Gifted students thrive in local schools

Set aside the hand-wringing about fluctuating student test scores in Fallbrook schools, the worrisome concern for the rising swell of new kindergartners who don’t speak English and the lack of funds for educators’ wish lists. Instead, take a look at a group of students who thrive in Fallbrook public schools; the ones who excel. These are the GATE kids — the beneficiaries of the Gifted And Talented Education program — like Tiffany Beye, a sixth-grader at La Paloma who’s been in the program since fourth grade, and Sterling Weeks, now a senior in Advance Placement classes at Fallbrook Union High School, who entered the GATE program when he moved to Fallbrook six years ago.

Each of these high-achieving students credits the GATE classes and teachers for their successes.

The GATE program, as authorized by California Education Code sections 52200-52212, “provides state funding for local education agency development of locally designed, innovative programs for gifted and talented pupils” regardless of their economic or cultural backgrounds.

Testing for entry into a GATE program starts in the third grade and is voluntary. Each parent of a third grade student enrolled in a district elementary school is notified of the test and must consent before it is administered, says Tom Rhine, principal at Live Oak School. Once approval is received, students today are tested for their intellectual ability using the Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RAVEN) test, which employs a series of visual patterns that require matching in sequence. According to American Scientist Online, the RAVEN test, which does not require mastery of written language, is the “accepted best measure of visual reasoning.” It was first published in 1938 and plays a central role in recent analyses of the worldwide rise in test scores.

Of the 180 current students identified for RAVEN testing at Live Oak School, about two-thirds received parental approval and were tested. Thirty-five fourth grade students were identified as GATE candidates.

Rhine is quick to point out the RAVEN test is one of three tests used for admission to the program. Scores from the CAT 6 and CST tests are also considered.

Two other components are social and environmental variables and teacher recommendation. All are equally important, says Stacy Everson, Fallbrook Elementary School District spokesperson. Each of the components is measured by points. Students who receive 18 points qualify for a GATE program. The California Department of Education Web site states, “Parents and guardians receive the California Standards Tests [CSTs] results in a STAR Student Report. For students in grades three and seven, test results for the California Achievement Tests, Sixth Edition Survey [CAT/6 Survey] are included on the same report.”

Not all teachers are GATE certified, so students participating in the GATE curriculum are only placed in classes with teachers certified to administer the program. Classes are not segregated by curriculum, however, so students following the regular class work for their level are also in the same room.

In Tiffany’s fourth grade class, she recalls about half her fellow students were in the GATE program. Because the class work is more challenging and “doesn’t put me to sleep,” Tiffany says, she feels “special,” a sentiment Sterling Weeks shares as well. “It’s kind of cool because it makes me feel smarter and it’s a lot more fun,” Tiffany says.

Sterling Weeks’ introduction to the GATE program occurred when he entered sixth grade at Live Oak Elementary School. He doesn’t recall being tested, just that his teacher “thought I was bright, so I started attending [classes].” He does remember how much fun it was being in a class where the material was challenging instead of doing the same easy work as the rest of the class.

An example of that challenging work in Tiffany’s sixth grade class is the Math Olympiad for the advanced students, which adds more complicated mathematical versions of the standard class work, like “brain teasers.” After all the students master the class work requirements, GATE students go on to the Math Olympiad for its challenge and earn points for correct answers. Although the Math Olympiad is a GATE student learning activity, it is the only one in Tiffany’s class.

As with Tiffany, the mathematics aspect of the GATE program during his elementary school classes remains important in Sterling’s mind and ultimately guided his choice of college majors.

Currently at La Paloma, science, English and other required curriculum is taught to the class as a whole. For all her enthusiasm for math, Tiffany is as well-rounded a girl as any her age. She’s a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, takes gymnastics classes, loves the computer and e-mailing her friends and is engrossed in the “Lemony Snicket” book series. She’s also the president of the La Paloma Student Body this year and won on a platform of getting air fresheners for the restrooms and games restored to recess. Both “promises” have been fulfilled, she says. As far as a social life, being in a GATE program doesn’t mean her choice of friends isn’t diverse. Some are also in the program, others are not. She chooses her friends because “they’re good kids and they care about school.”

Tiffany Beye knows she’s in the GATE program because she’s smarter than some kids, but she credits her achievement to her parents and teachers for setting high standards. Some parents don’t care [what their child is doing], she says. They don’t sign tests. They leave for work early and don’t come home ’til late.

Kids can do well in school, Tiffany believes, “if they don’t make bad choices and [they] do their homework.” Her parents expect her to do well, she says. Tiffany’s parents value education and are active participants at her school. This year, Mrs. Stillman and Mr. Ostroske are making a big impact on her desire to achieve. They run a disciplined classroom, yet make the information fun to learn, she says. “My teachers play a really big part in my education, because like right now, they are the very best teachers I could possibly have. They give us as much help as we need and try to make it as fun as they can.”

Before she moves on to Potter Junior High School all sixth-graders have the opportunity to be tested for their ability to participate in the seventh and eighth grade GATE programs. Tiffany is sure she’ll be one of the students selected.

Unlike the immersion process today, Sterling remembers the GATE program as being different in its application. Once or twice a week, students following GATE would be taken out of their regular classes to work on special projects. He still sees some of the same classmates now enrolled at Fallbrook Union High School. Some are also in AP classes with him. For him, many classes offered today, even in the AP curriculum, are too easy. He says the school gives students too much time to complete their work. “I finish the work way ahead of schedule, so I work on my AP calculus and AP government homework.”

Sterling attended Potter Junior High School after Live Oak and was a member of the Chess Club but didn’t seek out a leadership role in student government as Tiffany did at La Paloma. He says he wasn’t challenged academically at Potter, and it was only after he enrolled at Fallbrook Union High School that he got excited about the broad array of classes offered. Although students must be tested to attend AP classes, Sterling claims there is little competition among them. “People aren’t really competing, they’re there to learn,” he says.

As a senior, Sterling has few classes to complete to graduate, so he enrolled at Palomar College to get a head start on college requirements by taking English 100 as an online class. He got an A. He will graduate from Fallbrook Union High School this month but not enroll in a four-year school until this fall, so in the interim he will be taking more classes online that will transfer during spring semester. His major will be computer science, a career that involves the math he likes, and was likely influenced by the challenges introduced by his GATE math programs in elementary school. He is also intrigued by political science and has chosen as extra credit to work on a project challenging the Federal Electoral College. He says he likes politics and is thinking about a double major.

Sterling also speaks French and claims to be “sort of” fluent. For all his interest in school, sports was never important to him personally. At over six feet tall, he could easily be taken for a basketball star but chooses instead to “star” in the classroom.

For these two enthusiastic young people, the GATE program opened to a future bright with possibilities and will do so for any other student who tests ready for the challenge and takes it on.