Old News

16 November 2006 - State gifted education advocate and Madison attorney Todd Palmer recently filed a request for a judicial "summary judgement" in the matter of "Todd Palmer v. The State of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Elizabeth Burmaster."

September 13, 2006 - Report Urges Changes in the Teaching of Math in U.S. Schools - In a major shift from its influential recommendations 17 years ago, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics yesterday issued a report urging that math teaching in kindergarten through eighth grade focus on a few basic skills.

If the report, “Curriculum Focal Points,” has anywhere near the impact of the council’s 1989 report, it could signal a profound change in the teaching of math in American schools. It could also help end the math curriculum struggles that for the last two decades have set progressive educators and their liberal supporters against conservatives and many mathematicians. (read more)
March 2006 - On March 2, 2006, a lawsuit was filed in Dane County Circuit Court against the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster. The lawsuit challenges DPI’s failure to promulgate rules to govern public school districts in educating pupils identified as gifted and talented.
At present, DPI estimates that there are over 51,000 Wisconsin school children enrolled in Wisconsin’s public schools who are gifted and qualify for special educational programs. However, Wisconsin lacks a comprehensive, objective and clearly defined set of rules to ensure that all 426 school districts in our state meet the needs of these students. A recent Legislative Audit Bureau investigation demonstrated that in the absence of these rules, the needs of these gifted and talented students are not being met. According to DPI, this problem is only getting worse, and DPI has acknowledged that, “Wisconsin state law requires school districts to establish programs for these pupils, but the fiscal pressures facing many school districts has led a growing number of them to severely curtail or eliminate these programs.” DPI also has acknowledged that gifted students are the most underserved pupils in public schools and that “too often, these pupils are ignored, restricted or underachieving and, if not part of the typical dropout statistics, have become in-school dropouts.”

On November 29, 2005, approximately 200 parents filed a Petition with DPI asking that DPIcreate rules to ensure that the educational needs of gifted children are being met. By letter dated February 1, 2006, DPI refused to issue those rules. The March 2, 2006 lawsuit challenges DPI’s denial of that Petition and asks the Court to order that DPI create these rules that are required by state law.

According to Todd Palmer, a parent and attorney that had filed the lawsuit, “Many school districts simply ignore the needs of gifted and talented students because adequate rules are not in place to define appropriate programs for these children and to ensure those requirements are enforced.”

According to Palmer, “Recent surveys show that 60% of the Wisconsin school districts plan to cut or altogether eliminate their talented and gifted programs despite the statutory mandate that requires these programs to be offered to students.” He believes this state’s problem is exacerbated by a lack of federal funding for gifted education, “recent estimates predict that only 3/10 of a penny per $100 spent on education in this country is devoted to gifted children.
December 2005 - New Glarus parent Todd Palmer has filed a petition with DPI asking them to formulate rules requiring Wisconsin schools to offer uniform programs for gifted and talented students. He is trying to get as many signatures as possible on this petition, which you can access here.

October 2005 - A La Follette teacher speaks out about the inequities and implications of the four block system on La Follette students' educational opportunities in a recent schoolinfosystem posting.

September 2005 - The fall issue of American Educator addresses the issue of teaching children mathematics. There are several thought provoking articles worth checking out.

August 2005 - A new survey from the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans reports that almost 9 in 10 high school students would work harder if their schools expected more from them. Less than one-third of students say their school sets high academic expectations, and most students favor ideas that might add some hassle to their life, such as more rigorous graduation standards and additional high-stakes testing. You can view the report online.

Check out the Curriculum Pages for information about changes at West High School and a recent letters from two groups of international researchers who disagree on the effectiveness of Reading Recovery.

14 July 2005 - We are moving to using a listserve so that folks can post their thoughts and comments to the entire group. You can sign up here

May 2005 - Congratulations to Memorial High School! They have been ranked among the top 1000 high schools in the country, #587. Rufus King in Milwaukee was the highest ranked school in Wisconsin at #213, and locally Verona High School was ranked at #697.

