Trustees to Discuss Halting Early Exams to Identify Gifted Children

The city school board is expected to decide tonight whether to stop testing the district’s youngest students to identify those who are especially talented.

The proposal to end testing in kindergarten, and possibly in first grade, has raised a furor among parents who support programs for gifted and talented children in the 6,200-student Huntington Beach City School District.

A 3-2 majority of the board of trustees appears to support changing a system that has been in place for the better part of two decades, trustees on both sides of the issue said Monday.

That troubles Christy Teague, whose two sons are in programs for the gifted at John R. Peterson Elementary School. She supports early testing as a means of getting gifted students into appropriate classes by first and second grade.

“What we don’t want is for these very bright kids to tune out before third grade,” Teague said.

But trustees who support changes say they would not be as great as parents fear.

The school district in years past has tested children for the gifted program as early as February of their kindergarten year. Those who score in the 90th percentile on a cognitive abilities exam may enter the program in the next school year. Such students are taught in greater depth than their peers in mainstream classes.

In all, 599 so-called GATE students (the widely used acronym stands for Gifted and Talented Education) are in the program from first through eighth grades. The early start is unusual. Officials say many other schools in Orange County begin around third grade.

Two trustees who support changes, Catherine McGough and Shirley Carey, said standardized testing in kindergarten can be unreliable because the students are so young.

“I think it closes the door rather than opening it,” McGough said, citing a recent test of 182 kindergarten students that identified fewer than 26 for the gifted program.

But the two trustees said they were leaning against a proposal to eliminate GATE testing in first grade.

Trustee Brian F. Garland, president of the school board, said he wants to keep the program unchanged. But he acknowledged that he could be “on the short end” of the vote.

“The issue, quite frankly, is choice,” Garland said. “Parents, as partners with us, want some choices.”

Trustee Robert J. Mann, who other board members said is a potential swing vote in favor of curtailing the tests, could not be reached for comment.

The school board meets at 7 p.m. at district headquarters, 20451 Craimer Lane, Huntington Beach.