The article focuses on the work of Linnea Van Eman. She is a
teacher in Oklahoma who has been trying to provide different testing for ESL
students to be able to be truly tested for their gifted abilities. Their
district is trying to close the gaps that are visible among the gifted and the
regular education population.
One quote that really got me hooked on this article was
right in the beginning spoken by the educator herself. "Any child who can
translate for their parents and is decoding in two languages all the time,
that's huge," Van Eman said. "We need to push back against this
perception that giftedness has to look a certain way."
Oklahoma is one of the most advanced states in the country
with their gifted education program. About 14 percent of their K-12 students
are enrolled and participate in these programs across the state. Although this
percentage is high, Oklahoma is still very behind as far as identifying and
providing services to students from diverse backgrounds. ESL students have the
highest percentage across the country that are overlooked.
The article also brought up a great point, "In math and
science, they catch on to the concepts really fast," she said. "I
might explain something four or six times for a regular kid. For gifted, I
explain once, and they get it." This right here is what educators should
be looking at when providing gifted education programming. Students might not
have the best language or spoken English, but in math or science they could
excel. Gifted programming should be offered in all subjects based on the needs
of the students in each of these areas.
This article really opened my eyes to what being labeled as “gifted”
really means. As an educator it is important that we look at the whole child
and not just one component, such as their language development.
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