When educators discuss gifted education, the talk usually focuses on curricula, programs and practices that improve the learning environment for bright students. Of course, students are most aware of what is applied in the classroom. But more important to lasting changes are policy and system shifts. Those sorts of changes are not made in the classroom, and they require different strategies, especially when the trend in education is to focus on minimum standards rather than pursuing excellence.

"You have to have backing from administrators and legislators," said Arlene DeVries, a guidance counselor and community resource consultant at Des Moines Public Schools.

Her work at the district focuses on services that many students don't see or readily understand. She works with parents both inside and outside the office and squarely supports parental involvement and advocacy as the greatest catalyst for policy change. DeVries has been involved intimately with these efforts for more than two decades and, as former president of the Iowa Talented & Gifted Association (ITAG), has helped pass some of the most gifted-friendly legislation in the country.

Iowa leads the nation in terms of legislation guaranteeing an appropriate education. Thanks largely to the work of ITAG, school districts and other advocates, the state's policy-makers have tackled most of the major issues related to educating gifted students and passed the appropriate mandates to ensure that those students are served. Iowa law requires that:

• gifted students be identified beginning in kindergarten;
• schools proved appropriate programming for gifted students;
• students may enroll, free-of-charge, at a local college for courses that are not offered at their school;
• 75 percent of the cost of gifted and talented programs be provided by the state;
• the state budget earmarks funds for gifted education on a per-student basis;
• and teachers of gifted students receive specialized training for that role.

But the remarkable commitment to gifted education in Iowa is perhaps best illuminated by the fact that these programs have faced relatively small cuts, even in the face of a deepening budget crisis.

Des Moines Public Schools has established itself as a leader in classroom application of best practices as well. The district makes extensive use of pre-testing. Test scores are applied through ability-grouped classes, and subject acceleration is available to students at every level. Gifted and talented summer school also is offered, allowing fifth-graders to complete sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade math in a single summer session. Students who test successfully are then eligible for Central Academy, which gathers students in grades 8 through 12 at one location with an extensive and challenging compacted curriculum. The academy ranks in the top 1 percent of Advanced Placement programs in the country, and students begin taking AP classes as early as the 10th grade.

As remarkable as the list of legislation, services and programs is, it is very much an outgrowth of some of the less visible and more unorthodox efforts at Des Moines Public Schools. Those efforts include concerted outreach to parents and community leaders that increases public investment in gifted education.

"Almost everything we've accomplished has been a product of parent and community input," DeVries said of the programs available to Des Moine's gifted students. She has been with the Des Moines Public Schools district for 23 years and has played an instrumental role in creating an environment that supports appropriate opportunities for gifted students.

The district's efforts in reaching and supporting parents of gifted students is as remarkable as its efforts in reaching the students themselves. DeVries insists that successful programs for highly intelligent students will meet three primary needs: intellecutal, creative, and emotional. Meeting those needs requires a strong parental component.

"Parents have more influence over their children than the school does," she said. "They have the child for five years before the school does." DeVries stresses that parents impart values and enduring traits and determine much of a child's personality in those first five years, and "who your child will be is more important than what your child will do."

To improve the parental component, DeVries began guided discussion groups for parents of gifted students in Des Moines. These groups grew out of the Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG) -- an organization DeVries now chairs -- and focus on parenting issues specific to gifted children.

"Those groups are designed to help parents of gifted children become better parents and to understand the needs of their gifted child," DeVries said.

They also have an added benefit: Parents who complete a 10-session group tend to be more active and involved in their children's educations. They also make better, more dedicated advocates for their children and for gifted education in general, although that is not a direct objective of the groups.

Des Moines Public Schools actively solicits input from these parents and from gifted organizations such as ITAG through professional affiliations and an advisory panel sponsored by the district. DeVries recommends that all schools or districts be affiliated with such groups, both as a way of gathering information and opinions and as a means of advocacy. Such groups, she said, provide advocacy at a number of levels and enable parents to approach legislators and policy-makers as representatives of a group rather than as individuals.

Even more basic discussion groups and advocacy, however, is simple parent participation. The district makes every effort to have 100 percent attendance at parent-teacher conferences and to offer extracurricular activities that encourage involvement. These "parent-child nights" generally center around an enrichment activity or subject such as astronomy, archeology, natural science or writing workshops. Occasionally, they will feature student competitions.

"If you offer something for parents and kids, they will come, because parents of gifted students want what is best for their kids," DeVries said. In short, encouraging parental involvement does not need to be complex or daunting; parents just need the opportunity and the invitation.

Iowa's strides in gifted education have come as the result of two decades of work by people like DeVries, the school district, GT advocates and parents. Reform at that level and of that scope is not easy or quick, but changes at the school level -- particularly the school-community relationship -- can lay the foundation for such work.

Permission Statement

©2004 Davidson Institute for Talent Development

This article is provided as a service of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted young people under 18. To learn more about the Davidson Institute’s programs, please visit www.DavidsonGifted.org.