http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bet...er-2012/The-Gifted-Left-Behind/index.phpThe Gifted: Left Behind?
With a new curriculum aimed at meeting the needs of more students, parents of advanced learners fear their kids are getting short shrift
BY JULIE RASICOT
Bethesda Magazine
September-October 2012
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For years, the national debate in education has centered on No Child Left Behind. But in Montgomery County, a place where more than a third of all public school students are deemed gifted, the debate has been given a different spin.
Last year, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) introduced Curriculum 2.0, which calls for elementary school students of all skill levels to solve problems—math problems, in particular—together in a single classroom, rather than being segregated according to ability.
It’s a shift in priority that has parents of gifted students steamed.
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“Why should only kids who struggle get their needs met?” asks Nancy Green of Bethesda, an MCPS parent who is executive director of the National Association for Gifted Children. “That doesn’t sound like America to me, at the most basic level.”
MCPS officials counter that dramatic shifts in Montgomery County’s demographics have created a greater need: Minorities have become the majority, and increasing numbers of low-income and immigrant students require more services from schools. Because of that, Superintendent Joshua Starr says, MCPS has more kids who need help “getting to standard than we do kids who need to be pushed beyond grade level.”
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