Originally Posted by HowlerKarma
Originally Posted by ElizabethN
Even if the presentation speed of curriculum is unchanged, the other students lose the benefit of contributions to discussion by the top-level students if they are not there any more.

True...

but that always brings me back around to--

are those students there to SERVE other students' learning needs? Or are they there to get their OWN needs met?

I mean, I don't mind if both things can be accomplished. But I object pretty strenuously to my child's cognitive ability being used as an educational TOOL for the other children.

Hmph. If that makes me elitist, so be it.

Exactly! My gifted d has complained (rather bitterly) that she is there to learn also. She does not feel it is her responsibility to teach other kids and that being told that she can be a "leader" means that she gets to learn little while she is helping the other kids maximize their learning. She feels that she has the right to learn also and that she should not be forced to teach other kids.