Opinion: Column
TAG not a game Madison area schools need to play
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Also by Sean Kittridge:
- Newspapers due for change in mindset (January 27, 2010)
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Bumper stickers are like tattoos for cars. They’re gaudy, mighty tough to get off and, no matter how hard they try, rarely inspiring. We don’t need goofy “coexist” decals to inform us that the person doing a mean 45 MPH in the passing lane is against religion-fueled hatred and wars. Of course that guy’s against war. He’s driving a Saturn Ion.
And we’ve just about had it up to here — lower jaw area — with those wretched honor roll notifications. “Oh really, Mrs. Johnson? Tommy’s getting straight A’s in middle school?” Somebody call NASA. Or, if nothing else, call B.S. Just wait ‘til he starts listening to rap music.
But parents, as a species, aren’t rational beings. After all, if they were, they would’ve put you up for adoption. Instead, they foolishly assume their child is The Great White Hope, with equal parts of Jim Brown, Barack Obama and Jesus Christ mixed in — although, interestingly, none of them are white. In Madison, this wide-eyed parental belief that their genes will save the world is best represented by discussions surrounding programming for gifted youngsters.
As reported Monday in the Wisconsin State Journal, some area parents are becoming increasingly frustrated with the Madison school district’s weak implementation of TAG programming. TAG, which stands for “talented and gifted,” is class instruction designed to challenge more advanced students, and forever lost its credibility when it became loosely associated with a canned body spray. According to the article, the school district currently has eight and a half positions devoted to pushing TAG programming forward, and that’s simply not enough to spawn effective change.
Fortunately, it’s not necessary, especially when dealing with elementary and middle school students. Try and tell 9-year-olds they’re gifted; they’ll listen, but only after a good nose-picking and two minutes of straight laughter stemming from a joke that incorporated the word “butt.”
By selecting certain children for more advanced learning tracks at an early age we create an aura of educational segregation, and although the idea might be to push forward a few, too often we’re simply pushing back others. Kids bruise easily, both on the playground and in the classroom, and if they see the administration weeding out the “smart” students, we risk seriously disincentivizing the rest of the class.
This isn’t to say we should work to hold children back, but if a large enough group of parents feel their child isn’t being challenged enough, this speaks to the district as a whole, not merely TAG programming — it also strongly suggests (probably) that too many uptight parents still don’t let their kids watch the Simpsons, and that’s a far greater injustice than a lack of Krelboyne classes. The baseline for students has sunk too low, to the point where instead of giving extra attention to the needy, we’re saving it for those too good for the system.
If a child really needs to be challenged by education, there’s a good reason to wait until high school. Most offer AP or honors classes, and by then, there’s less of a guessing game involved than trying to point out which fifth grader is smarter than us. Too often, education-obsessed parents forget that a majority of the learning children do in the lower levels of school involves developing social skills, manners and human interaction, not acing math handouts. As someone who spent his formative years playing “Cruisin’ USA” and mindlessly swatting mosquitoes in deep right field, I can attest that a lack of seventh grade initiative didn’t stop me from getting into a decent school. If we do a better job ensuring the average student gets a good education, many of these problems alleviate themselves. A rising tide lifts all boats, and unless you’re in New Orleans, that’s a good thing.
Even if you agree with nothing to this point, there’s still hope for conversion, and Monday’s WSJ article can act as gospel. After profiling one parent concerned with the state of TAG’s effectiveness, the article states: “her daughter used to come home from school in tears, frustrated from not being challenged enough.” Unless those are tears of joy, this is no longer our America.
Sean Kittridge (skittridge@badgerherald.com) is a senior majoring in journalism.
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You cite the fact that the differences between gifted and non-gifted students are much narrower by high school, when AP classes are available. That’s because lack of challenge in K-8 education causes gifted students to tune out and drop out. Doesn’t everyone have a right to learn something new every day?
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Mr. Kittridge, what you’ve written is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent column were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone on this campus is now dumber for having read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
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Love the Billy Madison reference…I needed that laugh after reading this crap op-ed piece.
Except for the title, I seriously thought this was going to be a piece about bumper stickers with the way it started out. I think that topic would have been a bit more interesting.
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Since the current theory seems to be that the top 10% will pay almost all the taxes, we better make sure that they get all the advantages possible so that they can carry the load.
