Parent Advocates: Creating Opportunities for Gifted Students

Center for Talent Development interviewed two parents engaged in successful advocacy for gifted students in Michigan. Kathy MacDonald is the president of KCAGT (Kent County Association for Gifted and Talented), a group that serves gifted children and their families throughout West Michigan. MacDonald is also a member of the Michigan Midwest Talent Search Advisory Board. She lives with her husband and three gifted children in Kentwood, Michigan. Lori Kane served as president of KCAGT for two years and is a member of the Michigan Midwest Talent Search Advisory Board. She lives with her husband and three children in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Tell us about your advocacy efforts in the Grand Rapids region. What have you accomplished?
Our advocacy efforts in Grand Rapids, Michigan take many forms. Kent County Association for Gifted and Talented (KCAGT) sponsors a variety of educational activities and field trips for children, speakers for parents, and summer camps for gifted middle school students. Midwest Talent Search is the best advocating tool we have found. KAGT works in collaboration with the Michigan Alliance for Gifted Education, the Kent Intermediate School District, the Center for Talent Development and local school districts to raise the awareness of Talent Search. Each fall our group sponsors parent information meetings where parents are invited to learn the basics of MTS – what it is, how it works and what the benefits are. In the spring KCAGT offers follow-up meetings to show parents how to use the scores and the planning guide to develop and implement a long-range educational plan for their child. These meetings are well attended and reach out to parents who often are new to the advocating process. Additionally, we host an informational meeting for educators – principals, counselors, GT coordinators, and teachers – to learn how to interpret the scores and use the planning guide to provide appropriate curriculum for gifted learners. The combination of education for parents and educators regarding the Talent Search process has yielded real results for children.

One of KCAGT’s noteworthy accomplishments is the establishment of an annual awards ceremony for high scorers on the MTS tests in the Grand Rapids area. This year will mark the third annual ceremony. KCAGT has partnered with the Van Andel Institute, a premier cancer research facility, the Michigan Alliance for Gifted Education, the Kent Intermediate School District, and the Center for Talent Development to provide recognition for these high ability students. The awards ceremony not only rewards and encourages the students, but also affirms their strengths and abilities and exposes them to other gifted children and gifted adults. Furthermore, it serves to raise the awareness of Talent Search within the community, which helps schools to see MTS as a valid tool for guiding a child’s education.

Another significant accomplishment is the development of a partnership with Calvin College. KCAGT and Calvin College developed and implemented ACE: Academic Camps for Excellence. ACE is a series of summer camps designed specifically for gifted middle school students. In three years, the program has grown to offer four camps (two science camps, a math camp and a literature and writing camp) that serve nearly 120 students.

How did you start your parent groups? How did you get together?
Starting a parent group sounds harder than it is. The model outlined below was used to re-establish KCAGT. KCAGT is a group that had been in existence for many years, but had become dormant. This model has been used successfully in a variety of situations to connect with other parents.

1. Find someone to speak and choose a topic (tip: ask your gifted and talented teacher, ISD consultant, school social worker…)
2. Find a location, set a time and date
3. Make a flyer (tip: focus on the topic, keep the format simple…)
4. Promote the event (tip: start a minimum of 4-6 weeks ahead of time, ask your gifted and talented coordinator and your ISD coordinator to distribute your flyer…)
5. Register those who attend (tip: sign-in sheet should include name, e-mail, telephone number, and address)
   
6. Follow-up with those in attendance (tip: have a date already set for a follow-up meeting and announce it)
7. Follow-up meeting (tip: establish a core group and brainstorm group goals)
   The goals KCAGT established were to connect with other parents, share information about existing opportunities, and to create new opportunities for gifted children and their families.

How have your advocacy efforts for Grand Rapids affected your own children?
Both of our families have benefited from our county-wide efforts. They have participated in KCAGT’s activities and field trips. Interacting with people who are experts in their field who share their passion and knowledge inspires them to keep the love of learning alive. The children have opportunities to connect with other children who think learning is fun. Additionally, our children have been able to take advantage of existing programs that we learned of from other parents.

How have you advocated individually for your own children?
Kathy: Talent Search has been the tool I needed to be an effective advocate. Without the data provided by Talent Search, I was just another pushy mom who thinks her children are special. With the test scores and planning guide, I was able to sit down with the school counselor and teacher and lay out a long-range academic plan.
Lori: I work collaboratively with my children’s teachers by helping in the classroom, supporting their efforts by connecting them with local resources to enhance units of study, and sharing articles and books about teaching gifted children. My husband and I meet with our children’s teachers formally and informally throughout the year.
I investigated what appropriate educational options are available for my children during the school day. Finding out what higher level courses the school already offers and working to make those courses available to my children has been a very effective strategy.

