<p>Our local Public School District has magnet schools for gifted students. You have to test into them. My very bright younger daughter has spent some years in the gifted program and some out. (Elementary out. Middle School in. High School back out again.) Whether in or out of the gifted program, daughter’s learning was more influenced by the quality of the teaching and the classroom environment than being surrounded by other students with the gifted label.</p>
<p>When daughter first started in gifted program in Middle School, I naively thought students would be better behaved and teachers motivated and inspirational. Quickly found out that disipline problems can be anywhere. Same with good and bad teachers.</p>
<p>Also, after having a child in gifted program, my feelings about such programs have evolved. I truly believe that probably half the students in our District would benefit by the higher expections and the deeper subject exposure offered to the gifted students. I’d like to see District do away with gifted program and rather offer accelerated classes at all District schools for those students who could benefit from them, especially the hard working sudents who don’t necessarily test as gifted.</p>
<p>Re: “It wasn’t memorize and spew forth what you learned, but they learned interesting things, such as Egyptian history and mummies; aeronautics and had to make a paper plane that flew farther, based on what they learned; things that they wouldn’t have learned otherwise, but exposed them to other fields in science and history. What I liked was that the students used their knowledge to create and develop thinking skills.”</p>
<p>^^ I’m wondering why every student wouldn’t benefit from more than ‘memorize & spew it out’? </p>
<p>Agree w/marlene re: higher expectations & deeper subject matter could challenge lots of kids (not those just tagged w/certain IQ cut-off).</p>
<p>Of course, I notice my attitude changing a bit (on the side of inclusion), now that I have a younger daughter who did not test as super-high as older son on all those evaluative tests. :-)</p>
<p>On the other hand, the “being surrounded” by like minds can be a good thing. If a kid is always the academic standout in their class, or their school, sometimes that can lead to problems with procrastination and work habits, because they never have to really exert themselves to get A’s. Or the kid can come in for some social scorn. Programs like CTY feed off of this–the big deal is that the kids feel that they’re not freaks, that there are other kids like them.</p>
<p>My daughter never felt freaky for being bright – it was/is just part of her – like being tall or having blue eyes.</p>
<p>However I will agree that she has generally been in classes with enough bright students that she was challenged enough. And doing the actual gifted program for middle school was great. Middle school is a weak link in our Distict and those in the gifted program kept moving along rather than idling for three years. </p>
<p>I think what pushed her back into a traditional high school was that she was uncomfortable with the intensity of the gifted program. She felt there was too much push to achieve, achieve, achieve. It just wore her out. Some kids thrive in that atmosphere, mine didn’t. </p>
<p>I lost some bragging rights when she left the gifted program, but wanted daughter to be somewhere she felt comfortable. We agreed that as long as she took challenging classes and focused on learning, we weren’t going to pressure her to do more. So far its working. She has a nice combination of APs and honors classes and enough time to pursue other activties she enjoys (music, theater, and yes, the math team.)</p>
<p>My daughter took the opposite track–in a magnet program for elementary (4-5), back to the home school for middle school, and then back to a magnet for high school. In our case, she couldn’t wait to get back to a magnet–middle school was really a wasteland compared to the experience she had at the elementary magnet. While I sympathize with the idea that all kids should be challenged, I strongly believe that it’s a mistake to try to put kids of widely different preparation and ability in the same classroom.</p>
<p>Even though both of my kids were in the gifted program, I have always doubted the validity of the “magic” IQ number for entry. After all, it’s only one test and evaluation by one psychologist. It almost seems as if the schools don’t really want that many kids in the program! </p>
<p>Some of the things my kids learned at an early age in their gifted pull out program were writing a research paper, public speaking skills and complex problem solving. All good things, but maybe everyone should learn those things. </p>
<p>Hats off to the enrichment teachers who taught those skills, built giant structures, took kids on field trips and competitions, studied Shakespeare and astrophysics. You often kept my kids interested in education when they were bored and beaten down by their regular class work. :)</p>