<p>It can mean anything or nothing, depending on the school system.</p>
<p>In the New Jersey school system where my kids started school, only about 2 percent were labeled as gifted, starting at the end of 3rd grade, and it meant that they were eligible for a full-time special program.</p>
<p>In the Maryland school system where we moved later, something like 30 percent of the students are labeled as gifted some time in elementary school. It affects middle school class placements, but it is possible for a student to be in a G/T section in one subject but not another. The gifted label is thrown around so casually that it’s kind of humiliating for a kid to have to admit that he’s not labeled as gifted.</p>
<p>In some districts, ‘gifted’ kids have opportunity to enroll in specialized programs. Be careful though: not all these programs are automatically better just because they’re geared to that one specific population. My son attended a highly regarded ‘gifted’ program in middle school - and for him, it was a disaster. He needed a very structured atmosphere with a great deal of supervision/guidance – completely the opposite of what the program was in reality. He loved it, met some truly fabulous kids (who thrived in the program) but in terms of his specific academic/emotional needs, the program did more harm than good.</p>
<p>What it means is that by law, your child has certain “needs” that must be met. okay, what does that mean. As many posters have said, it means different things in different districts. At the end of the day, it means your child has the opportunity to be grouped with other students who have a lot of potential in the classroom and on standardized tests. So, your child might be able to participate in some interesting classroom conversations that will help her learn things that kids in the other classes hear.</p>
<p>Also, it could mean that your student is placed into a class that has a treacher who has been trained in how best to meet the “needs” of gifted students.</p>
<p>It also means that your child might be elligible for honors and AP classes that may affect her class rank and GPA and, therefore, increase her ability to put together a competitive college application to some colleges or universities.</p>
<p>It is nice that D’s HS has a policy of not classifying kids into any categories, including valedictorian, top student, no ranking. Parents association gives couple awards to the top student (and that is how it become known, at graduation time). Also, everybody can figure out their ranking based on their GPA and published percentile profile. I workes very well with couple of top kids out of 30-50 in graduating class get accepted to Ivy’s every year and 100% going to 4 year colleges. No competition, no stress, compete with your own self.</p>
<p>I just talked the school. They say that she was listed as gifted in “specific academic areas” (writing and science) since 6th grade (when she entered the district). They said that now she has crossed over into the complete “cognitively gifted” category. Therefore, the notification. They said that it opens up opportunities that she wouldn’t have, etc. They said it will be noted on her Guidance report that will go to colleges. And she has to be on the WEP. Anyway, my d calls herself a “closet nerd” because she is also very gifted athletically and she does not like to seem like she is better than everyone. She participated and lettered in 3 varsity sports as a freshman and she took alot of crap for that. She just wants to be a normal kid and the school puts her name on lighted flashing signs outside the school, etc. for her sport and she is not a braggart type. She declined academic decathelon because it really isn’t her thing. She doesn’t think it would be fun and the kids who are on it are not her peer group.</p>
<p>I think your daughter sounds lovely. I also find it very funny that the gifted label “can never be removed”. Surely some especially irreverent gifted kid could take this on as a challenge?</p>
<p>It depends on the state and the district. Both my girls have been identified from elementary school. When we relo’d my youngest got picked up right away by the new system but not my oldest. In NJ, they went by standardized test scores, grades & teacher recommendation & you could move in and out depending on grades. In TN, they had to be IQ tested (plus a few other cognitive tests) and they have an IEP. I don’t think it’s noted on any transcripts. We do have a yearly IEP meeting with the GT consultants. It is nice to have 2 counselors specifically for the GT kids (they are 1/2 time consultants each; they also teach 1/2 the day too) especially in junior & senior year. The kids who are gifted are usually applying to much different types of schools than the general population and the regular gcs aren’t as familiar with the process. At times they also tell the kids about special programs that they might have missed other wise. I don’t think the regular student population really knows who the GT kids are as they only meet once a month at lunch time. It’s not announced anywhere as any IEP information is considered confidential.</p>