I am also interested in lasting effects for gifted children on the district level. I served on a district-wide school improvement committee. Action plans developed from this committee have benefited my children.

What role has the Talent Search played in your advocacy efforts?
Before participating in Talent Search, we each went through a similar process of trying to understand and advocate for our children. We knew they needed something different, but we did not know what. Talent Search helped us to understand more about each individual child’s area of strength and level of ability. Talent Search scores and Planning and Resource Guides are the keys that opened several academic doors which were previously locked.

What do you think is the value of MTS/MTSY for parents and children?
The process of advocating for your child can be overwhelming and scary. But, with Talent Search, YOU CAN DO IT!!! The scores and planning guide make the process very do-able. You can be confident and trust in the Talent Search data and recommendations. Talent Search is a well-researched model and the data and recommendations are reliable and valid. Research shows the tests are appropriate for high ability children and the recommendations are appropriate.

Talent Search is a two step process. Having your child take the test is the first step. Following through with using the planning guide and test results is the second step. Both steps are necessary to help a child with high ability receive an appropriate education.

How important do you think parent advocacy is for gifted children?
Peter D. Rosenstein, Executive Director of Parenting for High Potential, said it best. “Getting involved in your child’s school is something that all parents MUST do. Parents cannot simply send their children off to school each morning and assume they will be returned, 12 years later, having received an appropriate education that prepares them well for college and beyond.”

It is important for children to receive academic challenges that will require them to learn how to study, to cope with grades less then an A, and interact with intellectual peers before they go to college. They need to discover the correlation between effort and results.

What mistakes have you made and what successes have you had?
Kathy: The mistakes I made were because I didn’t understand my children’s strengths and weaknesses and I didn’t understand the school’s strengths and weaknesses. I didn’t know what questions to ask. I didn’t know what options existed. I didn’t understand the importance of following up. I felt uncomfortable with the whole advocating process.

I learned that while schools care a great deal about the children they serve, they lack the training, time, and resources gifted learners require. Once I understood that, and understood my children’s unique needs, and learned about the existing options, I felt empowered. I was then able to ask the right questions, pursue the right options, and follow-up with confidence.

Lori: My early advocating strategies would rival mother bear protecting her cub. I was confrontational and demanding because I saw the “fire” for exploration grow dim within my child and I felt scared and helpless. Curriculum enhancement, professional development and academic options take a lot of time to implement. At the same time, in order for my children to learn something new on a regular basis, they need curriculum enhancements now. I came to realize I have a role in helping my children. Volunteering in the classroom, sitting on a school improvement committee and connecting with other parents were active steps that I could take to make a difference for my children.

What recommendations do you have for other parents?

• Be your child’s voice. Have the courage to make an appointment to meet with the teacher, counselor, or principal to talk about your child’s learning needs. Bring your spouse and be a united front.
• Read. There are a lot of great books written for parents of gifted children. Find one and start there. The one book that is a must-read is Re-Forming Gifted Education by Karen B. Rogers. This book is user-friendly and a tremendous resource.
• Organize your papers. Create a 3-ring binder for each child containing all test results, plans, correspondence, samples of their work… Bring this binder with you to your meeting.
• Choose a teacher wisely. Find out which teachers in the building are sympathetic to the needs of gifted children and guide your child through the school policies into their classroom.
• Connect with other parents. You’ve heard this before, and it really makes a difference. It is important to learn from others and share what you have learned.
  

We have learned so many things these past three years! It takes a great deal of time, energy, persistence and courage to advocate for the educational needs of gifted children. During the journey, it is important to remain positive, be patient, and work cooperatively with others. Advocating is important to the welfare of your child. Your efforts will make a difference. Your concerns are valid and you are NOT alone. The goal of having a child who is happy, loves to learn, and receives a good education makes the journey worthwhile.

We’d like to say during our brainstorming session three years ago, we sat down and developed a strategic plan and we have been meticulously carrying out that plan. But that’s not how it went. KCAGT has been (and still is) an evolving process. This process includes risk taking, stretching beyond our comfort zones, and getting involved. Underlying this process is this guiding principle:
“Educational planning and advising of gifted children is definitely a challenge. It is a long-term and time-intensive activity. It requires continuing advocacy, often with little support from others. But the goal of producing well-educated, self-confident, productive, life-long learners certainly makes the effort worthwhile, and it is my belief that the effort is unquestionably necessary if gifted children are to discover, enjoy, and reach their potential.” -- Karen B. Rogers, Re-Forming Gifted Education