... differentiate, say, PG students from those who are the 92nd percentile.
Many administrators here genuinely believe (or have said to ME that they believe it, anyway) that there is "no real difference" between those two students.
Unfortunately some may be content to know these kids are both "above the ceiling" of certain tests/assessments/measures, and do not look any further to distinguish. By analogy, among kids considered tall, some kids are pretty tall and some may be really, really tall like a professional basketball player therefore may need a different size of desk or chair to sit in class.
... While I agree that those students who are operating at a high level of achievement/performance among agemates deserve an appropriate education just as much as those who are HG+, I don't necessarily think that they have the SAME needs.
Agreed!
... Let's just be realistic-- it DOES make it far harder for a classroom teacher to have a 'spread' of abilities that ranges from 98th to 5th percentile. It's way more productive to have children placed in a classroom that spans one or two standard deviations in ability, which is why I am a huge fan of ability grouping and flexible tracking (maybe even by subject/skill).
Yes! A collection of success stories from which parents may choose examples to present as positive societal norms, when advocating... may establish a new societal norm... rather than the current reality of insufficient meeting of the needs of gifted students?
