Kentucky Teacher

The 2012 Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG) Conference, Shining Light on Giftedness: Empowering Families and Communities, is July 13-14 in Milwaukee. Registration closes July 2.

This annual conference addresses social emotional needs for the gifted.  

For more information, go to www.sengifted.org/archives/2233.

By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

Coordinator for Gifted Education Susan Ryan and language arts teacher Karrie Bal present a book project to Bal's 7th-grade Target class at T.K. Stone Middle School (Elizabethtown Ind.). Bal, a first-year teacher, teaches three gifted and talented classes. Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 17, 2012

The 5th-grader had just transferred to the district, and Susan Ryan, coordinator for Gifted Education in the Elizabethtown Independent school district, decided to test her for giftedness because her paperwork did not include an intellectual ability score.

The classroom teachers mentioned that the girl’s parent had been adamant about classroom work being too easy for the student, but they didn’t believe the child was gifted.

“When I tested the student, I was flabbergasted at the number of perfect scores on several of the subtests. She scored higher on that test than any student I have tested to date,” Ryan said.

She found out the girl had been working a grade ahead in mathematics and reading at her previous school. The girls’ teachers changed her schedule so that she was clustered with other gifted students for reading and mathematics, Ryan said. Read the full story