President's Message

It has been very heartening over the past several months with the positive press that the gifted exceptionality has received. Some of the recent publications will have an impact on ABC Ontario’s future policy direction.

In September, A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students by Nicholas Colangelo, Susan Assouline and Miraca Gross, became available on the Internet (www.nationdeceived.org). The primary thrust of their report is that while the research continuously demon-strates the positive impacts of acceleration for the brightest students, the educational establishment remains skeptical. Acceleration can take a variety of forms: early entrance to school, grade-skipping, moving ahead in one subject area, or Advanced Placement ¹ (AP) courses.

The Ontario Ministry of Education also released in September The Individual Education Plan (IEP): A Resource Guide. From ABC Ontario’s perspective, this long anticipated document was a disappointment. It is difficult to see how a useful IEP can be prepared for a gifted student, especially at the secondary level following the Ministry’s guidance. ABC Ontario has already advised the Ministry of Education of our concerns and of our intent to develop our own exemplars, which will be circulated to our members.

Dona Matthews, Ph.D. and Joanne Foster, Ed.D., both well-known in Ontario education circles, had their book Being Smart about Gifted Children: A Guidebook for Parents and Educators published by Great Potential Press in November. I admit that I haven’t had time to finish reading it as yet. I do expect, however, that it will become a very useful reference. I have already had occasion to make reference to their comments on assessments and tests.

Many of the school boards in Ontario rely very heavily on group administered intelligence tests such as the Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test (CCAT). As they note: “Group intelligence tests have the usual benefits of group administered tests—they are cost- and time-effective. However, they are problematic for identify-ing giftedness…these tests miss the divergent or creative gifted thinker who looks at questions differently than others or who thinks in more complex ways than the “right answer” exemplifies. They miss the child whose reasoning ability is exceptionally advanced but whose reading and/or writing skills are not developing as well as might be expected. They almost always miss the child with double or multiple exceptionalities— for example, the child who is both gifted and learning disabled.” ²

At the provincial level, we are busy planning several educational opportunities for parents, teachers and others interested in the needs of gifted children. A one day conference will be held in the Toronto area in the spring 2005 (late April, early May). Planned topics sessions on the social and emotional needs of gifted children, IEPs, and advocating for gifted students. We should have details out to you in late February/early March. Planning is already underway for a two-day conference in the spring of 2006. Karen Rogers, the author of Re-Forming Gifted Education: Matching the Program to the Child, has agreed to be a speaker. As more details become available, we will let you know. Local chapters are also running active programs. Check our website for the latest details.

Elizabeth Buckingham
President, ABC Ontario

¹ Many high schools in Ontario already offer college-level AP courses. Students who obtain a grade of 4 or 5 on the final exam can receive a credit and/or advanced placement from many universities and colleges. More information is available from www.ap.ca.
² Matthews, Dona J., Foster, Joanne F., Being Smart about Gifted Children: A Guidebook for Parents and Educators, Great Poten-tial Press, Inc., Scottsdale, Arizona, 2005, p.69-70. More information is also available from the authors’ website (www.beingsmart.ca).