By TRALEE PEARCE
From Friday's Globe and Mail
The 'gifted blitz' - when young students are tested to determine whether they can enter special programs - can be a time of high anxiety, for kids and parents alike
Toronto educators call it the "gifted blitz." Every year at this time, about 1,500 Grade 3 public-school students in the city are invited to sit down for a battery of tests to determine their eligibility for various Grade 4 gifted programs next year.
Blitz is an apt term in more ways than one.
"It's like it's hurting them," jokes Toronto mother Jennifer, whose daughter was assessed this week and has had stomachaches over it (she did not want her last name used).
It's also an event that can explode a child's current reality and change the course not only of their education, but their life. That blitz, and its counterparts across the country, will affect about 2 per cent of the student population. In Toronto, all children who meet the cutoff are accepted, then teachers are assigned accordingly... READ MORE...
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