There's a HUGE difference, though, between rate of learning between those groups, as Jon and Val and I have pointed out-- and this difference is quite detrimental to the kids at the highest end of the ability distribution.

I see this every day, in that my DD's coursework and her classmates (who are truly trying their hardest) just/can't/go/there with her... it's maddening, because what my DD could be getting out of the learning environment is being muzzled fairly assertively by "but your classmates can't learn that yet, so put a sock in it," rather than "this is really interesting..."

So they are depriving my DD of what COULD be. As non-PC as this makes me, I look at that situation and think "maybe they should be doing something that is more in keeping with their innate ability, then."


The gap widens. It just does. If it didn't, then "third grade" would happen to everyone-- eventually. But it clearly does not.



Last edited by HowlerKarma; 04/01/14 12:03 PM.

Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.