20 April 2005 - Several parents have mentioned Kurt Vonnegut's short story Harrison Bergeron as an interesting philosophical piece to consider as we think about directions in education. That inspired me to track the story down on the web. Related to this debate is the article in the November 21, 2004 New York Times entitled When Every Child Is Good Enough.

April 2005 -- new material on the curriculum pages for parents wishing to advocate for additional sections of accelerated biology at West High School.

While the District may not be pleased with all the press it has been getting in the pages of the Isthmus, we certainly appreciate the fact that the paper is willing to take a hard look at important education issues. Please consider writing a letter to the editor thanking Isthmus for its series of insightful articles on MMSD issues or perhaps to share a reaction to their recent article on gifted and talented education.

March 2005 - The NRC report on mathematics education entitled "On Evaluating Curricular Effectiveness: Judging the Quality of K-12 Mathematics Evaluations." The entire report is available online.

March 2005 - The March issue of the Simpson Street Free Press has an article by Jazmin Jackson about the achievement gap and the pressures minority students face to underachieve.

February 2005 - The Governor's budget for 2005 keeps $81,000 for Middle School talented and gifted programming. (This is half of what DPI had requested, but is $81,000 more than what had been requested or allocated in the past year

February 2005 - Two of the nation's leading education groups are calling for schools, teachers, and parents to assure that all middle school youngsters are in classrooms where "both equity and excellence are persistent goals for each learner." National Middle School Association (NMSA) and the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) have issued a joint position statement and call for action to meet the needs of high-ability and high-potential learners between 10 and 15 years of age.

NMSA and NACG are urging schools to implement appropriate identification, assessment, and curriculum and instruction programs for students with advanced abilities and/or advanced potential. Additionally, schools should build partnerships with all adults key to these students' development, and focus on the affective development of these youngsters. Finally, the position statement calls for increased pre-service and in-service staff development for middle level teachers dealing with gifted students. The position statement includes a "call to action" to ensure equity and excellence for all learners, including those of advanced performance or potential. It suggests specific steps for district and school leaders; teachers, gifted education specialists, and support personnel; and parents to take.

February 2005 - A new report from ACT reveals that the vast majority of America's high school students have not taken the courses they need to be successful in college or in the workforce. The report Crisis at the Core found that only 22% of the 1.2 million 2004 high school graduates who took the ACT exam in 2004 met all three of the ACT's readiness benchmarks in science, math, and English. The report highlights the importance of taking high level courses in math and science.

February 2005 - We were delighted to have Donna Ford, Ph.D., the Betts Chair of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University visit Madison. Support for this visit has been provided in part by the the MMSD Parent Community Relations Department, American Family Insurance, West High School,the UW Department of Counseling Psychology, the Foundation for Madison's Public Schools, and individual teachers and parents.

Some of Dr. Ford's work:
- Ford, D. Y. (2003). Two other wrongs don't make a right: Sacrificing the needs of diverse students does not solve gifted education's unresolved problems. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 26, 283-291.
- Ford et al. (2002) Beyond deficit thinking: Providing access for gifted African-American students. Roeper Review, 24,
- Ford, D. Y. & Harmon, D. A. (2001). Equity and excellence: Providing access to gifted education for culturally diverse students.The Journal of Secondary Gifted Eductation, 14, 141-147.
- Ford, D. Y. & Thomas, A. (1997). Underachievement Among Gifted Minority Students: Problems and Promises. The ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education (ERIC EC) EC #544

February 2005 - UPDATE on Javits Funding -- According to Senator Kohl's office, funding for the Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act, S. 501 is still in committee. Senator Kohl has worked to increase funding for this program to $12.11 million (from $11.11 million this past year). Senator Kohl deserves our thanks and the rest of the committee should be encouraged to act on this legislation. For information about this and the contact addresses for the committee members you can visit the NAGC Legislative Update page.

October 15, 2004 - Information from West High reveals that once again the Accelerated Biology course is being slated for elimination. The cutting of this course is being proposed as part of the initiative to maintain an all inclusive, heterogeneous classroom. Proponents of this cut, propose an alternative Honors designation for interested students who wish to be challenged above the standard course curriculum. Under this proposal, these "honors" students would do additional work alongside the standard curriculum that they would be completing in the heterogeneous classroom. If interested in sharing your thoughts on this program cut, please contact Mike Lipp, Science Dept. chair, Mikki Smith, Vice Principal in charge of scheduling, or Principal Ed Holmes. Update (November 23, 2004) recent information indicates that West will not be cutting this class. Who says administrators don't listen?

