Tiny Clients

A few years ago, babies began moving into our neighborhood. They brought their parents. Occasionally, maybe at a block party, I'll run into one of their parents and ask how things are going?

'How are things going?', I'll ask.

Things are fine, the parent replies.

'What is your plan for your child's academic future?', I'll ask next.

Who are you?, the parent asks.

Test prep season is now beginning and these babies are in the 3 to 4 year old range. Between now and February, kids in Chicago are preparing for a GAT test, and I know the secret - so do you if you've read any of this website. My track record is 100%. I just got all of my books back last month, and now they are going out the door again.

The pitch

Chicago has some of the top elementary schools in the country. Kids need to pass a test to get in, and by 'pass' I mean score somewhere in the 99% range on a test that evaluates cognitive skills. These skills are great predictors of academic success. If you take your child's academic future seriously, at some point you'll want to cultivate this skill set. If you are overly concerned about elementary school, you'll want to do this as soon as possible, ideally before kindergarten.

Our GAT program is at a school that has some slots available in what they call 'the neighborhood program'. Personally, I'm impressed with the neighborhood program. The little sister of my child's classmates is going to the neighborhood program. I'm on the case. There's no reason why any child can't get into the gifted program.

What's happening in New York?

Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza recently lamented the fact that certain ethnic groups that represent 70% of the city only represent 10% percent of the seats at the best programs in New York. We have the same problem in Chicago. This is a big problem in a democracy where people vote. Why would 70% of the voters be interested in spending money on 1 or 2% that already seem to have a lot going for them?* It's a problem that needs to be fixed.

Carranza is taking some steps that Chicago did, like a proposal to set aside 20% of the seats for underrepresented minorities. He's also increasing test coverage.

I'm still waiting for both Chicago and New York to ask a more obvious question. Why are the underrepresented groups not taking education as seriously as the parents of kids in GAT programs, and what can we do about it? The leaders in Chicago have a view that things are unfair. Those in GAT programs tend to have money, and those who are left out tend to have a lot less of it. That must be the problem.

Money is not the problem. Money is highly correlated with education, and educated parents are highly correlated with educated children. A child can get into a GAT program with a spend of less than $100, but with a time spend of about 10 to 15 hours per week per child, mainly reading to the child or yelling at the child because they just missed a problem for the 5th time and is now laying under the table crying. There are large under-represented groups who either don't have 10 to 15 hours a week, don't think it's important, don't know about it, or can't do it without some help. I help parents with less than 1 hour per month, but these tend to be highly educated parents. When I help the parents in underprivileged groups, it takes more like 5 to 10 hours a week. I volunteer to help any underprivileged minority family with whatever it takes.

I'm simply waiting for a leader in Chicago or New York to ask 'what can we do to step up?'. This is a different question than 'what is unfair about the system?' or 'how can we provide a top notch education to a child who isn't ready for it?'. Increasing GAT screening coverage and setting aside seats are two great ideas, but the problem is not going to be solved until we ask how we can pass on our education values and know how to the parents who are not at the table.

*To answer my question above - why spend money on the best and the brightest? The answer is that the best and the brightest are going to lead this country in the next generation and we need to get them ready. Cutting their funding is not going to solve our problems. I'm counting on this group to solve our problems.