Our town calls it the Gifted and Talented, but the pc word I hear frequently is Accelerated Learning. There are some great articles on Boston.com from a few years ago that have national statistics as well as stats for MA.

The Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program at our school is the Rapid Learner program (RL). We have a total student body of about 500+. We have a neighborhood program K-6 and the RL classes start at 2nd grade, so that program is 2-6. Our district is large, and out of 53 elementary schools, 3 have the RL program in addition to their neighborhood program. These are self contained classes with 35 students, some live in the area and some do not. The three schools are spread out so that if you want to apply, you can do so at the closest one. Three other schools in the district became "fundamental" schools and three others became "open structure." Those schools are on the lottery system. You have to qualify and be accepted for the RL programs. In the neighborhood classes, the teachers offered additional work for the GATE children each in a different way. Some just gave additional work of the same caliber, some worked with the student's interests and gave them special projects. It is difficult to meet all the children's needs. I don't know how the teachers do it sometimes. We waited for a long time to put our child in the RL program, because we didn't like changing the mixture in the classroom. Sometimes it is good to have all different levels, and the brighter ones can help the others and get that experience. But at some point when your child is bored and acting out in subtle ways, that determines your actions regarding the other choices available. I think it is mandated by the state here also. You might check with your state's dept of ed. Good luck.

In Kansas the gifted program is a special education program. These kids might be at the opposite end of the bell curve from what you normally think of when you hear "special education", but their needs are no less unique. The great thing about this approach is that the school districts are forced to have programs, and can't cut them to save money.

In our district the elementary program is called Enhanced Learning, the middle and high school programs are called SEEK (but I don't recall what SEEK stands for).

The elementary program is a one-day per week pull out. There are a number of EL centers around the district. Students report to their normal classroom on EL day, turn in their homework and such, then ride a bus to the EL center. At the end of the day they return to their normal classroom and get their homework assignments and such. We do school/classroom parties for Halloween, Winter Holidays, and Valentines -- these are the same day at all schools, and the EL bus runs early to return students to their schools for parties.

EL does not provide accelerated instruction. Each student has an EL "base group" teacher who is available as a resource to the classroom teacher for assistance in providing enriched curriculum. If money were not an issue, the district would add staff with the responsibility to go to the classrooms and provide enrichment for the EL students AND for the non-EL students who could use it.

EL instead provides the students with a number of opportunities to explore areas of interest. They will have a number of "mini-courses" to choose from where they will spend several weeks exploring a topic in depth. They also have time to work on their individual goals.

Based on some reading I've done, it sounds like if we could get the added enrichment specialists we would be pretty much spot-on with the current thinking regarding best practices for elementary gifted education.

Thanks for the input and keep it coming---We have been told that this is a battle that had been asked for for years in our district but has gotten no where becuz the superintendent is against it....So the more info i can present to the school board about what other schools are doing and how they approach it the better off we will be in this challenge.

Once agian thank you and if any body else has input please send it my way either here or email me..

Our program is called "Gifted and Talented" and the GT kids are in a classroom with all the others. I believe 2 teachers in each grade receive some special training to be the "GT Teachers". Theoretically, the kids get more complex and varied assignments as well as special projects, doing a combination of work with the general class and some on their own.

My daughter is in 4th and was one of the few actually tagged GT in kindergarten. We had varying experiences. One year, the teacher simply piled on more quantity of work with little explanation. Other teachers are better at balancing - a formidable job in my opinion. In our K-5 school, a GT teacher typically has 20-22 kids. About 6 of those will be GT, a few others will have special education or behavioral needs, some will be your typical class cutups that require 4 times the attention, and then you have a dozen or so mid-range. I honestly don't know how they manage such a diverse group.

Our GT program is mandated at the state level, so here's the link:

www.tea.state.tx.us/gted/

As you would expect, there are a TON of websites devoted to this topic, but here are just a few that I like:

Gifted & Talented Newsletter (via email)
www.familyeducation.com/email/newsletter...1-9378,00.html?diraf

GT Resource List (Learning Network)
familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,1-7953-0-2,00.html

Gifted and Talented Resources Page
www.eskimo.com/~user/kids.html

ncpto, could you send me more info on Math Superstars and Junior Great Books? You can send it to my email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or send it our school fax, in my attention (ATTN: Elizabeth Metz, PTVO President) at 928-753-7756. Sounds like a cool program!