Has anyone else notice this phenomenon? I actually saw the tables/reports for our district a couple of years ago but now actually have first hand experience at my DS/DD's middle school.

At our district, this large jump in GT participation became a noticeable trend maybe in the last decade or so. I actually think that this is a point of pride that more students are capable of completing these courses and ultimately participate in AP courses. However, it is also clear that these classes are necessarily diluted so that it does not challenge the real GT students. The only real consolation is that many of these middle school GT classes are at least somewhat more sophisticated (and more capable of differentiated work products) than the stand-alone GT classes in elementary school. The other difference is that middle schools are comfortable in handing out low and failing grades so now you actually see a spread in the grade distribution as oppose to almost all kids getting A's and B's in the elementary GT classes.

Is this trend prevalent across the country?