October 4, 2004 - There has been some talk that East High may discontinue TAG classes for ninth and tenth graders. Assistant Superintendent Valencia Douglas has promised unequivically that TAG services will not be discontinued. However, the district will not rule out the possibility that there will be a change in the way in which these services are delivered.

September 25, 2004 - The September 20, 2004 issue of Time magazine has an article on the just-released report on gifted students. This report entitled "A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students" can be found online in its entirety. This two volume report was produced by the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted and Talented Education at the University of Iowa.

If you are interested in a whole host of issues related to the Madison School District, you might be very interested in a website put together by a group of concerned citizens. Check it out! A useful website for parents, community members and the press.

June 28, 2004 - Two recent articles of interest

The 'No Child' Law's Biggest Victims? An Answer That May Surprise - an article by Margaret DeLacy in Education Week

Gifted students losing lifeline - an article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the state of TAG programming across the state.

The War Against Excellence. The Rising Tide of Mediocrity in America's Middle Schools - a recently published book by Cheri Yecke, Commissioner of Education for the State of Minnesota"...assails a middle-school movement that over the past three decades, has deliberately targeted for extinction individualism and the concept of gifted education. The movement's gurus have sought to eliminate all forms of ability-grouping while wholeheartedly embracing so-called cooperative education and peer tutoring.

The head of Fine Arts in the District, Rick Neuenfeldt, resigned on Thursday, April 29th citing difficulties working with the District Administration to meet the needs of students, teachers, and parents. You can read his resignation email here .

A number of West High math teachers have written a letter to the editor of the Isthmus documenting their concerns about the direction of math education in the district and the way in which the needs of high level students (minority and majority) are being ignored. These teachers deserve our thanks for their courage in bringing their concerns to the attention of the community.

