Virginia Regulatory Town Hall View Comments

Department of Education

State Board of Education

Regulations Governing Educational Services for Gifted Students [8 VAC 20 ‑ 40]

Action	Revision of regulations school divisions must meet in their gifted education programs, K - 12
Stage	Proposed
Comment Period	Ended on 9/26/2008

Previous Comment Next Comment Back to List of Comments

9/22/08 12:26 pm

Commenter: Mary Yager

Parent of one that was Overlooked

My daughter graduated from Indian River High School in Chesapeake in 1999. In middle school, she was recommended every year by teachers for the Gifted and Talented Program (GATE) but rejected because her Standardized Test Scores were not high enough. It was very demoralizing for her to be rejected.

In High school, she was in numerous AP classes completing all but one with a 4.0 and always scored 3 or higher on the AP exam. She was also nominated and selected for the Governor's School summer program for Math and Sciences. She graduated #4 in her class.

She went on to Virginia Tech and graduated in 4 years with two degrees, a BS in Biochemistry and a BS in Psychology, with 3 minors (chemistry, biology and sociology) and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, a very prestigious honor. She was accepted into medical school right out of college and graduated with her MD 4 years later. She is now a resident at CHKD and considering specializing in Neonatology.

All these accomplishments from a student deemed not good enough for the gifted program in middle school. This indicates that something is broke with the current system. I am not saying this proposal cures what is wrong, but the system is broke and many gifted students are not being recognized and provided the opportunity to participate.

CommentID: 2381