IAGC AdvocacyShortForm

This shortened form is intended for legislators and other leaders.

Why Support Gifted Education? | Belief and Benefits

Why Support Gifted Education?

Premises:

Intellectually gifted children and students who qualify for special education are equally distant from the mean, and have equally diverse educational needs.
Children can reach their fullest potential only when these special needs are met.
In 1999, Illinois appropriated approximately 400 million dollars to meet the needs of special education students. (This does not include Federal grants such as Title I and II). The yearly budget for gifted education has been approximately 20 million for the last seven years.
Illinois' future economic growth requires attracting and retaining businesses. Businesses are attracted to areas that have a reputation for educational excellence. The reputation of Illinois public schools depends on the performance of our students.
To assure academic excellence, our educational system must nurture and document the academic growth of all students, including the intellectually gifted and the academically talented. Only in rare, high-quality school districts are these students addressed equitably as learners. Only in states where educational excellence is the norm, do they appropriately measure the academic growth of intellectually gifted and academically talented students.
We must not squander or take for granted any child's potential if we want to guarantee the future economic growth of Illinois.
Therefore, to support the following platform is to support fairness in education, the reputation of Illinois public schools, and our economic future.
Solution: IAGC asks that accountability be added to the existing law regarding gifted education.
- Amend School code 227.18 to mandate and increase funding to provide differentiated instruction in language arts and math (Districts would still be free to add other areas of giftedness supported by their local budget). Cost projection $1,000 per student or in the personnel method, $20,000 per full-time teacher of the gifted.
- Appropriate annual funding for professional development to assure that all certified teachers are equipped to differentiate for the gifted in their classrooms. ($100 per teacher.)
- Amend teacher certification rules to require that all new teachers take a three-hour class in strategies to provide differentiated instruction for a wide range of learners.
- Require certification to equal 24 graduate hours of credit for professionals who work directly with gifted students.

BELIEF AND BENEFITS

We believe that gifted children are as statistically distant from the mean as any special education student and therefore should be equally protected by law.
Consistent with the goals of the state of Illinois, we believe all children should learn and progress academically. Appropriate services provided by specially trained staff are necessary to achieve this goal.
For gifted and academically talented students to make progress in school, the curriculum and instruction must be significantly modified to match student readiness and be strenuous enough to move students forward. This should not be a teacher, school, or district choice. Services should not vary based on district wealth.
While there are multiple gifts that we recognize in our society and in schools, most of the school day is spent on academics. We do not wish to limit districts that have broader services available for gifted and talented children. However, minimum service needs to be mandated and fully funded, i.e., language arts and math.
Since gifted and academically talented students have very different needs, identification and programming should be based on each specific academic discipline.
The plans for identifying and meeting the child's needs should be shared annually with the state and the child's parents.
Academic progress of gifted and academically talented students should be measured through pre and post criterion referenced tests and/or out of level standardized tests. By using these tests we raise the ceiling so that measuring the students' academic progress will be possible.
Methods and results of evaluation should be shared with the state as a part of the Local School Improvement report, and the child's parents.
For gifted and academically talented students to develop socially and emotionally in healthy ways, they need to be grouped with other learners like them for at least part of each school day.
Classroom teachers are the keys to quality education. State certification should include requirements that prepare teachers for a wide range of educational needs.

	IAGC Advocacy Platform
	This shortened form is intended for legislators and other leaders. Why Support Gifted Education? \| Belief and Benefits Why Support Gifted Education? Premises: Intellectually gifted children and students who qualify for special education are equally distant from the mean, and have equally diverse educational needs. Children can reach their fullest potential only when these special needs are met. In 1999, Illinois appropriated approximately 400 million dollars to meet the needs of special education students. (This does not include Federal grants such as Title I and II). The yearly budget for gifted education has been approximately 20 million for the last seven years. Illinois' future economic growth requires attracting and retaining businesses. Businesses are attracted to areas that have a reputation for educational excellence. The reputation of Illinois public schools depends on the performance of our students. To assure academic excellence, our educational system must nurture and document the academic growth of all students, including the intellectually gifted and the academically talented. Only in rare, high-quality school districts are these students addressed equitably as learners. Only in states where educational excellence is the norm, do they appropriately measure the academic growth of intellectually gifted and academically talented students. We must not squander or take for granted any child's potential if we want to guarantee the future economic growth of Illinois. Therefore, to support the following platform is to support fairness in education, the reputation of Illinois public schools, and our economic future. Solution: IAGC asks that accountability be added to the existing law regarding gifted education. Amend School code 227.18 to mandate and increase funding to provide differentiated instruction in language arts and math (Districts would still be free to add other areas of giftedness supported by their local budget). Cost projection $1,000 per student or in the personnel method, $20,000 per full-time teacher of the gifted. Appropriate annual funding for professional development to assure that all certified teachers are equipped to differentiate for the gifted in their classrooms. ($100 per teacher.) Amend teacher certification rules to require that all new teachers take a three-hour class in strategies to provide differentiated instruction for a wide range of learners. Require certification to equal 24 graduate hours of credit for professionals who work directly with gifted students. BELIEF AND BENEFITS We believe that gifted children are as statistically distant from the mean as any special education student and therefore should be equally protected by law. Consistent with the goals of the state of Illinois, we believe all children should learn and progress academically. Appropriate services provided by specially trained staff are necessary to achieve this goal. For gifted and academically talented students to make progress in school, the curriculum and instruction must be significantly modified to match student readiness and be strenuous enough to move students forward. This should not be a teacher, school, or district choice. Services should not vary based on district wealth. While there are multiple gifts that we recognize in our society and in schools, most of the school day is spent on academics. We do not wish to limit districts that have broader services available for gifted and talented children. However, minimum service needs to be mandated and fully funded, i.e., language arts and math. Since gifted and academically talented students have very different needs, identification and programming should be based on each specific academic discipline. The plans for identifying and meeting the child's needs should be shared annually with the state and the child's parents. Academic progress of gifted and academically talented students should be measured through pre and post criterion referenced tests and/or out of level standardized tests. By using these tests we raise the ceiling so that measuring the students' academic progress will be possible. Methods and results of evaluation should be shared with the state as a part of the Local School Improvement report, and the child's parents. For gifted and academically talented students to develop socially and emotionally in healthy ways, they need to be grouped with other learners like them for at least part of each school day. Classroom teachers are the keys to quality education. State certification should include requirements that prepare teachers for a wide range of educational needs.

IAGC Advocacy Platform