Madison United for Academic Excellence Information, news and resources for high ability students and their advocates.
Home	Old News 16 November 2006 - State gifted education advocate and Madison attorney Todd Palmer recently filed a request for a judicial "summary judgement" in the matter of "Todd Palmer v. The State of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Elizabeth Burmaster." September 13, 2006 - Report Urges Changes in the Teaching of Math in U.S. Schools - In a major shift from its influential recommendations 17 years ago, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics yesterday issued a report urging that math teaching in kindergarten through eighth grade focus on a few basic skills. If the report, “Curriculum Focal Points,” has anywhere near the impact of the council’s 1989 report, it could signal a profound change in the teaching of math in American schools. It could also help end the math curriculum struggles that for the last two decades have set progressive educators and their liberal supporters against conservatives and many mathematicians. (read more) March 2006 - On March 2, 2006, a lawsuit was filed in Dane County Circuit Court against the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster. The lawsuit challenges DPI’s failure to promulgate rules to govern public school districts in educating pupils identified as gifted and talented. At present, DPI estimates that there are over 51,000 Wisconsin school children enrolled in Wisconsin’s public schools who are gifted and qualify for special educational programs. However, Wisconsin lacks a comprehensive, objective and clearly defined set of rules to ensure that all 426 school districts in our state meet the needs of these students. A recent Legislative Audit Bureau investigation demonstrated that in the absence of these rules, the needs of these gifted and talented students are not being met. According to DPI, this problem is only getting worse, and DPI has acknowledged that, “Wisconsin state law requires school districts to establish programs for these pupils, but the fiscal pressures facing many school districts has led a growing number of them to severely curtail or eliminate these programs.” DPI also has acknowledged that gifted students are the most underserved pupils in public schools and that “too often, these pupils are ignored, restricted or underachieving and, if not part of the typical dropout statistics, have become in-school dropouts.” On November 29, 2005, approximately 200 parents filed a Petition with DPI asking that DPIcreate rules to ensure that the educational needs of gifted children are being met. By letter dated February 1, 2006, DPI refused to issue those rules. The March 2, 2006 lawsuit challenges DPI’s denial of that Petition and asks the Court to order that DPI create these rules that are required by state law. According to Todd Palmer, a parent and attorney that had filed the lawsuit, “Many school districts simply ignore the needs of gifted and talented students because adequate rules are not in place to define appropriate programs for these children and to ensure those requirements are enforced.” According to Palmer, “Recent surveys show that 60% of the Wisconsin school districts plan to cut or altogether eliminate their talented and gifted programs despite the statutory mandate that requires these programs to be offered to students.” He believes this state’s problem is exacerbated by a lack of federal funding for gifted education, “recent estimates predict that only 3/10 of a penny per $100 spent on education in this country is devoted to gifted children. December 2005 - New Glarus parent Todd Palmer has filed a petition with DPI asking them to formulate rules requiring Wisconsin schools to offer uniform programs for gifted and talented students. He is trying to get as many signatures as possible on this petition, which you can access here. October 2005 - A La Follette teacher speaks out about the inequities and implications of the four block system on La Follette students' educational opportunities in a recent schoolinfosystem posting. September 2005 - The fall issue of American Educator addresses the issue of teaching children mathematics. There are several thought provoking articles worth checking out. August 2005 - A new survey from the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans reports that almost 9 in 10 high school students would work harder if their schools expected more from them. Less than one-third of students say their school sets high academic expectations, and most students favor ideas that might add some hassle to their life, such as more rigorous graduation standards and additional high-stakes testing. You can view the report online. Check out the Curriculum Pages for information about changes at West High School and a recent letters from two groups of international researchers who disagree on the effectiveness of Reading Recovery. 14 July 2005 - We are moving to using a listserve so that folks can post their thoughts and comments to the entire group. You can sign up here May 2005 - Congratulations to Memorial High School! They have been ranked among the top 1000 high schools in the country, #587. Rufus King in Milwaukee was the highest ranked school in Wisconsin at #213, and locally Verona High School was ranked at #697. 20 April 2005 - Several parents have mentioned Kurt Vonnegut's short story Harrison Bergeron as an interesting philosophical piece to consider as we think about directions in education. That inspired me to track the story down on the web. Related to this debate is the article in the November 21, 2004 *New York Times* entitled When Every Child Is Good Enough. April 2005 -- new material on the curriculum pages for parents wishing to advocate for additional sections of accelerated biology at West High School. While the District may not be pleased with all the press it has been getting in the pages of the Isthmus, we certainly appreciate the fact that the paper is willing to take a hard look at important education issues. Please consider writing a letter to the editor thanking Isthmus for its series of insightful articles on MMSD issues or perhaps to share a reaction to their recent article on gifted and talented education. March 2005 - The NRC report on mathematics education entitled "On Evaluating Curricular Effectiveness: Judging the Quality of K-12 Mathematics Evaluations." The entire report is available online. March 2005 - The March issue of the Simpson Street Free Press has an article by Jazmin Jackson about the achievement gap and the pressures minority students face to underachieve. February 2005 - The Governor's budget for 2005 keeps $81,000 for Middle School talented and gifted programming. (This is half of what DPI had requested, but is $81,000 more than what had been requested or allocated in the past year February 