Advocating for Your Child

Elizabeth Nagy

Areas of Advocacy

National State San Diego City School

– Site Plan Classroom

– Individual Teacher Plan Family

Federal Definition:

“Students, children, or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services and activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities.”

Why Advocate on the Higher Levels at All?

3 million GAT in USA Classroom

– Children’s academic and artistic gifts and talents must be systematically encouraged and thoughtfully supported to allow them to reach their full potential.

– Many elementary students – 40-50% material (study)– Most students spend 80% in regular classroom– 1991 study – 18-25% drop out (socio-economic status,

access to extracurricular activities, hobbies, computers Teachers Gifted Education Programs Require Funding National Trends in Math and Science

National / Federal Level Sets standards for states to follow No federal mandate No funds to districts for gifted

programs Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented

Students Education Act– Research-based initiative which must be

approved yearly with each new budget– Administered by the Department of

Education– Year 2005 - 11 million– Year 2006 9.6 million

Javits Money

VERY Small Proportion of Funds National Research Center on the

Gifted and Talented Competitive demonstration grants to

institutions of higher education and state and local education agencies to develop and expand models to better serve underrepresented students

State grants to state agencies and school districts to implement programs which enhance programs statewide

Why is this important?

Javits is for national research and demonstration projects only

Without a strong federal mandate states are free to provide gifted services as they see fit – decisions are made at the state and local levels– Wide variability in programs– Uncertainty for students and their

families

State Level

Huge variability among states Funding and state support State mandates Teacher preparation Program and service options Accountability

State of California Why?

– Most monies for GATE come from state and local sources California Department of Education Standards for

programs for gifted and talented students (go to CAG website to download) – Program Design– Identification– Curriculum and Instruction– Social and Emotional Development– Professional Development– Parent and Community Involvement– Program Assessment– Budgets

CAG - California Association for the Gifted

Just moved to Sacramento – (916) 441-3999– www.cagifted.orgRegions

Educational Offerings and Publications– Gifted Education Communicator– Advocacy in Action

Awards and Scholarships Advocacy

– See Handout – Website for how to interact with legislators

Links to other gifted sites Yearly meeting in March (Palm Springs)

Local - San Diego City Schools Why?

– Decisions made here! School Board

– Opportunities for Advocacy!– Who is your board representative!

GATE Department– Help identify resources but have

minimal dollar impact

GATE Department

Goals Testing Cluster and Seminar Involvement

– GATE DAC (District Advisory Council)– Feb 6 Meeting Dr. Cohn

(Ballard) Personnel (understaffed!)

GATE Advocacy at the District DAC Involvement Committees Responding to Cutbacks (see NAGC website)

– Examine the program– Establish a rationale (why do gifted learners really

need something different educationally speaking?)– Communication Skills– Build Bridge for Administrators– Network

Speak/write to your board member (children can help)

Speak/write to the Superintendent

Advocacy Methods

Personal Letter Email Phone call Speaking to leader Press

What to include? Where to get more information

School Advocacy

Why?– Most decisions here– Teacher and principal are crucial– Classroom groupings

How– Get involved– Be a representative– Help the rep– GATE meeting(s) at school

School GATE Plan and Rubric Program Design State GATE Standard

– Model A (Traditional), B (Cluster), C (Collaborative), D (Individual), Seminar

Identification State GATE Standard Professional Development State GATE Standard Social and Emotional Development State GATE

Standard Parent and Community Involvement GATE Standard Program Assessment State GATE Standard Budget State GATE Standard

Teacher GATE Plan

If teaching GATE class– Each teacher outlines how he/she

will teach GATE students– Strategies he/she will use

– Familiarize self with some of these concepts – can use them at home

Classroom

Become involved

Classroom

Why go in the classroom?– Biggest thing you can do to understand your child’s

situation– Look at it from the teacher’s point of view – what

are they up against? Number of students Ability range of students Emotional / Social abilities of students Standards and Curriculum

– Balance what you see with what you hear from child

Collaborative Partnership– How can you best help the teacher so you both can

meet the needs of your child?

Before Meeting with the School

HANDOUT Begin with your child.

– “I’m bored” doesn’t give you enough information.

What would make school more interesting? If they could change anything, what would they

change? When do they feel excited about classes? When do they tune out?

– Saying the “B” word is often counterproductive

Meeting with the Teacher #1 Always start here Plan in advance what you are going to

say– Write down thoughts and observations

about your child’s abilities– Avoid using the term “gifted education”

and focus on stating the dilemma without that.

– Bring examples of child’s work (at home or from school) as appropriate

Meeting with the teacher #2 Expect the teacher to be reasonable

– Approach from a positive note Thank the teacher for giving you this

time Get to the point about why you feel it

is necessary to meet Listen carefully to what the teacher

says Make eye contact

Meeting with the teacher #3 Wait before you respond Work for a consensus. Stress “we” not “you” Show courtesy Paraphrase Control your emotions Keep an open mind Check to make sure your questions are

answered before you leave Plan a timeline for follow up steps with the

teacher Thank the teacher for their time again

Do Follow Up

Write a note of thanks Don’t assume everything is fine

after the conference– Write down the main points of the

conference and plan– Communicate!

Talk with child and teacher periodically to assess progress

– Be consistent in support

Follow Up #2

Follow up with next steps as you agreed to with the teacher

Understand you will probably need more conferences

Involve others as necessary. Follow chain of command.

Avoid

Trigger Words– Examples: “You always,” “my child is

bored in your class,” etc Attitude

– “Shotgun approach”– Vinegar vs. honey

Lack of preparation

If you were the teacher, how would you like to be approached by a parent?

Family

Discuss your thoughts about what is the best way to meet the needs of your child with your partner.

What was their experience with education?

Are you both on the same page? What mentor options exist? SENG website can help with social and

emotional aspects

Conclusion

Remember the goal Be persistent Stay focused Be positive Keep your sense of humor

Internet Resources #1

www.nagc.org–Advocacy toolkit

www.cagifted.org–Advocacy tab–Resource list

Internet Resources #2

www.sandi.net – (search for gifted or GATE or look under

departments)– San Diego program, contacts– Links to others

www.sengifted.org– Help with social and emotional– Share with family and teachers

www.hoagiesgifted.org

Bibliography Resources

Winebrenner, Susan. (2001) Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom.

Strip, Carol. (2000) Helping Gifted Children Soar.