What I meant by "gifted culture" was the adoption and support of an educational environment that provides kids who have been identified as gifted learners the means to succeed. There's plenty of evidence that such a culture exists, largely because such communities clearly exist (even if some of them, such as this one, are largely online in nature). It might be weird to some to think about the Gifted Issues Discussion Forum as a community, but to many, it functions very much like one.
My point is that gifted culture
should also include a recognition (by both parents and educators) that success does not equal "more work" nor should it equal "consistently tests better than age peers." I think there is, unfortunately, a very strong desire among many to see how these kids "measure up" to their age mates, whether they be in a pull-out gifted program in a mixed-ability school or in a gifted magnet school. I think those feelings are often rooted in insecurity.
- "If my kid really belongs in this program, shouldn't they be proving it in some measurable way to justify them staying in it?" - concerned parent of gifted kid
- "Kid A is in the gifted program but doesn't test as high as kid B who isn't in the gifted program. How is that fair to kid B?" - concerned parent of kid B
- "My gifted program / school is funded with the expectation that our kids will score higher on standardized tests than kids who aren't in the program. If they don't score higher, does this mean that the program / school will lose funding?" - concerned administrator
DS7 recently took a standardized test which was normed against, among other things, surburban public and independent schools across the country. The school reported to me, among other things, his percentile rank against these various norms. I did ask the school administration why I should care about these scores, and shouldn't I really just care about how well he's engaged and being challenged. They responded that my perspective was "refreshing" coming from a parent, which makes me think that the "concerned parent of gifted kid" profile insecurity is pretty common!
