FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Change in Program for Gifted Opposed

Parents with children in the Gifted and Talented Education program are angry about a plan that would delay full participation in the program until youngsters are in the second grade.

“I’m worried (first grade) could become a wasted or counterproductive year for a gifted child who doesn’t get proper attention,” Sharon Goldhamer said. “People just don’t know what it’s like dealing with a gifted child.”

Goldhamer and her husband attended the Fountain Valley School District board meeting last week because they were upset that their kindergarten daughter will not be tested for the program this year. A letter the district sent home with pupils Jan. 8 initiated the protests.

Children undergo several hours of IQ and achievement tests to be identified as gifted. Once identified, a child carries the designation throughout elementary school unless a teacher determines there is a problem.

“There’s not a lot to go on with a kindergartner, so a tester usually has to look at creativity (instead of academic performance) to determine if a student is part of that 10% designated as (gifted),” said Mark Ecker, a district administrative assistant.

The Gifted and Talented Education Advisory Committee, made up of parents, teachers, a principal and the assistant superintendent of curriculum, discussed the new policy with district staff over the past few months before putting it together in December, Ecker said.

Ecker said the program materials and teachers will continue to be available for first-graders. “We’re not going to take anything away from these students,” Ecker said.

But parents at the meeting said they were angry about not being informed earlier about the change and demanded research supporting the recommendation. The board of trustees will make a decision about the policy at its next meeting Jan. 31.