We are several families whose children attend the Montgomery Twp School District. In March 2004 John met Mary Ellen, Deborah and Lisa at the annual NJAGC conference, and we all realized we lived in Montgomery and faced similar struggles in getting an appropriate eductaion for our children in the school district.

So, in July 2004 John finally did something about it. Turns out Mary Ellen was ready too. They contacted Deborah and Lisa and other parents that they knew might be interested all thru personal contacts alone.

From July to Sept 2004 we had 4 meetings. We shared our experiences. Although all our children had different interests and abilities, we shared a common vision of developing a curriculum in Montgomery which would meet our child wherever they happened to be and take them further -- to provide real learning, real academic growth. We knew this meant going beyond the the current grade-leveled curriculum.

We decided our name, MAX-ED and defined or Mission Statement.

Then we met with our Assistant Superintendent who is in charge of all curriculum in our school. Our school, because of state mandates, and a recent state inspection, was already starting to implement an Enrichment Curriculum. We went in to announce our existence, and to express our hope to work with the administration in the future in a supportive and positive way. We were very supportive of their efforts so far. Staying on this positive note we feel was key.

One of our concrete goals in that meeting was to be able to have a presence at an upcoming parent orientation night our district had schedule for those whose kids were in the enrichment program. Our Super agreed to let us have a table there.

So we organized our selves to get ready for this meeting. This meant coming up with a logo, a website, a flier announcement and copies of research -- just skimming the surface -- to hand out. Hoagiesgifted.com's Gifted 101 was featured. This was a big push, but it was worth it. We handed out 100s of pages of research and took in over 75 signups.

So, we will now (10/7/2004) incorporate new members, support them and each other with our individual sturggles, do more research, decide on short term goals, and try to improve the educational experience -- the academic growth -- of our children.

Some Key Information:

Straight from the horses mouth: NJDOE*   Definition:

"Gifted and talented students" means those exceptionally able students who possess or demonstrate high levels of ability, in one or more content areas, when compared to their chronological peers in the local district and who require modifications of their educational program if they are to achieve in accordance with their capabilities. (emphasis ours)

Report to congress: "NATIONAL EXCELLENCE: A CASE FOR DEVELOPING AMERICA'S TALENT" <http://www.ed.gov/pubs/DevTalent/toc.html>, 1993. found, among other things,
  • "A Quiet Crisis in Educating Talented Students"
  • "Since 1972, the number of students with high scores (over 600 out of a possible 800) declined by more than 40 percent on the verbal portion."
  • "A 1986 study of first and fifth graders in the United States, Taiwan, and Japan found no innate intellectual differences among the children." Yet in mathematics, even tho american children represented 33% of the sample, they represented only 15% of the top 100 children.
  • A large international study of 20 countries, released in February 1992, tested 9- and 13-year-olds in mathematics and science. Findings show that, except for 9-year-olds tested in science, American students ranked close to the bottom when scores of the top 10 percent of students tested in each country were compared.
  • To gauge achievement of American high school students in science, we can turn to a study comparing U.S. seniors taking Advanced Placement (AP) courses in science with top students in 13 other countries. U.S. students represented the top 1 percent of students in the nation. The study found that American students were
    • 13th out of 13 in biology;
    • 11th out of 13 in chemistry; and
    • 9th out of 13 in physics.
  • In mathematics, the top 1 percent of students in the United States scored very poorly when compared to a similar group of students in 13 countries:
    • 13th out of 13 in algebra and
    • 12th out of 13 in geometry and calculus.
  • "Graduate school enrollments of American students in mathematics and science have declined substantially in the past 20 years, while the number of foreign-born students enrolled has risen. In 1990, 57 percent of doctorates granted in the United States in mathematics went to students from other nations." [MAX-ED: can't we get into our own schools?]

There is a famous report to congress by Sidney P. Marland in 1972. I can't find a copy of it, but here some info about it:

Public Law 91-230, Section 806(c) authored by former Senator Jacob K. Javits of New York, Sidney P. Marland, Commissioner of Education for the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, evaluated the status of education for gifted and talented children by conducting public hearings, reviewing existing Federal education programs, studying programs in representative states, convening an advisory panel, and completing a survey of states. The advisory panel established the following definition of gifted and talented:
This description from: "Query: Are Programs and Services for Gifted and Talented Students Responsive to Beliefs?" <http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/newsletter/spring02/sprng021.html>

A bibliography reference to it:

Marland, S. Jr. (1972). Education of the gifted and talented. Report to Congress fo the United States by the U.S. Commissioner of Education. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
In biblography of: "On Testing," by Elizabeth Meckstroth <http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/on_testing.htm>

More history about it:

In 1969, Congress mandated a study by the U.S. Commissioner of Education to determine the extent to which the needs of gifted and talented children were being met (Sisk 1980). The ensuing document, known as the Marland Report (1972), contains a definition of giftedness that has been and continues to be the one most widely adopted or adapted by state and local education agencies. The Report states:

Gifted and talented children are those identified by professionally qualified persons who, by virtue of outstanding abilities, are capable of high performance...

From: "Defining Giftedness. 1985 Digest." <http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-923/defining.htm>

Another version of the history

. In 1957, Sputnik gave impetus to the need for more advanced content in mathematics and science and helped fuel the National Defense Education Act in 1958 (Piirto, 1999). In 1972, The Marland Report was issued to Congress noting the deteriorating state of gifted and talented education (Delisle, 1999; Piirto). The report raised public awareness regarding the needs of the gifted and talented.
From: "Influential people in gifted education" <http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HRV/is_4_25/ai_94769474>

 

 

 

 

 

  max-ed "more info" page / last updated Mar 10, 2005