Sally Reis on Gifted Education

spideygirl
Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:26:44 +0000

In our school district, the gifted program is designed to be 1-2 years ahead. Other than that, it is identical in nature and approach to regular ed. This makes it grossly inappropriate, as these kids are often way, way ahead (at least in some areas), and need an entirely different approach. All that happens in our gate classrooms is more of the same work. It’s actually designed for kids who are just very bright, but not the truly gifted. The kids with the highest IQ’a usually do the worst in the program (surprise), and the kids who thrive would have been fine in a regular classroom. The students who really needed that special ed are still underserved.