... he was fine with not being identified in first. In some ways, I think it made him more empathetic - when his best friend, who was identified in first grade (one of only two kids), didn't qualify to continue the gifted in middle school, he immediately talked about the tests just being one factor and often not getting it right.
There is a movement to shift from schools identifying an individual as "gifted", to schools identifying pupils who would both:
1) need and/or benefit from "advanced academics" in a particular year,
2) be beneficial to the school's program for "advanced academics".
Rather than imparting a "gifted" label, programs of "advanced academics" may serve a flexible pool of students throughout the elementary-middle-high school experience. A new book,
Beyond Gifted Education, Designing and Implementing Advanced Academic Programs by Peters, Matthews, McBee, and McCoach explores this concept. (
link) Interested readers who view this link will find a free PDF sample from the book. One point examined in that PDF sample is that gifted services at some schools may currently consist largely or entirely of identifying "gifted" pupils via various tests and assessments, in other words, providing a "gifted" label. Therefore, an identification-focused program may provide little actual benefit to the students, their families, or the schools.
For parents interested in the "advanced academics" approach, this book may be worth reading and raising awareness of among other parents, teachers, and administrators in your local school.
