 |
| I love polynomials! |
Finding Talent
Students who are better at math should be put together and accelerated, which rarely happens at the elementary school levels. Bright kids need to shine, but we give them grade-level learning rather than advanced learning, i.e., acceleration. Placing an outstanding 4th-grade math student in a 5th-grade textbook is not acceleration. The 5th-grade textbook is for average students, not advanced learning. Note: Not all kids who are good at math want to be accelerated. Likewise, some good readers don't like to read.
Many gifted programs are enrichment programs with different names such as TAG, GATE, etc.
Students must show above-average ability (acumen) on a test such as the Otis Lennon, especially in the math and verbal areas.
Students should also demonstrate task commitment (persistence), which is just as important as intellect.
The third component of an enrichment model is creativity, but I discounted it because it is difficult to measure. According to Kevin Ashton (How To Fly A Horse), every student is creative, but not all students are equally creative, just as we are not all similarly gifted athletically, musically, etc.
Ashton and others point out that thinking is domain-specific and requires knowledge, lots of it. "Having ideas is not the same as being creative. Creation is execution, not inspiration." Being "clever" does not mean that a student is gifted. Persistence (task commitment) is needed for self-study and progress. The more math a student knows, the better thinker the student is in math. Enrichment keeps students where they are, but true acceleration moves them forward.
Central to thinking is the mastery of core academic content. The thinking is domain-specific. Critical thinking in mathematics, which is called problem-solving, is different from thinking in science or literature, etc. E. D. Hirsch, Jr. explains, "Critical thinking does not exist as an independent skill." Still, the assumption persists in many gifted programs.
Mathematics is not a matter of opinion or argument; it is a matter of fact and the deductive reasoning that links one idea to another, i.e., a hierarchical sequence. In mathematics, everything fits together logically, but this is not true for science, literature, history, and other academic domains.
The best students cluster at the top of the grade-level tests. The problem is that there is no separation between the very good students and the truly gifted and talented students, which is the reason that Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) tests kids above grade level in verbal and math using the SCAT (School and College Ability Test). If an elementary school student's score meets an established CTY benchmark, then the student qualifies for gifted and talented programs through CTY, including summer programs, online programs, internships and research opportunities, academic competitions, early college, etc. "The SCAT is used by CTY to identify gifted youth who demonstrate high academic potential. CTY offers various programs for gifted youth."
But, many students in so-called gifted "enrichment programs" established within school districts probably won't qualify for CTY programs. Enrichment is not acceleration.
"The School and College Ability Test (SCAT) is a standardized test conducted in the United States that measures math and verbal reasoning abilities in gifted children. CTY uses three levels of the SCAT:
1. Students in grades 2-3 take the Elementary SCAT designed for students in grades 4-5.
2. Students in grades 4-5 take the Intermediate SCAT designed for students in grades 6-8.
3. Students in grades 6 and above take the Advanced SCAT designed for students in grades 9-12."
Many advanced students study with tutors!
The Art of Problem Solving texts and courses are for outstanding math students. Students should have a firm grasp of basic arithmetic, including whole numbers, fractions, percentages, proportions, along with parts of algebra, measurement, and geometry no later than the 3rd or 4th grade. Most elementary schools do not accelerate students, so parents of advanced kids need to look elsewhere for opportunities, including hiring private math tutors. (Also, taking Algebra-1 in 8th grade is not acceleration. It is a course for average students who are prepared.)
Note: The PreAlgebra text from the Art of Problem Solving is written to challenge students at a deeper level than a traditional middle school prealgebra course.
Aside: At a private school, many of my prealgebra 7th-grade students qualified for CTY summer programs by scoring exceptionally high on the College Board (SAT) mathematics section. (Students took the SAT by invitation.) There was no test prep. These same students were on my math league team, which took 2nd place in the State of Delaware.
Many advanced kids study outside of regular school, which requires task commitment. Some students have math tutors. Also, some students who are good at math are not interested in acceleration. Likewise, there are children with high verbal ability who don't like reading that much.
©2018 LT/ThinkAlgebra
