Originally Posted by chris1234
In fact most of the thread that I've read so far is also kind of over the top, to me: comments such as kids with iq 121 should not have gifted services (considering how these numbers are soooo mucky at the low end, as well as at the high end ). I really don't think that should be the focus of reforming gifted education: push out all the kids who are too borderline to be 'worth it'.

No, kids with IQs of 121 shouldn't have gifted services because these kids aren't gifted.

I shouldn't get services for gifted poets because I'm not a gifted poet. My friend J. shouldn't get services for gifted athletes because he's not gifted at any sport. That's how this stuff works. Or at least, that's how it's SUPPOSED to work.

It is not okay to provide next to no services for gifted students and then open them up to non-gifted students so that some parents don't feel bad. It is not okay define gifted as less than it is, because doing so undermines the entire point of a gifted program or an advanced class for supposedly gifted kids. It is also not okay to send messages to very smart people that they should feel bad about wanting to develop their talents.

People here have said that if the schools were doing a better job with pacing and depth for all kids, this problem wouldn't exist. Actually, I think that the kids at the HG end would still have problems, though the situation wouldn't be as deplorable as it is now.