TAG and Self-contained Classrooms

Need for High Achievement Scores Warrant Self-contained for TAG

Jul 10, 2007 Kellie Hayden

Advantages and disadvantages of self-contained classrooms are numerous. With the need for high test scores on educator's minds, the self-contained class wins.

In the current educational learning environment of No Child Left “Untested”… or Behind, many classroom teachers feel that student passage rate of the state achievement test have put their jobs on the line. They are worried about the “floor” test scores, not reaching the “ceiling” scores. Regular classroom teachers only have so much time and energy to get their students to perform at the appropriate level.

If TAG students are already scoring high...

If the talented students are already at that “floor” level, many teachers will not give much time helping those students reach their learning potential, which is shooting for the ceiling. There just is not enough time, and many teachers are not adequately trained to teach talented and gifted students in the regular classroom.

Most regular classroom teachers have the false sense that the talented student will be “okay” because they already know what they need for the state test. Often times, the talented student will become the tutor or gopher for the teacher because they have already mastered what is on the test.

Pros for self-contained classroom

Because of talented and gifted students not reaching their potential, some teachers have concluded that students need to be in special classes where the teacher can focus on higher-level questions and materials. The students need to be pushed to reach their potential in a fast-paced learning environment, where enrichment occurs.

In Talented Children and Adults: Their Development and Education (2004) by Jane Piirto, Piirto concludes a self-contained classroom this is the best place for academically talented students; students score higher and are free to be themselves. In “A Comparison of Self-contained Pullout Models” in R. Swassing (Ed.)Research Briefs for the National Association for Gifted Children (1989), P. Kolloff compared student achievement between students in a pull-out program and a self-contained classroom. The self-contained classroom students scored significantly higher.

Cons for self-contained classroom

The downside to the self-contained classroom is that the students's egos get bruised a bit because they are now with intellectual equals, and their self-concept goes down somewhat. Teachers who do not get to teach the gifted students miss those bright individuals in their classroom to spark great discussions. And, sometimes, elitism creeps in and ruffles the feathers of the general school population. However, the student is the main concern, and some teachers do not think that these disadvantages are enough to thwart having contained classrooms.

A compromise

Some middle schools have talented and gifted classes for some subject areas that meet each day, such as reading and math. Instead of doing test preparation lessons the whole class period, students can complete enrichment lessons or higher-level thinking lessons in these TAG classes.This allows the talented and gifted student to be with their academic peers some of the day, but they are mixed in with the general population for most of the day.

In conclusion, test scores win...

In conclusion, some teachers think that the self-contained classroom would be the best place for the academically talented student. The TAG students would be pushed to reach their potential. Plus, the helicopter parents would be happy that their gifted child is in a special class. It would work best if students in middle school had non-core classes with the general population for socialization.

If the school is mid-size, then the costs would be minimal to put them in a self-contained class. However, the weighted scores for the accelerated students on Annual Yearly Progress reports would really make the administrators happy and that would be priceless.

The copyright of the article TAG and Self-contained Classrooms in Gifted Education is owned by Kellie Hayden. Permission to republish TAG and Self-contained Classrooms in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.