A few days back, Skeptic wrote in with news that the City Schools of Decatur had recently announced at a Renfroe School Leadership Team meeting that they had made a decision to discontinue Advanced Content classes at the middle school. 

Yesterday, I received CSD’s 8-page FAQ (pdf) about the change, which explains in significant detail why the school has decided to rely on “cluster groups” within classes to serve “gifted” and “high-achieving” students, instead of separate Advanced Content classes, with the exception of math. 

Why did CSD decide to make this change?  From page 1 of the FAQ….

In
an
analysis
of
MAP
scores
for
students
served
in
Advanced
Content
and
cluster
groups
last
year
for
 math,
 reading
 and
 English
 language
 arts,
 there
 was
 no
 significant
 difference
 in
 the
 meeting
 or
exceeding
of
growth
targets
for
students
in
any
math,
language
or
reading
in
any
of
the
three
grades.
 Students
grew
equally
in
both
groups.
From
this
analysis,
we
concluded
that
the
instruction
delivered
through
 Advanced
 Content
 classes
 was
 no
 more
 effective
 than
 that
 delivered
 through
 content
clusters.
By
eliminating
the
advanced
content
classes,
we
could
greatly
improve
the
composition
of
all
the
 other
 content
 classes.


According to the FAQ, math is the one unique subject that doesn’t conform to the “cluster class” model, because the content builds on itself from one year to the next.  Unlike subjects like English where content remains the same but the complexity of reading, writing and speaking assignments can vary, or science and social studies where new content is introduced each year, once a student has mastered math concepts at their highest level, the only option left is “acceleration.”

For more information on the cluster model, CSD’s beliefs on teaching gifted students, and what a survey of kids receiving “gifted services” think, check out the lengthy FAQ.  As for fears that the cluster model is lacking compared to an “Advanced Content” class, the FAQ has this to say…

This
question
rests
on
two
shaky
assumptions.
Assumption
1:
That
Advanced
Content
classes
have
a separate
 curriculum
 from
 the
 rest
 of
 the
 classes
 at
 RMS.
 In
 Math
 and
 English
 Language
 Arts,
 both
classes
are
based
in
the
exact
same
standards
as
the
rest
of
the
courses
at
RMS.
Where
these
classes
were
differentiated
to
include
more
complex
reading
content,
math
problems,
projects,
assessments,
etc.,
 those
 same
 options
 were
 made
 available
 to
 students
 being
 served
 in
 clusters
 and
 to
 high
achieving
students
who
are
not
officially
identified
“gifted.”
Therefore,
insofar
as
there
is
Advanced
Content
at
RMS,
students
will
continue
to
receive
it
through
their
cluster
groupings.
Assumption
2:
Advanced
 Content
 placement
 is
 sufficient
 differentiation
 for
 gifted
 students.
 Advanced
 Content
classes
do
not
automatically
differentiate
for
the
needs
of
the
students
enrolled
in
them.
Even
in
a
group
of
students
identified
with
strengths
in
a
certain
subject,
there
exists
a
wide
range
of
abilities,
learning
styles
and
interests
among
the
students.
Teachers
differentiate
in
these
classes
just
as
they
do
with
cluster
groups.
Our
new
math
model
will
allow
a
number
of
students
who
were
previously
being
served
in
Advanced
Content
to
accelerate
at
the
pace
they’re
capable
of.
It
is
the
overwhelming
consensus
 of
 the
 math
 teachers
 that
 the
 rest
 of
 the
 students
 who
 would
 have
 been
 served
 in
Advanced
Content
will
be
even
better
served
in
a
cluster
grouping
with
other
peers
(both
gifted
and
non‐gifted)
who
share
a
strength
in
that
area
but
are
not
ready
to
accelerate
an
entire
grade
level.