Gift giving
Bills should focus on teachers, not students
MARK ZMARZLY is a
senior English and speech
communications major
and a Daily Nebraskan
columnist.
Are you a gifted student? By gift
ed I don’t mean you could give John
Holmes a run for his money. I’m
asking if you are an above-average
student?
Everyone remembers taking the
CAT and PS AT tests back in junior
high school. What happened to you
after taking these exams? One of
three things probably happened to
you:
1. You were labeled a “gifted”
student and went through high
school taking advanced placement
(AP) courses.
2. Your test scores were in the
middle range and nothing happened
to you.
3. Your test scores could have
been duplicated by a monkey and
you spent five of seven school peri
ods in classes like “Advanced Small
Engines.”
An hour of your life had set you
on track for excellence, mediocrity
or Jiffy Lube. Does one hour of your
life really measure all of who you are
as a student? Our state legislators are
willing to bet on it.
Before the Legislature adjourns
in April two bills, LB1228 and
LB1229, will be voted on. The bills
are called the “Quality Education
Accountability Act” and the gifted
bill, respectively. Their purpose is to
help gifted students and schools
with above-average test scores.
LB1228 would provide addition
al funds to schools who meet certain
criteria. If a school has above-aver
age college-admissions test scores,
academic standards, a gifted pro
gram and alternative education for
expelled students then they qualify
for the additional funding.
LB1229 would require all
schools to provide programs for gift
ed students. The bill would appropri
ate $6 million to help start and oper
ate these programs. Gifted stu
dent programs are purely
optional at the present time.
How many of you students out
there had the advantage of participat
ing in one of these gifted programs?
Did you feel challenged, separated,
advantaged and better prepared for
college?
T _l_r , %
x xxavc uccu iux luxmic cxxuugxx iu
sample academic life from all ends
of the spectrum. When I was in
grade school, I was in the “spe
cial” reading group. Let me tell
you something, there was nothing ]
special about it. I was separated
from the class, along with a few •
other children, and we followed a
different lesson plan than the rest
of the class. We were behind in
school and probably went at a slow
er pace. I felt like an idiot. I couldn’t
understand why I wasn’t able to learn
like the other children.
After a couple years of this I was
diagnosed with a vision problem that
was hindering my learning. I had to
do these horrible eye exercises to
correct the problem but after a year I
was able to work things out. By the
fifth grade I was back in the normal
class. This didn’t last long.
In sixth grade I was identi
fied as gifted. At sixth grade I
think what classifies students as
gifted is that they know where
babies come from and that they’ve
stopped threatening the other chil
dren with scissors. I was suddenly
among a group of students who I
considered very intelligent I was
with these same students until I
graduated high school.
I benefited a great deal from the
educational opportunities that came
with being a gifted student. 1 also
suffered a lot of psychological stress
from being in the “special” group.
All of this gifted/special labeling
happens to us when we are in grade
school. At that point in time, are we
being tested on what we know or our
genetic composition?
Nebraska has a reputation of
being a good place to raise a family
and it ranks high among other states
in level of academic achievement.
Are the test scores high in Nebraska
because of superior teaching or
because Nebraskans are intelligent
and produce intelligent little
huskers? Either way, gifted programs
only serve to harm the 90 percent of
students who aren’t gifted.
The instructors who teach gifted
students are usually the educators
with the highest education and the
most effective teaching methods.
The teachers for the other classes left
something to be desired. My senior
year English teacher had a doctorate
and was absolutely amazing. The
other senior English teacher also
taught drivers education and was the
football coach. I believe his final
exam consisted of (me essay ques
tion: “Emerson was a good writer
but could he play football?”
Gifted student pro
grams separate students
and try to give certain
students a huge aca
demic advantage.
Are students
who posses a
desire to
learn
but who aren’t highly intelligent
unworthy of the best education that
our state can offer? Who can weigh a
person’s potential with a series of
tests? Apparently our state legisla
tors can.
I would like the university to do a
breakdown of its students. I would
like to see the relation of college
GPAs to high school GPAs and to
standardized tests. I know a lot of
university students who barely man
aged to get through high school who
now carry GPAs of 3.6 or better. In
high school they were made to feel
inferior to other students. Despite
this message they managed to get
into college and excel.
The problem may stem from the
fact that all teachers are not paid what
they are worth. We as a society rely on
a person^ desire to teach to overcome
the low level of pay. A school can only
afford so many educators of superior
education, so why not let hem mold
the minds of the gifted children?
These superior teachers are most
beneficial in a setting where learning
is hindered. Anyone can take a group
of gifted children and allow them to
continue learning, but only a gifted
teacher can take average students
and teach them to enjoy learning.
Our state legislators need to take
the money they are planning on
dumping into gifted student pro
grams and invest in a gifted teacher
program.
Grand Opening Special
27th & Superior, Behind Carlos O* Kellys
,
Men’s and * Pants, Slacks, Shirts
Women’s ^ Spprts Coats I Laundered Hot
I
leaned j ress
$2.90 , , $1.25
Expires 3/31/98 I Expires 3/31/98 I Expires 3/31/98
^Jresentjcoupon^irhei^roppin^ffJPIorwali^jrtt^ir^tiie™fl«sr^
Friday, March 6
NU Men vs. Kansas at 2 pm
Sunday, March 8
NU Women vs. Texas A&M
at 10 am
Woods Tennis Center (33rd & “J” S
MFREE Admission!
"The Commerical Federal Bank
Husker Show”
Saturdays at 9 am on KMTV 3.
r-----•—. ■ .
5 FREE ONLINE HOURS WITH
THESE NAVDC ^
Low Usage Plan: IS houn for M,
Medium Usage Plan: 40 hours for $10.00 a montfi.
High Usage Plan: 250 hours for $10.50 a mooli
And whichever you choose, well give you 5 FREE HOURS
of Internet access every month.
Additional minutes are $.02. OtinMIAHON B FREE.
Call 472-5151 (students)
472-3434 (faculty or staff)
or stop by 211 Nebraska Hail.
* You must ba a UNL studant, tacufty or staff member to quaMy for tfme plans.
Netscape softwareis lueHaMo la idadowi and Macinlosii ubisIoms.
Happy Hour Prices
Monday-Friday
• Pitcher“$3.75
• Glass—$.85
• Bottle-$1.45
• Well Drink-$1.35
Pool Tournaments
<*€ 7.’SO /fc.iw.
• Monday Night 8-Ball
$7.00
• Tuesday Night 9-Ball
$7.00
