Think of what this would mean too for the schools, how much money we could save by moving these kids through K-12 quicker, 11 years of education vs. 13. Many kids can enter college by 16. It's a win-win-win for all.
I wonder if this is actually true.
I'd say its true, from this perspective:
- "How much money we could save", where "we" is the American Taxpayer.
- "It's a win-win-win for all", where:
--- one win is for the kids who do not need to be bored in school by repeating curriculum which they've demonstrated prior knowledge of, on standardized tests, but rather can move on to a challenge worthy of their potential and learn something new.
--- A second win is for the American Taxpayer; This
NPR webpage from 2012 shows an "average" of $10,615 per public school pupil per school year.
--- A third win may be for the teachers who do not need to teach to as broad a span of readiness and ability in each classroom.
--- A fourth win may be for the students studying at grade level, as research indicates these children may stretch more and perform at their best when taught among academic peers:
1)
http://www.casenex.com/casenet/pages/virtualLibrary/gridlock/groupmyths.html2)
http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/reports/rbdm9204/rbdm9204.pdf The schools will be left with a higher percentage of students who cost more to educate (ie special ed, ELL, etc.) With less students the schools will get less money through ADA but have more expensive students.
I see this as an admission or belief that public schools are spending less than a fair share to educate gifted students or those who've demonstrated prior knowledge of the upcoming year's curriculum; This would tend to make teaching the Common Core Standards a ceiling, not a floor.
I also see this as a belief that the role of gifted students or those who've demonstrated prior knowledge of the upcoming year's curriculum is to function as cash cows being milked for their government funding allocation so that these funds may be spent on others while ignoring their own educational needs. I find this demeaning and dehumanizing to the gifted population and those who've demonstrated prior knowledge of the upcoming year's curriculum.
I also wonder whether part of the quoted statement's premise is true: that ELL students would not be among the 15-45% performing above grade level? The research study does not provide results by demographic... possibly further research could look into that. Some special ed students are also functioning above grade level, especially 2e kids... as mentioned by parents on this forum.
