An internal school district report that recommended eliminating grades four and five of the Accelerated & Enriched (A&E) program has caused a stir among parents in the district. Students currently can test into the program from the third grade onwards and participate in a separate advanced math curriculum through eighth grade.
While the A&E recommendation has garnered the most attention, it was one of many items from the comprehensive evaluation of the Gifted & Talented program that also included an external report by education consultants. The G&T program reviews were presented at the September 8 school board meeting, and superintendent David Aderhold said that the next step after the recommendations is to develop an action plan.
“A lot of people are involved in the evolution of the action plan,” said board vice president Michele Kaish. “It is not the board’s job to come up recommendations. It’s up to the administration, the math supervisors, teachers, and so on. Initial conversations will begin in the curriculum committee, and once the administration makes a report, there will be more discussion. Committee meetings are like work sessions. At some point, an action plan will come before the board for a vote. A lot of items will be on the action plan, and the A&E program is a small part of that.”
The curriculum committee consists of assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction Martin Smith, and board members Dana Krug, Scott Powell, and Isaac Cheng. Smith could not be reached for comment by press time.
Krug, the committee chair, says she expects the G&T program to be on the agenda set by the administration at the next committee meeting, on Tuesday, October 13.
“We don’t write the agenda and we don’t develop the action plan,” Krug says. “The committee would have input on an action plan. We’ll ask questions, and the administration will take our input and rework things.”
While members of the public are welcome to attend board meetings, those interested in attending committee meetings must request permission in advance, and committees can also hold closed work sessions.
Any adjustments for the 2016-’17 school year, such as potential changes to the A&E program, would be determined this winter.
“The district needs time for staffing and facility space considerations,” Krug says. “For example the curriculum committee discusses the high school program of studies in the fall and then the full board usually approves it in January.”
Kaish said she has not had discussions with administrators or curriculum committee members on the timeline for a G&T action plan, but based on her general familiarity with procedure she expects some movement on an action plan by the end of the year.
The enrollment test for the A&E program has previously occurred in the second half of the school year. Several months of lead up time before the test is required, so the district can provide informational meetings for parents.
These meetings have previously taken place in the winter, and so a determination on the grades four and five components of the A&E program needs to be made around the same time.
Krug notes that social and emotional issues was a central takeaway from the evaluation of the G&T program.
“Students from a young age are being prepped, taking all kinds of academic programs so they’ll be ready to get into the G&T program, in particular the A&E program,” Krug says. “Similar school systems didn’t have this level of social and emotional stress on their students. That is something we realized we need to focus on. We’re about the whole child, not just about reaching the top of the academic field.”
The district also cited greater inclusiveness as another goal. At the September 8 board meeting, the district noted more than 90 percent of A&E students are Asian and more than 80 percent are male.
A central concern for parents in support of A&E is whether advanced students will be unchallenged in the absence of a rigorous curriculum. Several school board members support maintaining the program, or finding a good alternative. One of them is YZ Zhang, whose three high school-age children were in the program beginning in elementary school.
“The report did not give any alternative,” Zhang says. “If you think there is too much disparity, how can we address that? We can trim the top, which I disagree with, or push up the bottom. I agree we should not just focus on the top students. We should also accommodate differentiated levels of students, and our main focus should be pushing up all students.”
The school district’s G&T program internal report cites data “that shows no statistically significant difference” in outcomes for students who started the program in middle school, as opposed to those who entered it in grade four or five.
Smith added at the September 8 board meeting that half the students in the district’s culminating math course, Multivariable Calculus, were not in the A&E program. Zhang argues these are not valid reasons to eliminate the program.
“That’s not proof of the ineffectiveness of the A&E program,” Zhang says. “The majority of A&E students enter the program in elementary school, and fewer students get in afterward. You should expect the same results from both groups. Nothing is static for students, and there are students who excel in the regular curriculum and they are able to enter the A&E program in middle school. And in high school there are students in the regular curriculum who do well and end up in Multivariable Calculus.”
The district also noted an “industry of test preparation” at the third grade level, which Zhang says is “a bit of an exaggeration” and notes that enrollment mechanisms could be altered.
Zhang also added that the district’s recommendation made no mention of budgetary reasons and that while A&E participants are predominantly Asian, support for the program is not isolated to the Asian-American community.
His three sons currently attend High School North, and all three entered the A&E program in elementary school. Twins Jeremy and Jasen are seniors who currently head North’s Math Club.
“My kids were motivated to follow their peers into the A&E program,” Zhang says. “Jeremy spoke after the school board presentation. He did not enter A&E in fourth grade but got in a year later through self-study. It’s important that we should not limit students’ ability to grow. Yes, there needs to be a balance with social life and sports, but at the same time we have to set the academic priorities straight and not use the big stick of emotional health to shut down a good program.”
Former school board president Hemant Marathe has four daughters who graduated from the school district, two of whom were in the A&E program. He declined to comment on the district’s recent recommendation.
“As a parent, the two kids who were in the program have benefited by it. They enjoyed it very much. I also know my other two kids were not hurt in any way by not being in the program,” Marathe says.
Other School News
In other district news, the board held a meeting September 21 to vote on finance and personnel matters. All items on the agenda were approved.
Three parents commented on the A&E program, two in support of maintaining it and one in support of the district recommendations.
Two other West Windsor residents also expressed opposition to the single bus route for residents who attend the private Catholic schools St. Paul’s in Princeton and Notre Dame in Lawrenceville. The bus route can last more than an hour, and there are students ranging from kindergarten to high school.
The state provides a per-pupil spending cap on non-public school transportation, and two bus routes were consolidated into one after the costs exceeded the state mandate.
“Our hands are tied, these are guidelines from the state we have to follow,” Kaish says. “If we can’t combine the routes, then we don’t have a bus.”
