Pam Mohle in her classroom

Public schools in Texas lead the way when it comes to providing gifted and talented students with appropriate educational opportunities. Pam Mohle, a sophomore English teacher at L. V. Hightower High School in Fort Bend County, has been involved with the effort ever since the state legislature passed a law requiring school districts to address the needs of exceptional students.

"I was asked to set up an advanced placement program when I was teaching in another school district," explains Ms. Mohle. "I didn’t realize that a gifted and talented component had to be included because the law was so new.

"But if you just set up an advanced placement program that focuses completely on academic rigor, some of the kids who are very gifted don’t have a creative outlet. Some of my students came up to me and asked, ‘Is that all we’re going to do? Prepare for a test?’ So I wondered, ‘What else is there?’

"When the law was passed, I started attending workshops and training sessions. I attended a two-day workshop where they taught us about the law and what we needed to be doing, and that pretty much lit a fire under me."

Ms. Mohle has been teaching gifted and talented teenagers for more than half of her 13-year career. She says, "I don’t know how anyone could do this their first year of teaching. These kids can be challenging, and they need challenges. Unfortunately, there’s a prevalent belief that these kids are going to be successful anyway, so why spin your wheels creating programs for them? Many states have no programs or laws that address this population, yet this population of students is everywhere."

Ms. Mohle credits Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented (TAGT) for informing legislators and educators about the importance of nurturing gifted children. Each year thousands of teachers attend TAGT seminars and conferences to learn how to stimulate and educate exceptional students.

"Ten years ago, some of these kids barely got through high school, and sometimes students who were incredibly bright became discipline problems or dropped out," remembers Ms. Mohle. "They’re quickly bored, and if you’re not trained to see what’s bubbling beneath the surface, you don’t know how to deal with them. I do everything I can to make my classroom gifted-friendly."

Ms. Mohle promotes creativity, lets students help select lesson plans and materials, and keeps a very open mind. She explains, "They choose projects that no other kids in the school would select. I’ve been very accepting of their ideas, and they can come up with some bizarre ones! But you can’t have a classroom where students are told to come in, sit down, shut up and learn. My hope is that these kids always challenge themselves and never shut down."

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