Whhhhhaaaat? Acceleration?

An Overheardian just sent this snippet from the Hyer Enews. And she wants to know, since when did we do this in HPISD? Aren’t we all about starting kindergarten at something like, age 9.5?

From the Hyer Enews:

Counselor’s News

  • Acceleration (skipping a grade) testing will be on the following dates:
    • March 27th (Deadline for enrolling is February 27th)
    • June 9-10 (Deadline for enrolling is May 8th)
    • August 10-11 (Deadline for enrolling is June 11th)
  • Contact Nancy Theriot for the necessary forms    
  • Questions about Acceleration?  Contact Nancy Theriot at 214-780-3340
By Merritt Patterson Feb. 24, 2010 | 4:45 pm | 14 Comments | Comments RSS
14 comments to "Whhhhhaaaat? Acceleration? "
  1. matt @ February 24, 2010 at 5:17 pm
    Thank you for calling the office of Nancy Theriot. If you are Asian, please press 1. All others please press 2.

    Thank you for pressing 2. If you would like to discuss what it is like to eat lunch by yourself from now to age 18, please remain on the line.

  2. Anon @ February 24, 2010 at 5:48 pm
    We went through this after unsuccessfully trying to get our child into TAG. They offered acceleration as an option, but would not let her into TAG. After she tested and passed, they offered to skip her or let her take language arts with the kids in the grade above, and still said that she wasn’t gifted enough for TAG. We eventually had her tutored so she could pass the **** tests to qualify her for TAG. For such a wonderful district, there is still quite a bit of stupidity.

  3. T.A.G. @ February 24, 2010 at 6:49 pm
    Yes, that is what we call it here: Tutored and Gifted!

    What really gets me is the redshirts that are in TAG.

    I’d love to see more HP kids graduate at 17 – that would be something to really brag about.

    Matt you crack me up! you ought to take a look at the all state music listings. Nary a Smith or White in the bunch.

  4. why @ February 24, 2010 at 9:15 pm
    to anon: Why is TAG so important to you?? It does not mean a thing past 8th grade.

  5. D @ February 24, 2010 at 10:16 pm
    Well played, matt. TAG is whack around here, NOBODY gets in. I guess they want the elite of the elite, but not sure why we are paying for this if 3% of the kids get in. That must be one accurate and effective test.

  6. M @ February 25, 2010 at 9:15 am
    T.A.G., you nailed it. How ironic are the redshirts in TAG. We should be proud of our 20-year old high school graduates (sarcasm intended).

  7. Avid Reader @ February 25, 2010 at 9:34 am
    Being TAG and being smart are two totally separate things. Being either does not make you the other automatically. Also, TAG is relevant in High School as it allows you to take a different line of classes that are at the AP level with a different line of learning and thought processes used. TAG is all about how the kid learns or chooses to use their learning in a little different and creative ways, not about actual intelligence. TAG is different but nothing that anyone should be overly joyous in being TAG or overly upset about not being included in this group; and certainly not anything to beat your kid over the head with tutors till they get in when they are clearly very smart if they can skip grades.

  8. anon @ February 25, 2010 at 10:56 am
    TAG is VERY important. My kids are the nerdy intellectual ones and they do best surrounded by similar kids. There’s competition/differentiation for sports, theater, and band/orchestra in middle school. TAG is the academic equivalent. There’s no difference between hiring a tutor for the TAG test and hiring a private basketball or football coach so your kid can make the 7th grade team. Or hiring a private violin teacher so your kid can make honor orchestra. Or giving your kid to singing lessons so she can make Playbill.

    I also do not know of one kid who is/was a TAG redshirt. I’ve seen it for sports or emotional problems, but not for academics. Usually the parents push to have their kids move up and end up being the youngest, not the oldest. Just like the subject of the post.

  9. DemBones @ February 25, 2010 at 1:11 pm
    @M & T.A.G. In elementary school there are a large number of non-redshirts (green shirts?) because most of the tests are age-normed rather than grade-normed. This is a disservice to a lot of young summer boys who are told they are gifted but can’t do the work. Middle and high school TAG become more inclusive, sometimes even grade-based, which goes against TAG = thinks differently.

    Also by that definition of TAG, tutoring shouldn’t help. But the rules, tests, and cutoffs differ (or at least used to) at different elementaries, which also goes against the idea you either are or aren’t TAG.

    @Anon. I’d say so-called “wonderful district.” Depends on how your kids fare in the teacher lottery. Getting them into TAG improves chances of good teachers but by no means guarantees it. Teachers determine the HPISD experience, and there are bad as well as good.

    Which comes back to the tutoring for TAG comment. I am amazed how many teachers can’t or won’t help their students and how many parents turn to paid tutors. If those teachers taught in most other districts, their students would underperform. Here they can make mastery the parents’ problem, while providing HPISD teachers extra income in tutoring the kids not in their classes.

    Charles, you got me going on the grumpy thing today.

  10. laurie @ February 25, 2010 at 6:21 pm
    DemBones, All TAG testing is centralized and standardized these days. And your comment about tutors is odd to me, too. I have friends with kids at Pearce, Greenhill, Hockaday, St. Marks, Booker T, and others. Kids at everyone of those schools use tutors for classes and SAT prep.

  11. Craig @ February 25, 2010 at 9:37 pm
    TAG makes lots of noise about being just a difference in learning style but if you look at the last 3 classes of graduating seniors, all the top kids were TAG. Gee, that’s surprising that they all have exactly the same learning style. I think there are good intentions to use TAG for differing styles but the reality is the kids with the best grades are in TAG yet TAG and nonTAG classes are often taught by the same teachers in the same way at the high school.

  12. G @ February 26, 2010 at 9:58 am
    I kind of chuckled when I got the email! It sounded completely against the norm for around here! A lot of the boys starting kindergarten this year were almost 6 1/2 on the first day of school! Also, My child and her friends were telling me the other day that there is a boy in their 8th grade class who is 15 1/2 and already has his drivers permit!! I’m afraid that if you skipped a grade around here, the kids in your class would be at the very least two years older than you!

  13. T.A.G. @ February 26, 2010 at 11:36 am
    G – me too!

    just repeat after me: tutored and gifted

    @anon: I could list for you many many redshirted TAG kids in the HS and HPMS.

    I’m all for acceleration – that’s how we did it in my day – it was very honorable to graduate young.

  14. M @ March 1, 2010 at 1:24 pm
    I started kindergarten when I was 4 and I’d like to think I turned out ok (debatable, I know). Besides, I always liked being the underdog. Promise low, deliver high.

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