2005 - Two of the nation's leading education groups are calling for schools, teachers, and parents to assure that all middle school youngsters are in classrooms where "both equity and excellence are persistent goals for each learner." National Middle School Association (NMSA) and the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) have issued a joint position statement and call for action to meet the needs of high-ability and high-potential learners between 10 and 15 years of age. NMSA and NACG are urging schools to implement appropriate identification, assessment, and curriculum and instruction programs for students with advanced abilities and/or advanced potential. Additionally, schools should build partnerships with all adults key to these students' development, and focus on the affective development of these youngsters. Finally, the position statement calls for increased pre-service and in-service staff development for middle level teachers dealing with gifted students. The position statement includes a "call to action" to ensure equity and excellence for all learners, including those of advanced performance or potential. It suggests specific steps for district and school leaders; teachers, gifted education specialists, and support personnel; and parents to take. February 2005 - A new report from ACT reveals that the vast majority of America's high school students have not taken the courses they need to be successful in college or in the workforce. The report Crisis at the Core found that only 22% of the 1.2 million 2004 high school graduates who took the ACT exam in 2004 met all three of the ACT's readiness benchmarks in science, math, and English. The report highlights the importance of taking high level courses in math and science. February 2005 - We were delighted to have Donna Ford, Ph.D., the Betts Chair of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University visit Madison. Support for this visit has been provided in part by the the MMSD Parent Community Relations Department, American Family Insurance, West High School,the UW Department of Counseling Psychology, the Foundation for Madison's Public Schools, and individual teachers and parents. Some of Dr. Ford's work: Ford, D. Y. (2003). Two other wrongs don't make a right: Sacrificing the needs of diverse students does not solve gifted education's unresolved problems. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 26, 283-291. Ford et al. (2002) Beyond deficit thinking: Providing access for gifted African-American students. Roeper Review, 24, Ford, D. Y. & Harmon, D. A. (2001). Equity and excellence: Providing access to gifted education for culturally diverse students.The Journal of Secondary Gifted Eductation, 14, 141-147. Ford, D. Y. & Thomas, A. (1997). Underachievement Among Gifted Minority Students: Problems and Promises. The ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education (ERIC EC) EC #544 February 2005 - UPDATE on Javits Funding -- According to Senator Kohl's office, funding for the Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act, S. 501 is still in committee. Senator Kohl has worked to increase funding for this program to $12.11 million (from $11.11 million this past year). Senator Kohl deserves our thanks and the rest of the committee should be encouraged to act on this legislation. For information about this and the contact addresses for the committee members you can visit the NAGC Legislative Update page. October 15, 2004 - Information from West High reveals that once again the Accelerated Biology course is being slated for elimination. The cutting of this course is being proposed as part of the initiative to maintain an all inclusive, heterogeneous classroom. Proponents of this cut, propose an alternative Honors designation for interested students who wish to be challenged above the standard course curriculum. Under this proposal, these "honors" students would do additional work alongside the standard curriculum that they would be completing in the heterogeneous classroom. If interested in sharing your thoughts on this program cut, please contact Mike Lipp, Science Dept. chair, Mikki Smith, Vice Principal in charge of scheduling, or Principal Ed Holmes. Update (November 23, 2004) recent information indicates that West will not be cutting this class. Who says administrators don't listen? October 4, 2004 - There has been some talk that East High may discontinue TAG classes for ninth and tenth graders. Assistant Superintendent Valencia Douglas has promised unequivically that TAG services will not be discontinued. However, the district will not rule out the possibility that there will be a change in the way in which these services are delivered. September 25, 2004 - The September 20, 2004 issue of Time magazine has an article on the just-released report on gifted students. This report entitled "A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students" can be found online in its entirety. This two volume report was produced by the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted and Talented Education at the University of Iowa. If you are interested in a whole host of issues related to the Madison School District, you might be very interested in a website put together by a group of concerned citizens. Check it out! A useful website for parents, community members and the press. June 28, 2004 - Two recent articles of interest The 'No Child' Law's Biggest Victims? An Answer That May Surprise - an article by Margaret DeLacy in Education Week Gifted students losing lifeline - an article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the state of TAG programming across the state. The War Against Excellence. The Rising Tide of Mediocrity in America's Middle Schools - a recently published book by Cheri Yecke, Commissioner of Education for the State of Minnesota"...assails a middle-school movement that over the past three decades, has deliberately targeted for extinction individualism and the concept of gifted education. The movement's gurus have sought to eliminate all forms of ability-grouping while wholeheartedly embracing so-called cooperative education and peer tutoring. The head of Fine Arts in the District, Rick Neuenfeldt, resigned on Thursday, April 29th citing difficulties working with the District Administration to meet the needs of students, teachers, and parents. You can read his resignation email here . A number of West High math teachers have written a letter to the editor of the Isthmus documenting their concerns about the direction of math education in the district and the way in which the needs of high level students (minority and majority) are being ignored. These teachers deserve our thanks for their courage in bringing their concerns to the attention of the community.
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Last Modified 3 March 2008