Last week my son Aiden took a test that will determine if he enters his school’s gifted and talented program. This all began a couple of weeks ago when I received a note home from his 2nd grade teacher identifying him as potentially gifted. At first I was elated. My son? Gifted and talented. Of course I knew he was, but the fact that his teacher saw this on her own was something major. Every parent wants the ultimate best for her child. I am no exception to this rule. As a former public educator, I can talk the game of how everyone should have the same opportunities and how tracking is evil, but if my son is gifted? Well, that changes the game. I don’t care about all the other kids. I care about my own.
The day Aiden took his test was like any typical Monday. I thought about him throughout the day and wondered how it went. When I picked him up after school, I glanced at him in the rear view mirror. He looked like the same kid I had dropped off that morning. I asked him about the test he took. He said it was fine but that the last part of it was confusing. Inside I was a little concerned by that part, but I didn’t let it show.
How did you feel about the test? I asked him. He just shrugged and told me that the teacher said it was a test to see if he was gifted or not. He said he hoped he wasn’t gifted because the guy in Diary of a Wimpy Kid said that the gifted classes have more work. Funny. But I was disturbed by the fact that the teacher told him what the test was for. What if he didn’t get the right score? What would that say to him? Would it ruin his gasp self esteem?
I know I am just at the beginning of navigating through the school years. I have two younger children in addition to Aiden, so I will get plenty of practice. One test does not determine a child’s future in the 2nd grade. There’s a great article in the NY Magazine exploring the idea of how tests, which begin in Pre-K and Kindergarten in the great big Apple, don’t add up to a whole lot of beans: The Junior Meritocracy. Am I glad I’m not a stressed out parent in NYC. Although I do hail from Albany, NY (that’s the actual capital of the state for all of you who think Manhattan is the end all and be all of the state), I don’t think I’ll be heading back any time soon.
In California, the state I’m more familiar with, students are given many opportunities to move over and/or up into GATE or advance classes. Sometimes it’s through passing a test, sometimes through teacher recommendation, sometimes through merit and achievement; sometimes it’s through determined parents. The point is the opportunity is there for the taking (and the pushing and shoving).
I don’t know if Aiden will pass an IQ test that determines if he’s gifted and talented for his school’s educational program, but I do know that he is gifted and talented. He’s incredibly curious, sensitive and kind. He likes to make people laugh by doing impersonations. He loves to walk his scooter to the top of the hill on our street and then scream as he speeds down afterwards. He’s an aspiring bboy. He plays piano by ear. He can dig very large holes in the backyard. He picks up his two-year-old brother and spins him round and round. He creates comic books. He helps his sister with her drawings. He can tell you everything you want to know about Pokemon. And he can beat me every time in Wii tennis. Hands down.
