St. Charles Parish Public Schools exceeded the state’s 5 percent per-school average of gifted and talented students, as well as ranked among Louisiana’s top school systems with these students.
Seven percent of parish public school students ranked as gifted students. Highest ranking systems are Orleans Parish at 14 percent, Central Community in Baton Rouge at 9 percent, and St. Tammany Parish at 8 percent, according to the Louisiana Department of Education.
The parish’s figure includes both gifted and talented students, which represents 2 percent (219) gifted students) and 5 percent (441 students) talented students, said Ajit “AJ” Pethe, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment.
The school district’s “regular academic classroom teachers maintain a high level of complexity as evidenced by our ranking at the top of statewide assessment results,” Pethe said. “Our classroom teachers are well informed as to gifted characteristics. These teachers are encouraged to recommend the students who exhibit those characteristics for a gifted screening.”
Gifted students are high performers on statewide assessments and show strong critical thinking skills in the classroom, Pethe said. The school then administers an individual aptitude test to these students, who are then given a full evaluation that includes an intelligence test and academic evaluation.
The school district’s commitment to gifted and talented students has extended to creating a new position overseeing the programs.
Ginny Medina-Hamilton has been named director of Gifted, Talented and the Arts, part of an administrative staff reorganization for the 2017-18 school year.
Pethe said the system’s standing in this area is also due to its wide variety of arts programs, lending to being recognized nationally for its strong arts education.
“Gifted and talented students need gifted education programs that will challenge them beyond what is capable of the regular classroom,” he said. “Teachers must obtain graduate-level degrees, which include professional development designed to address the unique needs of this diverse population.”
Pethe said studies show gifted programs have a positive effect on students’ post-secondary plans, as well as show students in “gifted programs maintained their interests over time and stay involved in creative productive work after they finish college and graduate school.”
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