Has anyone had experience where their gifted children are in a mixed-ability classroom and still get an challenging, appropriate level instruction? How the teacher make this work?
We encountered success in a strongly mixed-ability 4th/5th class in a public school. The principal was strongly committed to "pushing in" so that to the extent possible, she put all her resources into the classrooms - no pull outs for anything. As a result, the class had 27 kids and two (talented) full time teachers, plus a student teacher, and various specialists coming and going, as well as 1-2 aides. Having 2 full time teachers plus help makes a huge difference in being able to differentiate. For example, our twins read The Hunger Games with their reading group as 4th graders in that class, but there were also kids with severe developmental disabilities.
