Bright students are like other kids

By Stephanie Bertholdo Acorn Staff Writer

MICHAEL COONS/The Acorn GATE STUDENT--Oak Park fifth-grader Ethan Jacobs works on typing skills during computer class.

Ethan Jacobs is a typical fifth-grader. He likes to hang out with his friends and he particularly enjoys swimming, art and science. He isn’t sure whether he wants to be an artist or a professional soccer player when he grows up. While Ethan is a "typical" 10-year-old in most respects, he’s also one of a relatively small group of students who participate in the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program at Brookside Elementary School in Oak Park.

Ethan’s mom, Susan, said that she always knew Ethan was a "good student and an engaged student," but wanted to wait "to hear from a teacher" whether Ethan qualified for the GATE program.

Entrance into GATE in Oak Park Unified School District (OPUSD) was previously based on standardized test scores and intellectual achievement. To be considered for formal GATE identification, a student had to score at 95 percent or above in two of three subjects (math, language arts and reading) for two consecutive years or reach an intellectual abilities benchmark of 130 or more on an IQ test. Ethan missed the mark by one percentage point in third grade, which disqualified him for the program that officially starts in fourth grade.

By the time Ethan reached fourth grade, however, the rules of the GATE game had changed. Based on extensive research by the GATE advisory committee, which is overseen by Tony Knight, OPUSD assistant superintendent of education, test scores alone should never be used to evaluate a student’s GATE worthiness.

Knight said that it used to be "difficult to tell parents that their child could not be part of the GATE program because of a one or two percentile deficit on a standardized test." He added, "We should never make a decision on a student based on any single assessment." Knight also explained that this is now considered the "conventional wisdom of the research community," which is why the school district has turned to portfolios for GATE admission.

While every district, not to mention most people, can easily identify the few students who are profoundly gifted, evidenced by such abilities as reading adult novels in first grade or writing a full novel in third or fourth grade, many GATE students are like Ethan, well rounded, interested in many subjects, and quick to learn new material.

Susan Jacobs said that Ethan is never bored and consistently meets high standards.

Even though Ethan wasn’t officially identified for the GATE program until this year, his fourth-grade teacher, Maryanne Johnson, recognized his abilities and "clustered" him with other high achieving students in her class. (Johnson is also the school site GATE coordinator at Brookside and a member of the GATE district advisory committee; she’s been taking specialized courses in gifted and talented education.)

Johnson employed the strategy of "curriculum compacting" by allowing all students to pre-test in spelling. If they earned 100 percent, there was no reason to continue teaching them something they already knew. Rather, she allowed Ethan and other "super spellers" to choose their own words for a spelling test.

Ethan remembers he chose the words "subpoena" and "irresistible" to memorize, and said he found the words on a Website that offered a list of the most commonly misspelled words.

Pretty smart.