Originally Posted by spaghetti
Jay Matthews has been opposed to education for gifted students for many years.
Yes, this is why I posted a counter-point:
Originally Posted by indigo
This quote brings to mind that for continuing growth and development, kids need:
1) appropriate academic challenge
2) true peers
For typical kids, these needs may be met in a general ed classroom, however for children with higher IQ/giftedness, these needs may not be met without intentional effort in providing advanced curriculum, and grouping for instruction with academic/intellectual peers. Some negatives which may occur when a child is not learning something new every day include these observations or signs that a child is not appropriately challenged.
Over the years, I have had some interesting exchanges with Jay Mathews, on several topics, including the change in rating/ranking criteria for schools.

BTW, the OP article by Jay Mathews was shared in a recent e-newsletter from Davidson Institute.

The same Davidson e-newsletter shared an article which I posted here. Rather than touting "equal-outcomes" in education, so prevalent in the USA at this time (since the introduction of Common Core), that article expresses valuing gifted education:
Quote
HIGHLIGHTS
- Identifying exceptional talent has acquired a major importance in developed countries.

- Experts say it is crucial to pay attention to these children and match them up with special programmes to tap their full potential.

- Failure to do so is a waste of resources and time.