Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1958-02-13

help these children, classified as
rapid learners" and gifted to
achieve their maximum poten-
tial."
This has been the goal of a
program for rapid learners start
ed at Bethesda-C Chevy Chase high
school Is years ago. Other county
secondary schools are in various
stages of developing the same
program already formalized at
B-CC.
AT B-CC there are IA teachers
in the rapid learner program
teaching 347 students in Is sec
tons. Montgomery Blair whose
advanced courses are not yet for
maliZed in a rapid learner pro-
gram has ten teachers working
with 10 classes of superior stu
| dents.
Nationwide attention was focus
ed on B-CC last Fall as the re-
suit of its rating among the top
SO schools in the country in the
merit scholarship program. Sput-
mix accelerated this interest.
AS a result, hundreds of letters
have come from school systems
all over the country asking for
information on the B-CC program.
This led Mrs. Genevieve Blew,
secondary supervisor at this high
school who has worked with the
program since its beginning to
draw up with her staff an outline
of the background and develop
ment.
However, Mrs. Blew feels that
her booklet will be a disappoint-
ment to those seeking an easy
answer to the problem of help
ing the superior children.
you cannot superimpose such
program from the outside she
stresses. "You have to start with
what you've got, study your chill
dren, your teachers, the needs of
the community, and make the
most of them.
The role of the teacher is an
important factor in the success of
the rapid learner program. This
is true also of the gifted child
program on the elementary level
as stated in an earlier article.
Top quality or master teach
ers must be found and developed
in the program as continuous
process, Mrs. Blew states. B-CC
has many examples of such teach
ers as Miss Margaret Casey,
, fourth-year English teacher in the
rapid-learner program. M s S
Casey is one of the few teachers
in the nation chosen as a correc.
tor of English Composition for
the Advanced Placement program
of the College Entrance Exami
nation Board.
Search for teachers like this
who have the techniques to chal
lenge and stimulate the superior
children goes on all the time.
The booklet is not the '1ast
word" on answers, either, Mrs.
Blew carefully points out. The
program is not static but is
changed each year after careful
evaluation and study.
The big difference between the
elementary and secondary ham
ding of the bridge child is that in
the lower grades he is kept in
the regular classroom with a sup
Elementary program of intensive
work.
The first step in developing a
rapid learner program in the sec
ondary schools is to group the
children anonymously so that
the more able children can move
along faster and at the same
time deepen their understandings.
AS in the elementary, the assign
ments aim at quality rather than
increased workloads.
However, the rapid learner pro-
gram as it has developed at B-CC
is moving towards the hetero-
geneous grouping with the idea
Of having the contribution of the
more able raise the level of the
average. At the same time, the
superior children benefit from a
more well-rounded program.
To this end, no child is allowed
to take a full rapid learner pro-
gram. He is restricted to a max.
imum of three such courses and
for at least three periods a day
he Is in general program classes.
This prevents segregation in So
cial activities.
The present program at B-CC
had its beginning in a core course
In American Literature and
United States History offered in
1880.
Emphasis was placed on in
creasing the quantity and quality
Of reading and understanding the
backgrounds Of literature and the
interrelationships of ideas.
Rapid learner courses were first
instituted in the English Depart.