What prompted me to label her response as "cluelessness" was the anecdote about the little girl, Alexis. Viewed from the prism of my own parenting experience (of one of those "truly gifted" girls), it reads to me like a textbook case of an underachiever who has gone underground with her abilities at an early age. And here's a trusted teacher, who had an opportunity to inspire her, who helped her hide instead. My own DD was headed down this same road before we brought her up short.

To too many teachers, "gifted" means "likes jumping through hoops." If your child is labeled gifted, and they don't choose to do more of those math problems that are 2 years below their level, well, that's not what gifted looks like.