This article, "How to Raise a Genius" is a treasure trove of topics discussed frequently on the forums. While it never comes close to providing parenting advice on how to raise a genius, the title serves its purpose by drawing readers in.
The article transitions from a summary of the SMPY longitudinal study, to other research, to attempts to apply findings to gifted education, to considerations for applying findings to education for the general population.
SMPY Study
1 Identification
- 1 in 10,000
- cohorts varied from top 3% to .01% top SAT math scores at age 13
- 2nd cohort - top .5% SAT scores, also tested for visual-spatial ability
2 Acceleration
- "intellectual diversity and rapid pace of learning make them among the most challenging to educate."
- "Advancing these students costs little or nothing, and in some cases may save schools money."
- "These kids often don't need anything innovative or novel... they just need earlier access to what's already available to older kids."
- Early college
- "acceleration benefits the vast majority of gifted children socially and emotionally, as well as academically and professionally."
- "Skipping grades is not the only option... access to challenging material such as college-level Advanced Placement courses—have a demonstrable effect"
3 Opportunity
- "Among students with high ability, those who were given a richer density of advanced precollegiate educational opportunities in STEM went on to publish more academic papers, earn more patents and pursue higher-level careers than their equally smart peers who didn't have these opportunities."
4 Other
- "We don't know why, even at the high end, some people will do well and others won't"
- "Intelligence won't account for all the differences between people; motivation, personality factors, how hard you work and other things are important."
- Munich study of 26,000 gifted students, 1980's: "cognitive factors were the most predictive, but that some personal traits—such as motivation, curiosity and ability to cope with stress—had a limited influence on performance. Environmental factors, such as family, school and peers, also had an impact."
5 Measures of success/achievement
- students in top 1% of childhood intellectual ability earned advanced degrees at about 25 times the rate of the general population
- students in the top 0.01% of childhood intellectual ability earned earned PhDs at about 50 times the rate of the general population
- "students who are only marginally impressive in mathematics or verbal ability but high in spatial ability often make exceptional engineers, architects and surgeons"
Worldview
- Middle East and Asian countries screening for ability
- European countries focused on inclusion
Application
- Controversial: predict who will rise to the top
- Testing may de-motivate high scoring students and students not identified
- Focus on growth mindset
- SES factors
- Summer camps for accelerated study in area of strong interest
- Education community accepts myth that acceleration may harm students
- Education community accepts myth that gifted children do fine on their own
- Education community has a "general belief that kids who have advantages, cognitive or otherwise, shouldn't be given extra encouragement; that we should focus more on lower-performing kids."
