Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST)
More on Relativity: How a big spread of cultural and socio-economic pockets across a school district affects gifted programming issues and realities
In early 2021, I was hired as an expert witness for a case between the Fairfax County Virginia’s Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) and a group of parents with children already in the school or seeking entrance for the next academic year. The school wanted to end standardized testing for admissions to broaden the populations served by the school. The parent group sued to reinstate testing as part of the admissions process.
The school is one of two Governor’s Schools in the state, the other being in Richmond. Both are mandated as schools for gifted students and funded in large part by the state. The Fairfax County Public School District was in the unfortunate position of attempting to broaden the range and attributes of its student population in a district that was seriously skewed by race and socioeconomics.
I taught 4th-6th grades during the 1970s in nearby Alexandria Public Schools during the days of busing. Yes, the “Remember the Titans” days.[i] Bill Yoast and I were on the same bowling team. I had experience with this part of the country and teaching to classes with a very broad range of student backgrounds, preparedness, and abilities. And I now have experience with gifted programming to fit into what I think needs to happen.
There is no question but that there are worthy, highly intelligent students in all of the elementary and middle schools there.
The issue of relativity, a topic that I emphasize over and over, emerged for me when I realized there are very different cultures and living conditions in the student populations across the different schools (K-Grade 8) in the Fairfax County district. These differences play a significant role in the entire atmosphere and environment in each school for the younger children in the district.
In the case of the Northern Virginia school, it is on the edge of the District of Columbia and attracts an unusually ambitious and highly-educated population to the area. Over time, it became clear that if families moved into Fairfax County, they could save the cost of a college preparatory private school by having their bright, well-prepared children matriculate at TJ. US News named the Thomas Jefferson STEM magnet school the top-ranking high school in the country most years since the school started.
The new Amazon headquarters promoted TJ as the school to which their new executives and leaders could send their children. And medical centers, universities, and government workers came from all over the country and world to find a spot in Fairfax County just because of TJ.
“If you build it, they will come” was especially true in Fairfax County, VA. Families with money and know-how have been moving to the area and preparing their children for admission to the very limited seats at the school for more than twenty years.
The other Governor’s School, the one in Richmond, isn’t having the same difficulties as the Northern Virginia school because the available population is less competitive, i.e., less competition for acceptance. And an unusual percentage of the TJ-accepted population is from a cultural group that is of a first- and second-generation Asian population. The backgrounds of most of these families are different in how they regard education than those who have lived in this country longer or come from other Western cultures.[ii]
Getting good grades and being a high-achieving student overall is part of the Asian culture. It is true in their countries of origin, and for them once here in the United States, that finding a good job and career is related to elite post-secondary institutions, making connections with other students and families in those institutions, and getting a good start on admission to elite careers. [iii]
This is too complex a subject to discuss in detail here, but readers need to know that most of my work and writing is directed at those familiar with and supportive of the Western style—supporting the individual within a group. Please refer to the source in the endnote for more information.
When the district decided to move to a form of lottery, recommendations, and no standardized testing (although all Fairfax County children are tested at least twice on group tests when they are in elementary school and that wouldn’t change), there would indeed be two big problems if the new plan went through:
1) many students who would have been accepted previously will not be, and
2) many students who would now be accepted may not be as fully and deeply prepared as the student body already attending the school.
I would like to see the school diversify its student body.
I would like to see such districts fully diversify their entire student bodies, though, and do more grouping of students across school areas throughout the entire district to enable access to true peers and excellent teachers that fit their learning needs. I am skimming the surface of this issue right now, but the point is that too many people are left out of what they need for reasons that have little to do with the individual children.
I, as Expert Witness, explained all this to the Court. The Parent Coalition prevailed on this first round. Fairfax County schools took steps to address the issues and find a blended solution of sorts. Not the one I wanted because what I wanted wasn’t available to them. I’d like to see a full equality of opportunity for everyone. But that seems to be for a different day.
Since 2020, the Parent Coalition has repeatedly taken Fairfax County Public Schools to court. To read updates from the New York Times, follow this link or search for the title of the story: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/21/us/politics/supreme-court-thomas-jefferson-high-school-admissions.html?smid=url-share
In my 2023 book, The 5 Levels of Gifted Children Grown Up: What They Tell Us, I unfurl how background, social privilege, parent viewpoints, and personality clashes or compatibility between parents and their children affect the outcomes of students who are very similarly capable but whose outcomes are not at all the same. Please let me know if you’d like to start a discussion about the article linked above. I have lots of thoughts and you may, too.
[i] Remember the Titans movie in the year 2000. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210945/
[ii] As an example and explanation of cultural differences and influence see: https://ncee.org/tucker-writing/education-eastern-culture-and-western-values/
[iii] See the work of Dr. Jae Jung, a professor at the University of New South Wales, Australia for more research and information about this topic. https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/professor-jae-yup-jung
My current published and coming books about the gifted:
The Five Levels of Gifted Children Grown Up: What They Tell Us (2023). https://www.amazon.com/Levels-Gifted-Children-Grown-Up/dp/B0C9SHFRLH or https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-5-levels-of-gifted-children-grown-up-phd-deborah-l-ruf/1143719859?ean=9798988323709. This is an 18 year longitudinal study follow-up about the original gifted child subjects in 5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options (2005, 2009).
Keys to Successfully Parenting the Gifted Child (2023). Keys to Successfully Parenting Gifted Children (2022, 2023)
Losing Our Minds: Too Many Gifted Children Left Behind (Oct. 2024). Available for pre-order now. Follow this link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DHV6QT6F
5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options in 2009. Here are links to the 5 Levels of Gifted book on Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/5-levels-of-gifted-deborah-ruf/1126358834 and Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Levels-Gifted-School-Educational-Options/dp/0910707987 or directly from the publisher: https://www.giftedunlimitedllc.com/store/p12/5_Levels_of_Gifted.html
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