tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-167365232009-07-04T10:22:21.076-07:00Welcome to Gifted Exchange, the blog about gifted children, schooling, parenting, education news and changing American education for the better.Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.comBlogger355125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-30744464787897107282009-07-01T11:48:00.001-07:002009-07-01T12:25:12.112-07:00

We're on our summer posting schedule here at Gifted Exchange (read: infrequent), but I'm always looking for topics so please send ideas along!In the meantime, today's post covers summer reading. As part of my attempts to "make over" my time to get more out of days and weeks, I've been trying to read more fiction. I read a lot of non-fiction (often for book reviews) but as life gets busy, I often

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-69774987096412293162009-06-23T13:15:00.000-07:002009-06-23T13:44:29.648-07:00

I wanted to call readers' attention to a new report from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Institute for Advanced Study called "The Opportunity Equation." This report takes a broad look at math and science education in the US, sets a number of goals, and makes recommendations. There's some interesting food for thought. The big goal is that all young Americans should be "STEM capable" -

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-65347016303113719282009-06-19T08:39:00.000-07:002009-06-19T08:51:07.487-07:00

While doing some background research on a group called the East Meets West Foundation, I came across a fascinating press release about the new Kon Ray Boarding School in Vietnam. Providing an adequate education for the ethnic minority students in Vietnam's central highlands has long been a problem for this developing country. Families are scattered, which means that kids have to walk long

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-24857614548895717512009-06-16T05:58:00.001-07:002009-06-16T06:04:46.173-07:00

I have a column in USA Today this morning called "The Permanent Recession." It touches on some topics we discussed here in recent weeks -- namely, that mediocre schools have an economic cost, and that underachievement is not just a problem confined to poor students in poor districts. It affects most students at most schools. Scores for the top 10% of US 15-year-olds on international tests are way

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-62458393830478264472009-06-15T06:09:00.000-07:002009-06-15T06:19:05.338-07:00

I was particularly struck by this headline from ABC News the other day: Should Genius Kids Know Their IQs?The question came up due to the media attention received by some precocious children. If headlines are blaring a kid's IQ scores (problematic though some of the higher ones may be due to controversies about the test used for 160+ scores) it's pretty hard to keep that under wraps. But what

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-62819834518611609282009-06-10T05:00:00.000-07:002009-06-10T05:40:47.026-07:00

As some of you know, I am deep in the throes of writing another book, called 168 Hours, to be published by Portfolio about a year from now. There are 168 hours in a week, and this book is about how successful, happy people get the most out of them (I'm still looking for people to profile, and people to "makeover" their schedules, so if you know anyone who's interested, let me know! Lvanderkam at

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-46032920185828775322009-06-04T20:26:00.001-07:002009-06-04T20:44:12.197-07:00

While it's become an article of public faith that almost all high school graduates should go to college -- because a college degree is critical in a knowledge economy -- it turns out that many colleges are doing a lousy job of helping their students finish. According to this article in USA Today about an AEI study, 4-year colleges in the US only graduate 53% of their students in 6 years. While

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-41390434616949120442009-06-02T05:40:00.000-07:002009-06-02T05:43:03.538-07:00

The online version of my story in the spring 2009 City Journal called "LAPD High" finally went live. Back in January, I visited the Reseda Police Academy Magnet, one of a handful of LA schools sponsored by the local men (and women) in blue. They're getting reasonable results for at-risk kids, and suggest an interesting model of career-focused education.

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-48609215037326900152009-05-28T13:49:00.000-07:002009-05-28T14:04:04.475-07:00

According to a new report from the US Department of Education (discussed by USA Today here), 1.5 million US children are now being homeschooled. This is up from less than a million in 1999, and puts the homeschooling rate at just shy of 3%. The homeschooling rate is much higher among college-educated parents; indeed, nearly 7% of college-educated parents now homeschool their children. Also,

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-11999619694118666972009-05-27T06:13:00.001-07:002009-05-27T06:32:51.094-07:00

The New York Times had an interesting article the other day on the principals who've graduated from the New York City Leadership Academy, the city's new boot camp for school leaders. Under Chancellor Joel Klein, the city has been trying to change the job of principal from a position that one takes after climbing up the teaching ranks, to one that attracts top Ivy League grads, trains them in

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-10529310024222142372009-05-22T04:55:00.000-07:002009-05-22T05:33:27.701-07:00

The SAT has a fascinating history as a test. Started as more of an "aptitude" assessment designed to find highly intelligent children who hadn't had top-notch academic preparation, it later turned into an "achievement" test designed to cover high school coursework. It was "re-centered" in the mid-1990s to push declining average scores back toward 1000 on a 1600 point scale. Then, four years ago,

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-66051295331870455942009-05-20T13:42:00.000-07:002009-05-20T13:55:30.768-07:00

Having a high IQ doesn't protect you from the impairments caused by Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), according to a new study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders. The researchers gave 157 adults with ADHD and IQs over 120 several tests designed to gauge their executive function. Executive function refers to the brain processes that control planning, choosing

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-56973570815972214532009-05-15T14:32:00.000-07:002009-05-15T14:41:54.208-07:00

