The parents of Gilroy’s brightest young students learned
recently that their school district’s Gifted and Talented Education
program will begin late this year.
The parents of Gilroy’s brightest young students learned recently that their school district’s Gifted and Talented Education program will begin late this year. Worse, when the district’s GATE program does finally kick into gear, it will again fail to meet the needs of the students it is intended to serve, who just happen to be our brightest kids with the highest potential for outstanding academic achievement.
In the Gilroy Unified School District, unless a GATE-identified child attends Rucker School, which has a full-time GATE program, he or she is basically out of luck. As Dr. Joe Guzicki, director of special education for the GUSD, explained to a room full of GATE parents earlier this month, the district will attempt to meet the needs of GATE kids through supplemental after-school activities at the elementary level and a handful of enrichment classes at the middle schools. These programs will be staffed by volunteers, not GATE-certified teachers.
Guzicki blamed the delays and deficiencies in the GATE program on budget cuts and poor communication coming from the state. Funding from the state is and will continue to be limited, but that’s not the point.
The more fundamental issue is that the GUSD’s definition of special education services extends only to learning-disabled, special needs kids. While the district expends resources to create Individual Instruction Plans (IIPs) for these children, GATE kids at the other end of the Bell curve are left to fend, or wallow, for themselves.
Chances are slim that the instructional needs of GATE kids not attending Rucker are being met. By and large teachers in the GUSD are not trained to differentiate GATE students, let alone develop appropriate individualized instruction. Even GATE kids at Rucker may not be receiving their instruction from GATE-certified teachers. Neither Guzicki nor assistant superintendent Jackie Horejs can tell parents how many teachers in the district are certified in GATE instruction methods.
It unfortunately remains evident that the GUSD views GATE kids as an impediment to the overarching goal of raising test scores to a specific level across the board. As a result, too often the following scenario unfolds: a child reading at a level much higher than the standards-specified goal is discouraged from doing so, loses focus, and becomes a discipline problem out of sheer boredom or neglect. Or, they may “hide their light under a bush,” trying hard not to stick out because they are different.
GATE kids are smart, but not smart enough to develop their own curriculum. That’s the district’s job. So we present Superintendent Edwin Diaz with another challenge in his unending quest to raise expectations for learning in the GUSD. Respond to the growing frustration of GATE parents who are increasingly dissatisfied by the GUSD’s dog-ate-my-homework approach to implementing districtwide GATE curriculums. Change the mindset that views GATE-identified kids as albatrosses rather than assets.
Begin by hiring a full-time, permanent GATE resource teacher dedicated to helping teachers recognize GATE kids. Give teachers the training and resources to provide GATE instruction tailored to individual need. Implement GATE curriculums at all schools, not just Rucker. Make the instructional needs of the district’s brightest students on par with those who need remedial help.
