1) First of all, tell us a bit about what you do, your background, training and experience.

I have two grown gifted children (one a doctor, one a math teacher), a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on middle school and gifted education from Kent State, and I currently teach in the Curriculum and Foundations department at Cleveland State University where I teach courses in middle school methods as well as the graduate program in Gifted Education (of which I am also the Program Director.) Before that, I taught middle school English and the gifted program in Beachwood, OH. I have also been a Title I reading teacher, a National Board Certified EA/ELA teacher, a high school English teacher and I also have a principal's license that I've never used. I retired after 30 years in P-12 education, taught at Ursuline College for a year, then had a year off when I wrote a book, and have been at CSU for the last 3 years. My two books are both on meeting the needs of gifted students in middle school. I grew up on Long Island (NY) and went to the University of Buffalo for undergraduate work.

2) Secondly, what is the current state of the art of gifted education in the great state of Ohio? How would you characterize it?

I would characterize the state of gifted education in Ohio (as in most of the United States) as woefully inadequate and schizophrenic. People continually demand excellent academic performance but refuse to nurture or serve the students who demonstrate it!! In Ohio we identify students (with the pitiful state-funded sum of under $3.00) but have no mandate to serve them once they're identified. We have a "brain drain" in the state and yet no educational efforts are made to nurture and retain bright students (and their parents!) Private schools and home schooling are flourishing as a result among this population.

3) Do you think Ohio's attitudes towards gifted education are representative of the United States?

YES, except for NY, Massachusetts and maybe Connecticut. Pennsylvania has a service mandate but it's not really well enforced. Overall, schools in the northeast (public, private, and prep) have a better record with bright and gifted students.

4) Do you have an opinion or any data as to whether Ohio practices acceleration or enrichment?

Ohio has a mandate that all school districts must have an acceleration policy in place (as a result of A Nation Deceived). As a result, more and more school districts are using grade level acceleration and subject acceleration to serve gifted students. But it isn't enough. If one of the characteristics of gifted students is a faster learning pace and they're grade accelerated but the pace (and depth) of instruction aren't appropriate, the grade acceleration loses its power after a fairly short time and the student is again bored and under-served. 

There is no commonly accepted definition for "enrichment", in Ohio or anywhere. Much of it is fluff and fun and there isn't enough emphasis on depth and complexity which is what academically and intellectually gifted students need.

5) Does Ohio require teachers of gifted to have special coursework or certification?

The best answer I can provide is "sort of." What that means is that since services aren't required, if a district decides to serve gifted students, many look for a teacher with a gifted license or endorsement. But sometimes the assumption is that the general education classroom teacher or subject area teacher is adequate for providing this service. In most cases (below HS), this has not been my experience because they have little or no training in how to do this.

6) How has No Child Left Behind Affected attitudes toward gifted? Do teacher and administrator attitudes seem to differ in this regard?

As it has been for almost all children, NCLB has been a disaster for gifted and advanced learners. They have been even more ignored than before since they will pass the state tests. Teachers and administrators attitudes are molded by the criteria by which they are held accountable - which is the testing. So even if they want to do something for gifted learners, they are often held back by state and national regulations which support mediocrity for all!

7) What is going on politically in the state of Ohio, (dare I ask) in terms of gifted education?

We have a strong advocacy organization in OAGC and its leaders. But overall, Ohio's pretty backwards politically in its attitude toward the gifted. We're totally overwhelmed by the special ed parents. The new hot issue is autism. We have over 16% of the state's population identified as gifted in one or more of the 7 areas mandated by the state. But these numbers don't seem to matter to anyone when the funding is doled out. And funding = services and services = increased achievement and satisfaction.

8) Does Ohio have charter schools or voucher programs for parents of gifted kids?

Some charter schools. But they're hard to set up.

9) What question have I neglected to ask?

Value - added. Hopefully, the state's movement toward using Value-added assessments will make people realize that they've got to start serving gifted and advanced learners. Districts' scores are reflecting that their top quintile is making the LEAST progress in a year. (Value-added is supposed to help ensure that all children make at least a year's growth in a year's time.)

Ability grouping. People are ignorant about the benefits of flexible ability grouping. They don't know or understand the difference between tracking and ability grouping (or achievement grouping.) This is detrimental to many groups of learners, including those who struggle. There is always a balance between excellence and equity and I believe we have gone way off the deep end on this one. There are equitable ways to group kids for instruction. Homogeneous grouping works against gifted students now that inclusion has broadened the ability range of any single classroom and creating a span of needs beyond what most human teachers can possibly reach.

Published March 31, 2008