<p>“gifted label can never be removed”-- means your child will, or at least should, be eligible for whatever services are provided no matter how she performs in school. that’s a good thing.</p>
<p>In NY (or at least in my district), we have GATE, but it’s only in elementary school. I got tested in 2nd grade, and entered the program in 3rd. All I remember doing was getting pulled out of class every week for an hour or so to do awesome logic problems, and participating in the Math Olympiads a few times per year. From what I remember, it was quite fun. There were only 6 of us in the entire grade, and my teacher was awesome.</p>
<p>Tell your daughter that being identified as academically gifted is just like making the varsity team in a sport. Forever forward, she will be a varsity athlete and academically gifted. I believe that’s the ideal of being a Rhodes Scholar, which is a very good thing.</p>
<p>Except what happens when the high school sports star goes to college and discovers he/she is no longer superior at sports but just average? It’s a huge downfall for them.</p>
<p>“Forever forward” might last as long as high school but unlikely to carry into college.</p>
<p>I understand the reluctance to be identified that way. Though it never bothered my son, I got a lot of crap about it when I was in HS – most of my classmates thought that the handful of students in our school in the gifted program were labelled that way just to make it easier to know who to torment on a daily basis. <em>sigh</em> </p>
<p>The whole gifted labelling thing has also been the subject of much unhappy feelings in our household. Son is a traditional kind of “gifted” student – high high test scores, academic top performer – and was recognized as such from kindergarten on, I think. Daughter was <em>nominated</em> on the basis of her artistic and visual abilities, but kept being voted down on the grounds that she wasn’t an academic performer. (This was back in elementary school!) At one point, her teacher said that daughter would have been approved for gifted program, but the teacher vetoed it because daughter “didn’t try hard enough” in class. I wasn’t living local to her or I would have been aggressive in advocating for her there. The school system and state were supposedly trying to recognize students who were gifted in ways other than just test scores, but the process involved a lot of subjective evaluations and a voting system by counselors, teachers, support staff. </p>
<p>The end result was that daughter has spent years with the feeling that her brother is “gifted” and she is not, no matter what we say. It was pretty hurtful stuff, especially given that the benefits from the label were small.</p>
<p>Gifted kids have special needs, and are AT RISK if their needs are not met. Giftedness can, at times, mimic ADHD, and gifted kids can be at risk for behavior problems if they are not challenged in the right way. Additionally, when one part of the brain is stronger, another is weaker. For example, many gifted kids are actually very disorganized or absent-minded. Others have missed the opportunity to develop a work ethic. It is challenging to have a gifted kid, and it is challenging to be one. Some gifted kids find it hard to relate to other kids their own age, and seek out older peers. This can present its own problems. Just because a kid is gifted doesn’t mean that he/she is mature or is completing the adolescent tasks of development any faster. And it does not necessarily mean that he/she has better executive functioning skills (although some gifted and non-gifted kids are precocious with this.)
It sounds like you are doing a fabulous job as a parent, and the school district is also doing its job by identifying her and providing her with services so that her needs are met.
If there are opportunities for her to spend time with other kids who challenge her intellectually, this is good. If there are opportunities for her to spend more time on higher level thinking (analysis, synthesis, etc.), this is also good. It sounds like she is, in an age-appropriate manner, concerned about fitting in with her peers…it is up to you and the school to make sure that there are peers that value achievement and support her efforts to achieve.
