Gifted Learners in CASD

Throughout the past decade of being a Coatesville Area School District parent, there have been numerous ups and downs that have left my family feeling completely let down by the district. Sadly, our experience with the gifted program can be summed up in one word:

Rollercoaster

For those who are unfamiliar with GIEP’s (Gifted Individualized Education Plan) & gifted students, it is important to know that gifted learners must be taught at a “higher degree of difficulty" than most other students their age.  Giving gifted students the opportunity to be pulled out of their regular-ed classrooms (much like students with IEP’s (Individualized Education Plan) who need to be pulled into a resource room) allows students to work alongside peers who have a similar degree of comprehension.   While inclusion is great, sadly this is not a practice that works especially well with most gifted learners. 

We began our gifted journey in 2009 at Caln Elementary when my son was in third grade. The following year my daughter, who was in 2^nd grade at the time, also started receiving gifted support.  Both of my children were flourishing in school, with the added highlight being their SAGE (Students Acquiring Gifted Education) class.  Back then, SAGE was a small class (each by grade level) consisting of fellow GIEP students.  In this class, students would work on curriculum that was geared toward each student’s individual need, providing a setting that fostered the unique needs of each gifted child. My children felt that learning was fun. The best part was that while they were having fun, they were also being taught by someone that understood the special needs of gifted students. This was overall an amazing experience!

As we entered the 2015-2016 school year, everything changed with the CASD gifted program.  My daughter was in 7th grade and my son was in 9th grade. It was the first year that students with GIEP’s in the middle school no longer had a gifted class on their schedule. In fact, they didn't even have a dedicated classroom to meet or collaborate with their teacher. 

Instead, gifted teachers were required to push into classes for enrichment for the gifted students. In this setting, the gifted students were often encouraged to not answer questions so that other students would “have a chance to answer”. These students were stifled simply because they were in a classroom with children of numerous learning levels and abilities. Instead of being in an environment where they could stretch and grow, they were in a classroom where they had to simply sit and wait, or in some instances be the teacher’s helper by tutoring other students. I remember raising this concern to an assistant principal and being told that teaching other students was a great way for my child to learn. While that sounds great in theory, what this administrator failed to understand was that my child already knew the content, and she could have used the time she spent teaching her peers to further her own learning, rather than simply waiting to be allowed to move on in her curriculum. This to me was a huge red flag and a clear sign that there was a lack of knowledge of the needs of gifted students among the administration.

The one saving grace that year was a remarkable gifted teacher at CASH. Her name is Andria Johnson (you heard from her yesterday) and she was a teacher who made gifted students a priority because she “got it”. She was educated in gifted education, and we were blessed to have her work with my son.  Andria Johnson was concerned with the individual needs of every single student in the Gifted program. She spent time truly getting to know her gifted students and making sure they had the support they needed whether or not they were attending her gifted seminar class. If they had a GIEP, she knew who they were, what their individuals needs were and how to reach them on an intellectual level. She even counseled me as the mother of two gifted learners as to the best approach to take with the transition to high school. Her knowledge of gifted learners was evident the very first time I spoke with her. She understood the importance of offering these students a space where they could come together and collaborate. She understood that gifted students do not just need extra work or busy work, they need to be challenged with work that is meaningful in their lives as well as activities that cause them to process information at a high level.

Unfortunately, this wonderful experience was short lived, as Ms. Johnson, who again was highly specialized in gifted education, resigned her position that year. We were, in effect, back to square one while waiting for a new gifted teacher to be hired. During this time, we were encouraged to recognize that since the high school offers AP courses, the gifted students really wouldn’t need as much gifted support. Again, a complete misunderstanding of the needs of gifted learners. 

After Andria Johnson resigned, we didn't have a gifted teacher at the high school until the end of that school year so my son's GIEP meeting, once it was held, was so rushed I cannot even remember who was there or what was discussed. The following year, once Mrs. Roach (the new gifted teacher) had a chance to get organized, she had a GIEP meeting for my daughter and it was attended once again by a subject teacher, an assistant principal and myself. During that meeting I expressed my concerns about the changes in gifted education along with my concerns about CPM at CASD. At this point it was crystal clear that the two teachers in the room were not going to address my concerns. They sat in silence looking down at the table while the assistant principal proceeded to explain why CPM was effective. I once again explained that it really didn't matter to me what the CPM talking points were, the issue was that it was not working. After some time, it was clear to me that we were going to need to agree to disagree.  I have never been paid as much lip service as I have with this administration with respect to the gifted program. This has been the theme of our GIEP meetings since the 2015/2016 school year.

Every year at my children’s GIEP meetings, I have the same conversation; I share the same concerns; I share the same disappointments. Every year I see a lot of administrators taking copious notes, yet not another word is ever spoken about my concerns.

The current state of gifted education, at least at the high school, is that students with GIEPs are given a special project to work on in one of their regular classes for the school year and the gifted support teacher is pushing into classrooms to observe the gifted students. From my perspective, this teacher is doing all she can do with the limited support and resources she has available to her. It is my understanding that there is now a second gifted teacher at the high school; however, I have never met him, nor has my daughter, so I do not have any additional information to share. 

I would like to reiterate that this issue is not a teacher issue. The gifted support teachers we have worked with are amazing and are doing everything they can to support our students. This is a problem with the policies that have been put in place for our gifted students and the complete lack of understanding of the needs of gifted learners. 

Written By: Denise LaRue

We would like to note that in the past, while Andria Johnson was in charge of the program, the high school had multiple teachers who worked as a team to service our gifted students. After Andria resigned in the fall, Angela Roach was hired at the end of the school year and was the only manager of the gifted case load 9-12. Her case load far exceeded the state's recommended number. This year Angela Roach resigned (without another teaching position) and Brian Cotter was hired. Additionally, Jeanne Groff was involuntarily transferred in the fall to service our gifted at the high school, cutting the services to our middle schools. We currently have one gifted teacher for all three middle schools.