Gifted Education Vital to Democracy
I disagree with Cloyd Hastings' unqualified statement that “the ability grouping of students in a democratic society is ethically unacceptable” (“Ending Ability Grouping Is a Moral Imperative,” October 1992). If “equality of opportunity” means anything in a democratic society, lack of such grouping is indeed ethically unacceptable.
Gifted children need an education appropriate to their capabilities. They need the companionship of others who share enthusiasm for learning, can challenge them to think things through, and can offer support for their emotional well-being. To quote a cliché: Nothing is so unequal as the equal treatment of unequals. Treating everyone alike is scarcely the way to recognize diversity.
—Norman J. Mirman, Founder/Director, The Mirman School Los Angeles, California
Re: Urging Career Moves
Principal Allan S. Vann's contention that teachers must be made to change their grade level every few years in order to remain effective negates the idea of teaching as a professional endeavor (Voices, October 1992).
Would Vann tell Dr. Debakey to take up orthopedics for a change? Would he suggest that F. Lee Bailey go into real estate law? Of course not. Yet he thinks teachers are unable to assess what level they want to specialize in.
I've worked with the same grade level for 11 years. There is not a day that I do not learn and grow. As a professional, I am constantly challenged to implement the best of research concepts for this particular age group. If I had to change my grade level, all my experience and years of fine-tuning would be lost.
Vann's paternalistic administrator's attitude leaves little wonder why the public does not see teaching as a true profession. In professional communities, specialization is a valuable asset.
—Dale Katzen, Special Education Teacher, William Floyd School District, Mastic Beach, New York
Does All Really Mean All?
I want to commend your issue, Untracking for Equity (October 1992).
For the past 10 years, a revolution has been taking place. Children who once received labels like “severe and profoundly disabled” are demonstrating they can learn in “inclusive schools,” educational communities that welcome all learners and celebrate diversity. At the same time, as parents and educators will tell you, a great sense of community builds for all children when full inclusion is the desired outcome.
The phrase “all children can learn” has been freely used by many educators and policymakers working toward school reform. However, many of these same people really don't intend that all children be considered worthy of quality schooling. Even some of their “model sites” deny some children the opportunity to participate.
It is our hope that ASCD continue to “push the envelope” in its publications, conferences, and seminars to include all children in quality effective schools.
—Jeffrey L. Strully, Executive Director, Association for Community Living, Denver, Colorado
Lessons from One-Room Schools
I read with interest Barbara Pavan's “Benefits of Nongraded Schools” (October 1992). My wife and I work as a team in a one room, K–6 school in the mountains of central Idaho. We group children by age and according to their level of mastery of a subject. A 9-year-old might be with 12-year-olds for one subject, 7-year-olds for another. Children from age 5 to 12 work on group projects together.
Indeed, nongradedness, as well as cooperative learning, team building, learning styles, family building, and peer tutoring, are practiced daily in one-room schools and may even have had their roots there as early as the 1800s. I agree with Pavan that nongradedness allows students to flourish and think it should be expanded from K–3 to K–8 as in some one-room schools today.
—Vic Koshuta, Lowman Elementary School, Lowman, Idaho
The Illiteracy/ Crime Connection
As inmate editor of a prison periodical, I work in a facility that produces materials for penitentiary educational programs. A steady flow of correspondence comes my way from barely literate men and women who populate the huge Texas prison system. My years of publications work, along with living in a penal environment for 16 years, qualify me as somewhat of an authority on the people who populate our country's penal institutions.
Your issue on teaching peace and curbing violence (Contemporary Issues, September 1992) really hit home. In my world the relationship to criminal behavior and lack of education is easily observed. Most inmates have a feeble grasp of language and mathematics and virtually no comprehension of how history impacts on our lives today.
I've often asked myself at what point these young people became criminals. When does a child give up on learning in school to substitute the values of street culture? One thing I know: American educators are an essential part of shaping young lives in the current social environment.
—Guy Marble, Editor,The Echo, Huntsville, Texas
Editor's note: See Guy Marble's article “Plea from a Prisoner” in this issue.
