I thought this article was interesting.
http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/gifted-and-talented-2013-7/We are in Ohio and not in one of the big three metropolitan areas, so we have the opposite problem. Yes, we have pervasive redshirting, grade inflation, empty platitudes about the importance of academics and education, and the widespread belief that everyone’s child is gifted. By the same token, anti-intellectualism is very strong here.
Although gifted programming is scant, there isn’t much competition for those programs that do exist. For example, my cousin told me that her son’s school in a neighboring district wanted to test him for giftedness. She was hesitant to have him take the tests. She said she would rather he “be the smartest kid in the dumb class rather than be the dumbest kid in the smart class.” I advised her to have him tested and convinced to do so. She was relieved that he didn’t qualify for the gifted program and said she wouldn’t have enrolled him even if he did qualify. In districts like ours, students aren’t even screened unless a parent requests it or a teacher recommends it. Needless to say, there are very few students identified as gifted in the district. This reinforces the idea that gifted services should not be restored in our district despite the recent levy passage because there is no demand.
Whether the problem is too many “geniuses” or not enough, gifted kids are denied access to programs they need and deserve.