It turns out that severe morning sickness during a mother's pregnancy is associated with higher tested IQ in the child, according to a recent study. The likely explanation is that something about the hormones that cause nausea and vomiting also help with neurological development. I guess that's a small comfort if you're feeling really sick. But boy, I know I wished whoever designed pregnancy

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-11386331612291412852009-05-14T10:56:00.000-07:002009-05-14T11:03:49.441-07:00

For the past year, I've been writing a weekly online column for Scientific American called "Where Are They Now?" The series profiles former finalists in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. For six decades, this contest found highly gifted young people from around the United States, and honored them for their science projects (it lives on today as the Intel Science Talent Search). These young

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-31803216372249913052009-05-12T03:55:00.000-07:002009-05-12T04:18:41.321-07:00

The May 18 issue of the New Yorker has an interesting piece on self-control and how it relates to children's achievements. Years ago, at the Bing Nursery School on Stanford's campus, psychologist Walter Mischel designed an experiment. He'd put a 4-year-old in a room with some marshmallows. He'd tell the kid that she could have one now, or if she waited for him to return in a few minutes, she

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-57629251653229782862009-05-08T06:19:00.000-07:002009-05-08T06:43:59.546-07:00

The "standards" movement has been brewing for quite a while, and one result is that about half of states now require something called a high school exit exam. Several years ago, there was a spate of stories about high school graduates being unable to read their diplomas, so states began adding exit exams to their graduation requirements in order to signal to employers and higher education

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-85447999333376851182009-05-04T12:09:00.000-07:002009-05-04T12:20:41.682-07:00

I was excited to see an article from The Tampa Tribune a few days ago called "School board to consider expanded gifted program." Given that many districts are talking about cutting funding, how nice to see one place where gifted students' needs are being considered in the mix! A closer look, though, brought up many of the issues we've been talking about here in the past. The school board planned

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-7937265973954544732009-04-28T11:43:00.001-07:002009-04-28T11:57:14.256-07:00

Based on an excellent suggestion by GE reader Taia, today's post deals with a recent Wall Street Journal article on Bill Gates Sr. and Bill Gates Jr. Bill Gates Sr. has mostly stayed out of the limelight, but with a short book coming out, he agreed to talk to the WSJ about Bill Gates' childhood. The article reveals some fascinating details. Young Bill read the encyclopedia at a young age, and

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-40426903437606580342009-04-23T05:56:00.000-07:002009-04-23T06:14:27.853-07:00

It's a constant refrain in education circles that spending on schools is an investment in the future. Better educated people earn more and live healthier, more productive lives. We know this through extensive social science research, and in fact, even know income numbers in terms of averages for people who score in different quartiles on standardized tests.But we don't talk about the converse

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-28626328788915974782009-04-22T12:43:00.001-07:002009-04-23T09:41:26.270-07:00

Just a quick post today -- but wanted to call attention to a Nicholas Kristof column from the New York Times last week. He writes about the ongoing debate about whether it is possible to raise IQ. The answer? Maybe. Children who are already testing above average probably won't see much effect from efforts to boost their intelligence quotient. But children who are otherwise subjected to deprived

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-1161920052679881042009-04-15T07:46:00.000-07:002009-04-15T07:55:21.741-07:00

Not long ago, we heard from a teacher at the Davidson Academy of Nevada, located at the University of Nevada-Reno. The Davidson Academy is the nation's first public school for profoundly gifted children. I thought it would be fun to hear from a student as well. Today we're talking with Alex Wade, 11, a student in his first year there. GE: Why did you decide to attend the Davidson Academy?Alex: At

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-13567563550601450432009-04-13T18:06:00.000-07:002009-04-13T18:27:00.898-07:00

In 2003, Congress created the first federally funded voucher program in the District of Columbia. This program offered students $7500 scholarships to attend private schools in the area (a number which is significantly below the public schools' per pupil funding rate). When the funds were appropriated, Congress also set aside funds for studying the program. The most recent results were just

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-70159501818725014242009-04-06T05:24:00.000-07:002009-04-06T05:42:12.057-07:00

As long time readers of this blog can guess, I'm not a huge fan of the federal stimulus bill. However, I am happy to learn that when it comes to education funding, the feds (led by education secretary Arne Duncan) have decided to ask for as much transparency and data collection as possible. The first checks seem to be coming regardless. But in order for states to get the second round, they're

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-8964675476599680112009-04-02T05:50:00.000-07:002009-04-02T06:16:00.854-07:00

Today we welcome another teacher of gifted students to Gifted Exchange. Erin Vienneau teaches English and history at the Davidson Academy of Nevada, the nation's first free public day school for profoundly gifted children. Located in Reno, the school serves children who would conventionally be in the middle and high school years, and focuses on individualized instruction. GE: Please describe a

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16736523.post-85292592181872288142009-03-31T05:58:00.001-07:002009-03-31T08:33:43.287-07:00

Today we welcome Carol Fertig to Gifted Exchange. Fertig is a gifted education expert and the author of Raising a Gifted Child: A Parenting Success Handbook, new from Prufrock Press.GE: You've been in gifted ed for decades—why did you write Raising a Gifted Child now? Did you learn anything new in the process?Fertig: Writing Raising a Gifted Child: A Parenting Success Handbook presented me with

Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.com0