Congratulations are due to OpenGATE, the nonprofit parents group
dedicated to supporting, sustaining, and growing the Gifted and
Talented Education programs in Gilroy Unified School District.
That third goal, growing the GATE program, has taken an enormous
leap forward, with this year’s identification of 123 students
eligible for the GATE program. In contrast, last year, only 76
students were identified.
Congratulations are due to OpenGATE, the nonprofit parents group dedicated to supporting, sustaining, and growing the Gifted and Talented Education programs in Gilroy Unified School District.
That third goal, growing the GATE program, has taken an enormous leap forward, with this year’s identification of 123 students eligible for the GATE program. In contrast, last year, only 76 students were identified.
Why the improvement? This year, every second grader was tested, along with some third through fifth graders referred by parents and teachers. Also, this year, a new test called the Raven Progressive Matrices Plus was used.
Raven measures cognitive processing skills rather than acquired knowledge or test taking skills. Just as importantly for Gilroy, it does not require students to be fluent in English. Therefore a wider spectrum of gifted students was identified than in previous years. As a bonus, Raven costs less than the test used last year, so GATE funds were saved for training GATE teachers and financing GATE programs.
The good news is that these changes came about with pushing from a parents group, OpenGATE. More good news: OpenGATE maintains open communications via the Internet, and welcomes new parents to join their yahoo group. Even more good news: Rucker will be opening a new third grade class to accommodate our increased number of GATE identified third graders.
The best news is that OpenGATE collaborates with the district, and the district collaborates enthusiastically with OpenGATE. The OpenGATE experience should serve as a model of how positive change may be accomplished in this district.
Our progress must not stop here. Our newly identified gifted English language learners must be taught English, so that their talents will be evident regardless of the particular tests used in their futures.
We should be looking at incorporating GATE programs into our other schools, particularly in our low-income attendance areas. Not every parent has the means to transport his child to the GATE classrooms at Rucker. Nor should they have to. We don’t force every English Language Learner to attend a particular school for the programs essential to achieving his fullest potential.
The bottom line is that we cannot ignore our gifted students and trust that “they’ll get it anyway.” Gifted students need challenge just as much as struggling students need tutoring. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Challenging and engaging all the young minds in our school district should be the primary mission. The fostering of the partnership between OpenGATE and the school district has been wonderful to behold. What it should do for a number of our students will be a marvelous example of progress in public education.