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I went to Madison public schools and was in TAG programming. I can’t remember much other than it was more interesting than regular classes because we got to write stories and build bridges from marshmallows and toothpicks. I hated school because it was so boring for me. So TAG was a joke, I mean any kid can build a marshmallow bridge or write stories, but it’s still a good idea to separate classes. Some kids just learn more quickly than others and it does no use to bore them and make them hate school while the slower learners are struggling. Math used to be my LEAST favorite subject until high school because it was no challenge. Now I’m an engineering major, miraculously in spite of my childhood hatred of math class.
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Since the column is neither funny nor thoughtful, I can’t figure out if it’s attempting to be a humor or opinion piece. I do know that it reads like there was no research and next to no consideration for the issue. Are you a parent? Did you think to talk to one or two? A teacher? What about anyone affiliated with the world-class education department at the university where you’re enrolled? Apparently, it’s a lot easier to get a column and a spot in J School than ever!
As the father of a bright ten-year old, let me clue you in to something: Smart kids are as at risk as special needs kids sometimes, because both are often shoved aside in an attempt to address the fat part of the curve. As a result, smart kids aren’t engaged, get bored with school and act out. Worse, they never pick up the most important lessons from elementary school: work hard, be inquisitive, participate, strive for excellence. Those aren’t about getting into a “decent” school, they’re about being a decent human being.
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This is a horrible piece. Slow down the gifted, because a few kids may feel bad. Wusification of America at its finest right here. Trophies should not be given out to last place to make them feel good and smart kids should not be held back to make the others feel good…
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We’ll be here soon enough:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron
In the story, social equality has been achieved by handicapping the more intelligent, athletic or beautiful members of society. For example, strength is handicapped by the requirement to carry weight, beauty by the requirement to wear a mask, etc. This is due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th amendments to the United States Constitution. This process is central to the society, designed so that no one will feel inferior to anyone else. Handicapping is overseen by the United States Handicapper General.
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I really don’t mean this to be insulting, but I think all that the author has demonstrated is that he didn’t need to be in the TAG program or its functional equivalent. That says nothing about whether such programs are actually important for other people.
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Gifted teachers get shafted too.
Union blocks bonus pay for good teachers, doesn’t want bad teachers to feel inferior.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20091118unionblocksteacher_bonuses/srvc=home&position=0
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Differentiated instruction is what most districts, including Madison, are moving towards. TAG programs allow for students to work at their own level and provides classroom materials and curriculum to teachers. If a student is doing math well beyond their grade level, why wouldn’t we encourage them? If we provide the same lessons, assignments, and curricula for all, then we are setting our higher and lower achieving students up for failure.
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When I learned about the education systems around the world, I discovered the US is in the minority in that most countries have multiple high schools and middle schools for different learning levels. The rest of the world is teaching the ‘smart kids’ separate from the rest and world-wide statistics attest to its suitability. TAG is good and useful.
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Are you mad because you weren’t part of any gifted and talented programs, Sean? It’s okay. The Badger Herald will always have spots for people like you.
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I was bored enough in school even with a TAG program. I don’t know what I would have done had I had to go even slower. If people can do the work faster and learn more, why should we stop them?
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I was in the equivilent of the TAG program in my elementary school. And yes, it has its problems but that’s not reason to say it’s not necessary. For one thing, I was not chosen and put there randomly by a teacher as you imply by saying students are “selected”. I had taken reading comprehension tests that placed me two to three years about grade level. I also had to take a sort of IQ/ logical reasoning test in order to be admitted to the program. I was recommended to take these tests because, like many people before me have said, I was not being challenged in my classes, I was bored—acting out, disrupting class, and not paying attention etc. I was not in a good learning environment and I wasn’t exactly helping the kids around me either.
I also experienced the effects of remaining in lower level classes— in high school I chose to take the regular level courses of certain subjects and after years of exceling at them with minimal effort, I find that I now struggle in challeging college courses of the subject because I had never learned how to properly study and invest myself in the material since it always just “came naturally” to me. If I had never been placed into a higher level track, I could have easily fallen into this pattern earlier: coasting my way through, paying less and less attention, and never learning anything new or developing my intellect.
If we want every child to succeed at their full potential than we should be making sure they are being taught at an appropriate level— whether that means giving special attention to students below grade level to bring them up to their peers, or giving special attention to students who have the ability to work at a higher lever.
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You seriously just have a “thing” about being a giant embarrassment, don’t you. One day you’ll take printouts of all your dreadful opinion pieces, stuff them into a portfolio, and the manager of “Durr, Inc.” will shout, “HIRED!”
Until that point, I suggest you keep these in your My Documents folder, so you can pretend to be a writer without making everyone else sad.