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Elite scholars opt out of top traditional high schools
BY PAT ROXBOROUGH-WRIGHT, EDITOR-AT-LARGE/WESTERN BUREAU
Thursday, June 18, 2009
MONTEGO BAY, St James -
Garfield Davidson had no trouble earning a place at the Cornwall College with the well-over-ninety per cent average he scored on the Grade Six Achievement Test.
Eleven-year-old Garfield Davidson with mother Joan Davidson and Father Garfield Davidson. (Photo: Pat Roxborough-Wright)
But come September, he won't be joining the scores of excited boys who also earned the chance to study at the institution, which is widely regarded as one of St James' finest.
That's because he's not just a bright boy who racked up scores of 91 in Social Studies; 97 in Mathematics; 97 Language Arts; 98 in Integrated Science and 10/12 in Communication Tasks. He's also waiting on results for four subjects - Social Studies, Religious Education, Electronic Document Preparation and Management and Integrated Science - at the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) level.
And come next year, when most first form students will be facing tests designed for their grade level, he'll be doing more CXC's.
"I'm staying here," he told the Observer West with a broad grin.
THE BRAINY BUNCH. Students of the DeOkoro Magnet school for gifted children. (Photo: Pat Roxborough-Wright)
'Here' means the DeOkoro Magnet school for gifted children, where he enrolled four years ago. He was seven then, a student at the Hosannah Preparatory School.
His mother, Joan Davidson observed that he was way ahead of his years academically and decided that she wasn't going to hold him back.
"He was very advanced and so I decided to send him where he could realise his potential," she told the Observer West.
After that, there was no stopping him.
"What, at this stage, is he going to do at Cornwall College? It would be academic suicide," she said.
Young Davidson's teacher Vivienne DeOkoro agreed.
"I can't imagine what Cornwall could do for him at this stage, apart from take him into fifth form," she said.
DeOkoro, who started the DeOkoro Magnet school for gifted chidren 17 years ago,as 21 students at the school which facilitates asynchronous development in children.
Simply put, this means that a student whose mental age is higher than his chronological age won't be held back.
Consequently, if the student is ready to tackle graduate studies, he/she'll be allowed to.
And according to DeOkoro, who runs the school with the help of two teachers, her students who straddle all stages of the educational continuum have all been allowed to develop within the context of their mental ages.
It's not the most popular theory in Jamaica - DeOkoro often has to deal with the naysayers who argue that children who are allowed to develop academically within the context of their mental age end up being unbalanced and unable to socialise effectively - but the tide of opinion is changing.
"It's not true. It's just a myth. We have been endorsed by several educators including Dr Dorothy Kennedy, head of the Special Education Team at the University of Winsconsin," she said.
Elite scholars opt out of top traditional high schools
BY PAT ROXBOROUGH-WRIGHT, EDITOR-AT-LARGE/WESTERN BUREAU
Thursday, June 18, 2009
MONTEGO BAY, St James -
Garfield Davidson had no trouble earning a place at the Cornwall College with the well-over-ninety per cent average he scored on the Grade Six Achievement Test.
Eleven-year-old Garfield Davidson with mother Joan Davidson and Father Garfield Davidson. (Photo: Pat Roxborough-Wright)But come September, he won't be joining the scores of excited boys who also earned the chance to study at the institution, which is widely regarded as one of St James' finest.
That's because he's not just a bright boy who racked up scores of 91 in Social Studies; 97 in Mathematics; 97 Language Arts; 98 in Integrated Science and 10/12 in Communication Tasks. He's also waiting on results for four subjects - Social Studies, Religious Education, Electronic Document Preparation and Management and Integrated Science - at the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) level.
And come next year, when most first form students will be facing tests designed for their grade level, he'll be doing more CXC's.
"I'm staying here," he told the Observer West with a broad grin.
THE BRAINY BUNCH. Students of the DeOkoro Magnet school for gifted children. (Photo: Pat Roxborough-Wright)'Here' means the DeOkoro Magnet school for gifted children, where he enrolled four years ago. He was seven then, a student at the Hosannah Preparatory School.
His mother, Joan Davidson observed that he was way ahead of his years academically and decided that she wasn't going to hold him back.
"He was very advanced and so I decided to send him where he could realise his potential," she told the Observer West.
After that, there was no stopping him.
"What, at this stage, is he going to do at Cornwall College? It would be academic suicide," she said.
Young Davidson's teacher Vivienne DeOkoro agreed.
"I can't imagine what Cornwall could do for him at this stage, apart from take him into fifth form," she said.
DeOkoro, who started the DeOkoro Magnet school for gifted chidren 17 years ago,as 21 students at the school which facilitates asynchronous development in children.
Simply put, this means that a student whose mental age is higher than his chronological age won't be held back.
Consequently, if the student is ready to tackle graduate studies, he/she'll be allowed to.
And according to DeOkoro, who runs the school with the help of two teachers, her students who straddle all stages of the educational continuum have all been allowed to develop within the context of their mental ages.
It's not the most popular theory in Jamaica - DeOkoro often has to deal with the naysayers who argue that children who are allowed to develop academically within the context of their mental age end up being unbalanced and unable to socialise effectively - but the tide of opinion is changing.
"It's not true. It's just a myth. We have been endorsed by several educators including Dr Dorothy Kennedy, head of the Special Education Team at the University of Winsconsin," she said.
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