Letter to the Editor from Geoffrey Moon, President NMAG

Published in the Santa Fe New Mexican February, 2015

For too long, high-achieving and high-potential students have been harmed by the dangerous fallacy that they will succeed on their own. We can no longer afford to dismiss talent development for the population New Mexico defines as gifted — about 5 percent of students or 16,800; nor the additional 15 percent (approximately 50,000) who could be identified by a national definition of giftedness. These students are the future workforces for high-paying science, technology, creative and information-based careers in New Mexico. Their education is a major source of the state’s future prosperity.

Because of inattention to talent development, New Mexico has an excellence gap — between high-achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds and their more affluent peers, between white students and students of color, and between high-potential students in New Mexico and those across the nation.

Based on National Assessment of Educational Progress test data sampling performance for the last two decades, our state’s greatest educational improvement has been in elementary mathematics. While that is laudable, American Indian, Black, and Hispanic students are three or more times less likely to score at the advanced level than white students. Students receiving free lunch, an indicator of poverty, are five times less likely to score advanced than students not needing assistance. Half as many New Mexico students (4 percent) score advanced, compared to the average 8 percent nationwide.

On another NAEP test, eighth-grade reading, 1 percent of New Mexico students score advanced, one-quarter of the national average. Despite the many attempts at reform, reading scores have not significantly improved in New Mexico since 1992.

New Mexico has invested vast sums in raising the educational status of low-performing students, with mixed results. Overall, our state’s educational performance could be predicted by its poverty.

Our workforce of tomorrow has too few high-performing students to attract increasingly intellectual jobs to this state. And, given who performs at the top, we can predict those intellectual jobs that do exist will go disproportionately to students who are white and economically secure.

Our students have every bit as much potential as any students in the nation, but we must improve the economic status of our children to help them perform well in school. We have to address the excellence gap in order to improve basic proficiency.

Our state can make improvements in talent development, beginning this legislative session. Cost effective and easily implemented examples include:

• Early entrance to kindergarten.
• Required availability of more accelerated classes.
• Teacher preparation programs requiring at least one course on high-ability learners.
• Growth and advanced achievement of the top 25 percent of students becoming a part of school grading.
• Require that school districts report how funding for high-ability learners is spent.

New Mexico has long had a commitment to gifted learners. To create a more equitable impact for our diverse population, more students need talent development services. Our current investment in gifted education keeps a small yet significant portion of our student population learning, growing and motivated. A greater one would benefit our entire state for years to come.

Resources for Gifted Students

Several websites for state and national gifted organizations offer resources and online communities for gifted students.  Below are a short list of websites for first-time student researchers, who want to know what online resources might be available!

KhanAcademy.org You only have one thing to learn: You can learn anything! (Khan Academy)

kidsource.com/gifted.calendar.html This calendar has information about everything gifted—and then some

kidprov.com Use the skills of improvisational theatre to release your feelings. Check out the
”Punchline” for some interactive humor.

hoagiesgifted.org Check out the KIDS/TEENS icon and enjoy.

rolemodel.com This website features a role model of the month along with a listing of facts about other role models. Also includes the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II, which allows the user to respond to statements that best describe him or her. The questionnaire is then scored with an immediate report suggesting a general temperament.

womenswork.org/girls Womenswork provides numerous traditional and nontraditional careers for girls to consider. Contents include job title, level of education needed to hold the job and words of encouragement.

http://www.vsg.edu.au This website is a virtual school from Australia with inexpensive and interesting courses as well as a PRIME source of graffiti.

http://www.jhu.edu/~gifted This website is the center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins University.

http://www.jhu.edu/gifted/cde/index.html Distance learning programs from Johns Hopkins

http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/pages/ed.gifted.html This website provides a spectrum of information about a lot of interesting items.

http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~wwwgt/ This website provides valuable resource for parents and students and offers a comprehensive summer institute.

http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu This website offers a Midwestern center for talent development.

http://www-epgy.stanford.edu This website offers educational programs for gifted youth.

www.smithsonian.org This website offers a variety of information and is an excellent research resource.

www.achievement.org This website is an interactive museum of living history.

http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/st2/xroads.virginia.edu/~YP/tech.html If you are a tech geek, this is the site for you!! Learn about the internet, computers, and cyberspace at this site.

www.alphadictionary.com Check out the lists of the 100 funniest words, the 100 most beautiful words, ‘punny pages,’ and a Russian Grammar text on this fun website.

http://www.vintagetextiles.com This website provides information about how people lived and dressed in the United States from colonial times to the present.  Be sure to check out the Gallery site for information and outstanding photos of the skilled needlework required for clothing.