Madison United for Academic Excellence

Research - Summaries of research on topics related to gifted education, including ability grouping, identification, and the social and emotional needs of academically advanced students

In the News - Articles from the popular press on issues related to the educational needs of high ability students.

Legal Issues - Ongoing issues with the state regarding student identification and services for talented and gifted students.

Curriculum - Discussion of MMSD curriculum issues including math, middle school redesign, small learning communities and AP course offerings

MMSD Budget - Current budget issues as well as links to prior years' budget items, controversies and hot topics

Links - A listing of local, regional, and national resources such as WCATY, WATG, and NAGC

School Information System - A Madison community blog that comments on education both locally and nationally

Upcoming Events

2-3 October 2008 - WATG Fall Conference, Sheboygan to be held at the Blue Harbor. The theme is "The Power of One," and will feature special guest speaker Dr. Jim Delisle who will be talking about The Power of One Student, One Parent, One Teacher, One Administrator, One School Board and One District -- and the Power of Many as we work together for common gifted educational goals.

Current News

30 June 2008 - It is with great saddness that we report the loss of MMSD TAG resource teacher Ted Widerski.

28 February 2008 - We are trying something new with our collection of news articles. We are using del.icio.us to track and organize published news stories from across the web.

28 January 2008 - Dr. Daniel Nerad chosen as next MMSD superintendent.

Growing Up Online - PBS Frontline Series about kids and the internet can be viewed online.

What's New

We now have a graphic that shows what has happened to TAG spending in the District over the last five years along with total District spending.

If you are interested in examining WKCE raw scores and percentile scores, you can check out this document that compares scores from 2004/05 and 2005/06. You should realize that because the major purpose of the test is to discriminate between basic and proficient levels of ability, the test scores are less reliable at either end of the distribution, i.e., the standard errors of measurement are larger (2-3x larger).

Old News

23 January 2008 - State Representative Brett Davis has written a letter to DPI in regards to Assembly Clearinghouse Rule 07-057 — Proposed Rules for Gifted and Talented Pupil Identification. In his letter, Representative Davis notes his concerns with the lack of clearly defined and objective guidelines for identifying academically advanced students.

10 October 2007 - BOE President Arlene Siveira has passed along the desired superintendent characteristics that was approved by the Board Monday night. She also has provided the consultants' report summarizing the results of the community input sessions.

5 April 2007 - The February 2007 issue of The School Administrator (magazine of the American Association of School Administrators) is devoted to "Gifted Education Left Behind."

28 February 2007 - Web Site Launched for Students Keen on Math, Science - Cogito.org, developed by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (http://www.cty.jhu.edu), offers a virtual home for the world's brightest students with strong interests and abilities in mathematics and science. The site offers free use to all visitors, who can access most of its resources and learn about everything from global warming to cold fusion.
Cogito's developers want the site to inspire its users to become the innovators, visionaries, and problem-solvers of the future. They also want Cogito.org to play a critical part in upgrading math, science, technology, and engineering education -- known as the STEM subjects -- for the estimated 1.5 million gifted middle and high school students in the United States and greater numbers worldwide.

14 January 2007 - JUST RELEASED: Overlooked Gems: A National Perspective on Low-Income Promising Learners – a monograph from a joint conference hosted by NAGC and the College of William and Mary. You can download the monograph for free.

3 January 2007 - Todd Palmer filed a response to DPI's brief.

8 December 2006 - DPI and Superintendent Burmaster filed a 39 page response to Todd Palmer's request for a "summary judgement." The Superintendent avoids responding to the substantive arguments, but instead seeks to have the case dismissed on procedural grounds associated with the evidentiary record.

22 November 2006 - Superintendent Rainwater has asked the principals at the four high schools to halt any further curriculum changes until there can be community dialogue on high school reform. For more information, see SIS.

(more old news)

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