Majority middle and high SES preschool classrooms can keep the average skills gap present at preschool entry (one standard deviation in language, three fourths of a standard deviation in maths) from at least widening.
Are you suggesting that children whose parents read to them and converse with them thereby aiding the child's ability to learn... should be subject to a type of sensory deprivation in preschool to assure they do not continue to learn... because other children effectively living with sensory deprivation at home... may gain compensatory benefits in preschool... and the ultimate goal is not the continued growth of each child but outcomes which are identical?
I provided you with a source that states that as long as all aspects of high quality are provided (composition and instructional quality, among others), high SES children benefit as well and show continued growth. It also show that all kids show more growth in a classroom completely made up of high SES kids, which is why many high SES parents prefer private schools or public schools in low SES neighbourhoods. There is no free lunch, and there will be always some trade off if classrooms mostly reflect society at large. The question is, how much trade off does a society need in by order to maintain social cohesion and continued economic growth? Personally, And you may say somewhat selfishly, I believe that for gifted kids, the inherent sociioemotional dangers of languishing in a classroom without peers are too big. For, say, the top 25% or so of high achievers/mildly gifted kids in a regular mixed SES classroom, who would have, say,4 to 8 peers? Debatable.
