1202 – Describing Student Achievement
Jeannie: Everything okay?
William: No, I just got off the phone with my daughter’s school and they’re not putting her in the gifted and talented program.
Jeannie: That’s disappointing, but wasn’t she struggling in school last year?
William: Her teachers were thinking of putting her in remedial classes. Can you believe that? My daughter is getting poor grades because she’s bored in school. She tunes out. She’d be coasting in her classes if the teachers would just challenge her.
Jeannie: Are you sure that’s the problem? My son was considered low-achieving in the lower grades, but since starting high school, he’s doing a lot better.
William: I’m telling you, my daughter could be high-achieving if they’d only put her in the gifted and talented program. It’s all about teacher expectations.
Jeannie: Well, it’s not all about expectations…
William: Are you trying to tell me that my daughter is slow and I should just accept it?
Jeannie: I’m saying that kids develop at their own pace. Some are late bloomers.
William: Nobody in my family has ever been late in anything, and they’re not going to start now.
Jeannie: Putting pressure on her might make matters worse.
William: Who’s putting pressure on her? Maybe I can help her by getting her tutors in every subject and enrolling her in summer programs.
Jeannie: Maybe she just needs more time…
William: And let her waste her potential? What kind of father would I be then?