Originally Posted by Eagle Mum
I agree with you wrt the possibility of increasing effort gaps. Would there not also be potential equity gaps, wrt opportunity, if this policy only applies to public schools, whilst private schools can continue to offer acceleration pathways?
Some may say that the existence of any potential opportunity gaps may depend upon WHAT one wants equal opportunity for:
- equal opportunity to have a student's needs met?
- equal opportunity to have an option of acceleration?

I'm using a simple definition of student's NEEDS as:
1) appropriately challenging curriculum in the student's zone of proximal development (ZPD)
2) intellectual peers

Upthread it has been suggested theoretically that:
- students who need or would benefit from advanced academics enroll in the private school program (or homeschool or co-op), which allows acceleration,
- students who need or would benefit from on-grade-level academics enroll in the public school program, which does not offer acceleration.

If needs are being met, then does one consider this fair, just, equitable?
In the following oversimplified chart,
- school disallowing acceleration is the public school; school allowing acceleration is private, homeschool, or co-op,
- "fit" designates needs being met, "poor fit" indicates needs not being met.
Originally Posted by oversimplified chart
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . Student . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . gifted/advanced. . typical
School disallowing acceleration .poor fit . . . . . . . .fit
School allowing acceleration. . . fit. . . . . . . . . . . .fit
The existence of schools which allow acceleration provides opportunity for more students' needs to be met.
Therefore, fewer opportunity gaps, increased equity.

To further reduce opportunity gaps and increase equity, especially wrt pupils whose families cannot afford private school, "school choice" may fill the gap, although some consider the concept to be controversial and/or political.

Circling back to the idea of WHAT one wants equal opportunity for, I'll use a comparison to handing out school uniforms.
- does one want to choose the uniform which fits (meets student's needs)?
- does one want the largest size uniform possible (although it may be too large, therefore unusable)?
- does one want the same one-size-fits-some uniforms to be handed out to all pupils without regard to whether it fits (or meets students' needs)?