Background Information: Honors Coursework in the Secondary District

The draft proposal

At the last board meeting we had a discussion about changing the label for GATE courses to "Honors." The discussion was misunderstood by the media as a desire to eliminate the GATE program. This was unfortunate, as the proposal is not a major change in the program. No one is suggesting that we eliminate the GATE program. Nor are we considering lowering the high level of instruction and rigor of the courses.

The proposal is to change the course label. It includes the concept of equal access for high-achieving students, all high-achieving students. It does not include filling the courses with lower achieving students.

It is important to know some basic information about our GATE courses at the secondary level:  

• Our secondary district has five different feeder elementary school districts. Four of the five districts use the same assessment and they may use additional means of qualifying students based on achievement data. The criteria for giftedness is usually five percent of the student population. We identify around seven percent of our Santa Barbara Elementary District students as GATE students. Other feeder districts identify up to 35 percent of students as GATE. GATE identification starts in third grade and stays with the student as they move through the educational system.
• One out of every three students currently in our junior high and high school GATE courses has not previously been identified as a GATE student. The district has studied their performance and we found that they do well in these courses on test measures and grades.
• In reality, we do not have a three-tier system at every school, as some people seem to believe with GATE courses being the highest, then Honors courses, then general College Prep courses. We have GATE courses in some areas and Honors courses in other areas and many times the same GATE qualified and non-GATE qualified students may be taking an Honors course in one area or a GATE course in another. Here is an example from Santa Barbara High School:
  • Santa Barbara High offers GATE and Honors courses in the English Department only;
  • math has GATE courses but no Honors courses;
  • science has only Honors classes, no GATE courses;
  • history has GATE courses but no Honors courses, although it does have Advanced Placement (AP) courses in the same subjects so many of the highest level students take the AP courses.
• Furthermore, the GATE offerings differ from high school to high school. The higher level courses for higher level students at all of our high schools are AP courses.
• For our students who are not GATE identified there is always a question about whether they can get into GATE courses. Some get in and do fine. Others do not get in and parents wonder why there is not space for their children, especially when they have high grades and high state test scores. Some students go to private schools because they do not have access to GATE courses. Underrepresented students often see classes labeled “GATE” as unavailable to them. If they or their parents do not advocate for their participation in these unique educational opportunities, they are unable to access a highly challenging curriculum.
• Our district has assigned extra credit weighted grades to GATE courses along with Honors, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and college courses. When students apply to college, only those courses that meet criteria established by the University of California (UC) actually receive the weighted grades. All but a few small private colleges use this UC criteria. Except for a couple of courses that meet the criteria, our district GATE courses do not receive weighted grade extra credit on college applications. Refer to: http://www.ucop.edu/a-gguide/ag/a-g/honors.html#honorsfaq
• Finally, with an anticipated change in the course label, we are very clear about maintaining the same level of rigor and expectations as in the current GATE courses and that if there is any question about whether a current GATE course or a current Honors course is more rigorous, we would insist on the highest level of rigor for next year's Honors course.

Impact on GATE students

The advantages for GATE students are the following:

• all Honors courses will continue to offer the highest level of rigor with additional opportunities for depth and complexity of curriculum;
• additional enrichment activities for GATE-identified students, such as mentorships, field trips, participation in competitive academic activities (e.g., College Bowl);
• teacher training in differentiated instruction and GATE certification;
• enrollment guidelines to ensure that all students in Honors courses are able to be successful;
• academic and/or social/emotional support is provided for students to be successful.