered," Lowell said.

Hammer said "laning," where students are grouped together according to academic levels, should begin in sixth-grade -- rather than seventh -- for math.

To meet her daughter's academic needs, Miller enrolled her in an after-school math program called Foundations for Education taught by students at Stanford University. Miller said it is a stellar program, but is also expensive. The year-long program costs nearly $1,000, while a three-month session costs between $370 and $390.

Last year, Miller tried to bring Foundations for Education to her daughter's school. She didn't get far.

"There was a strong sense that ... the children should be playing in the afternoon and not doing more academics," she said. "The ideal for me would be to have the kind of challenges she's getting in Foundations for Education during school hours, so I do not have to have the separate expense."

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