Despite state mandates requiring every district to provide gifted and talented education, Kentucky’s credentialing system is making it harder for schools like Newport’s to hire qualified teachers to lead those programs.
The Newport Board of Education and district teachers discussed during the Oct. 23 Newport Board of Education meeting the need for a gifted and talented teacher, but said the additional education with no incentives makes the position difficult to fill.
Newport Director of Curriculum Autumn Slankard said during the meeting that she visited Northern Kentucky University to speak to their student teachers and asked whether anyone was getting the gifted endorsement, and no one was. Slankard said the district has also considered working with another district to share a full-time gifted and talented teacher on a part-time basis.
“Right now, our most pressing need is to find and provide professional learning for our teachers to understand how to provide those gifted services in the classroom,” Slankard said.
What makes the hiring of gifted and talented teachers difficult?
Teachers need higher credentials, which takes more time and money, with no incentive for higher pay for the position. To be a gifted and talented teacher in Kentucky, you must hold a valid Kentucky teaching certificate and obtain a specific gifted and talented education endorsement.
This requires completing an approved endorsement program, which may include coursework and other requirements such as professional development and experience, and then applying for the endorsement through the Kentucky Educator Certification System.
Newport Board of Education Chair Ramona Malone said during the meeting that Kentucky has made changes so that teachers are no longer required to have a master’s degree to teach, but some programs, like gifted and talented, have not caught up with those changes.
According to the Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky school districts are required to have gifted and talented programs. The state mandates that all school districts provide programs and services for identified “exceptional children,” which includes gifted and talented students from primary through 12th grade.
“The restrictions are causing these problems,” Malone said. “When I go to these conferences, other school districts are having the same challenges, because people are not seeking that endorsement anymore, but yet, there’s a mandate to provide these students with these services.”
When someone becomes a gifted and talented teacher, Slankard said, it’s a big change from a regular classroom teacher because it can be hard to find ways to challenge the students who may be exceptionally intelligent.
Newport Intermediate School Principal Alexandria Watkins said people also often don’t pursue a gifted and talented certification because there aren’t many job openings for those positions.
“As someone who’s been through the gifted and talented program, it is not encouraging to go through with the knowledge that typically, there is one gifted and talented teacher per district,” she said. “So, to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a degree, that is kind of like how there’s one gym teacher per building, right? Typically, when someone gets that job, it doesn’t open up for 10,15, 25 years.”
Newport High School senior and the newly selected student representative to the board of education, Donovan Macario, is a gifted and talented student. He said during the meeting that even if students are being identified for the program, they aren’t receiving additional resources without a designated teacher.
“Since we don’t have one, the kids who are identified aren’t getting the resources that they’re required to receive, and I’m hoping we’re able to find one, because while she [former teacher] was here, I really enjoyed the resources that we were able to access,” he said.