Good luck!</p>
<p>I would be surprised if the “gifted” label does any harm to your daughter. Everything levirm said about gifted kids is correct, but the general public seems to not understand that and just assume that if you are gifted you are smarter than the rest. In any case, after high school no one will probably even know that your daughter is gifted unless they are good at recognizing those that are. The only problem I have had with a gifted student is when they thought they were better than others because of their “gifted” status. I have told many a child it isn’t about IQ, it is all about I do. </p>
<p>Both my husband and I were in gifted programs growing up and so were both of our children. The benefit we noticed was the different educational activities we were exposed to because the programs tried to challenge us at a higher level than the traditional classroom. I still remember learning how to write a comprehensive research paper back in a 4th grade gifted class. It was presented in a very fun way and it instilled a love in me to research. My daughter was introduced this in a 2nd grade gifted class along with French and advanced science concepts. She ate it up. </p>
<p>Basically, even though your daughter has been identified rather late in her grade school years, she may find benefits in high school. As for college, they have tons of gifted kids, whom she will probably love being around and more than ever it will be about I do and not IQ.</p>
<p>And to leviem: the ADD struggles are very real. It is something I have had to really learn to cope with. Even though I really only have a very mild case I provide a lot of humor for my family. (My husband isn’t ADD and neither are my children.)</p>
<p>Accept the honor! Your daughter doesn’t have to tell anyone…and if the other kids get mad… so what! Be proud of it…Take advantage of the advanced subject, classes, and benefits offered. Soar with the “Eagles.” Congratulations!</p>
<p>Quote - levirm: Gifted kids have special needs, and are AT RISK if their needs are not met. Giftedness can, at times, mimic ADHD, and gifted kids can be at risk for behavior problems if they are not challenged in the right way. - End of Quote</p>
<p>Spot on ! I’ve once asked the principal of my S’s HS to implement a system of Individual Educational Plans (IEP’s) for gifted children. His reaction was negative and even rude. The reason for asking him was the fact that the IEP network surrounding my best friend’s ADHD S was exactly what my non-AD(H)D S was in need of. The two kids were ‘night and day’ and moving around in very different circles at school. However, interestingly enough they both liked the same teachers for the same reasons while these teachers were often not very popular. </p>
<p>Quote - Levirm: It is challenging to have a gifted kid, and it is challenging to be one. - End of Quote</p>
<p>Yes, it is! They need to be taught in a different way. S’s HS did not offer the type of teaching that he was in need of. He was bored to death. Fortunately he is getting what he is in need of at college. But, we will both never forget those tiring years in HS (and MS). It didn’t help that S did not look like a nerd and did not behave like one (although I’m not quite sure what the criteria are to make such a statement).</p>
<p>I’d have your D accept the designation and be proud of it. As I see it, such a designation can only help. AFAIK, she doesn’t have to take the more advanced classes unless she wants to and she probably can refuse any additional services granted to her as a result of this program if she really wanted to. I myself think that it is a great opportunity, though it did come late in her childhood. I do agree with the comments that such a designation does not mean that she will be the brightest person when she goes to college and I doubt that she would be looked down upon especially if the school has other children with the same designated. Gifted funding is hard to come by; your D’s lucky that your state has such a program. In ES, I barely missed the cutoff for the “summit” classes and in MS I wasn’t considered because I had spent the previous year in another district, even though I qualified for both districts’ programs. Come high school, a lot of the programs seem to be acceleration, ie AP Calculus BC as an 11th grader (or before). If anything, your D gets the satisfaction of knowing that her school realizes her intelligence, even if she wants to keep it hidden.</p>
<p>Bigtrees: I’m afraid I didn’t make my point as clearly as I’d hoped. The OP’s daughter, whether she likes it or not, is now known to her high school classmates as a varsity athlete and a gifted student academically. She can’t change either piece of information; from this point forward, her classmates will now her as a varsity athlete and a gifted student. Both having the capability to play at the varsity level and think well are “gifts”. I see no reason at all that a student should be more embarrassed to be doing well academically than to be doing well athletically. It is more than obnoxious that anyone would think doing well at sports is more desirable than doing well at academics and I, for one, am tired of that kind of thinking.</p>
<p>There are many kids who are “closet nerds.” The private prep school my kids attended made no attempt to ID “gifted” kids. They mostly let each kid figure out what courses were appropriate for him/her and would gently discourage those whom they thought were overextending (too many courses that were too rigorous at the same time).</p>
<p>In our state, not much assistance is offered to “gifted” kids thru our public school system. In fact, many of our kids worst teachers ever were for the “gifted” program and a VERY STRONG impetus for us to get our kids to transfer to private prep school. I personally know one teacher who was so awful that the school didn’t want to burden any particular class by making them have her all day, every day, so they made her the “gifted” teacher. My D was IDd as “gifted” but opted out after a several weeks with this person. When queried & prodded by the principal why she dropped out, she reluctantly admitted she couldn’t take the teacher making all the kids cry every day because she was so out of control.</p>
<p>I personally feel that it is appalling that gifted kids aren’t given more care & attention in our public school system. The special ed kids get the IEPs & some limited assistance (enough to limit lawsuits) but for the most part, the gifted kids are left to fend for themselves, tho some do get some a “gifted” course here or there. Most of the families of gifted kids I know in our state try to get their kids into private prep schools, where they mesh better with the other kids there.</p>