With a School Board vote pending on Alexandrias Local Plan for Gifted Education, it is time to dispel myths concerning ACPS Talented and Gifted services that have circulated among parents and even appeared in local newspapers. Some myths stem from innocent confusion among parents. Others are propagated by a small group hoping to reshape the TAG program to meet their own needs.

Myth #1:  The Local Plan will make it harder for students to get TAG services.  The plans standard for identifying gifted students has been in place since July 2005. TAG placement has actually increased under this standard to an eight-year high of 15 percent of ACPS enrollment. Adopting the Local Plan would maintain this standard.

Myth #2: ACPS sets quotas for the number of TAG students. Any student meeting eligibility requirements receives TAG services under Virginia Code and ACPS policy. No child is denied services because another has been given them instead. The most insidious version of this myth claims a quota of TAG slots is given to minority students whether or not they meet eligibility. But enrollment data suggest that minority students are underrepresented in the TAG program. For example, minority students made up 49 percent of MacArthur Elementarys total March 2007 enrollment, but accounted for only 6 percent of TAG enrollment; Black students, 29 percent of total enrollment, but not one black student was enrolled in TAG. ACPS is addressing this inequity by using a more culturally and socio-economically neutral identification tool as prescribed in the Local Plan  along with initiatives like Higher Achievement, Kindergarten preparation, targeted teacher training and community outreach.

Myth #3: Able students who are not TAG identified are not permitted to keep up with TAG students.  In-class differentiation for all students aims to ensure that every child is working at his appropriate challenge level. This does not mean that most TAG students study different curricula. Rather, all students are to have ample opportunity for higher-level thinking and acceleration as they need it.  In some cases this means providing students with the same materials, projects or coursework as their TAG-enrolled peers. Beyond fifth grade, most TAG students are served in open enrollment classes available to all students.

Myth #4: ACPS could teach all above-average students at the TAG level and eliminate the need for a Local Plan. There is no such thing as a TAG level. Some curricula are better suited than others to in-class differentiation and higher level thinking, which are beneficial to all students and legally required for TAG students. Still, some students are too far ahead of their classmates to have their needs met with a one-size-fits-all standard. TAG students need accelerated instruction that would overwhelm even most above-average students.

Myth #5: ACPS teachers have done a poor job of in-class differentiation for TAG students in the past, therefore a Local Plan that includes this is invalid. ACPS Peer Coaches, TAG specialists and subject-area specialists assist all ACPS teachers in incorporating a high standard of differentiated instruction in all classrooms. ACPS administrators report positive results so far from a monitoring program launched this year to maintain high and consistent standards across all classrooms. Teacher accountability for meeting these standards has been increased, even as teacher training and support opportunities have grown.  If some teachers are not meeting this standard, it does not behoove us to embrace their failure rather than strive for better.

Myth #6: Regulatory changes being considered at the state level will nullify the Local Plan. Proposed new regulations would not nullify anything in the current Local Plan. The Board would have to approve a new Local Plan each year. The plan would have to expand services for social studies and history into elementary grades and could reduce identification tools to four, though this change would be optional. New costs imposed on ACPS would include: funding the process to certify that the Local Plan complies with Virginia Code, for which the state now pays; and funding and staffing a new outcome-measurement system.

It is only natural that parents seek the best education for their children. But some parents are unduly disappointed when their childs challenge level is not as advanced as that of TAG students. Some re-apply and are declined every year. One ACPS parent has gone so far as to hire his own lobbyist in Richmond!
To quote one of our familys favorite teachers, Always remember that you are your childs best advocate. And to quote the reply of another favorite teacher, Yes, but advocate positively.

Sherry Delaney is Secretary of the Talented and Gifted Advisory Committee, Alexandria City School Board, and lives in Alexandria.