Honestly....most of us probably just know a wicked smart kid when we see one. Granted, lines have to be drawn, and that 98th mark can be hard to see (comparing 97th to 98th), but I'm usually more clued in by achievement data and observation, than IQ results from someone who might not be trained in testing gifted children,
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When you consider the shape of the tail, it means to me that any line drawn up in 'tail land' is such that there are 2 'hair's breath' of difference kids sitting on the sad side of the line for every 'skin of their teeth' child on the happy side. AND when you consider that most of the kids in the tail are in the 'skin of their teeth' region, not the upper reaches, that is a lot of sad faces! And a lot of teachers shaking their heads!
So, my solution? There have to be a few different 'gifted programs' so that there are NO CHILDREN who aren't getting their special educational needs met.
It might look like this:
For the top 10%: School sponsered contests and activities such as Odessey of the Mind. Self selected. Lots of afterschool activities.
For the top 7-4%: Subject Grouping within a grade level.
For the top 3-2%: Freely given subject acceleration into the gifted group in a higher grades. Use Accomidations freely, so a child who is ready for 5th grade math in K, but doesn't have the handwriting skills can still participate in some reasonable way.
For the top 1%: District wide Self Contained classroom.
OK, this may not be perfect, but its cheap, and it would provide a way to met everyone needs. We could stop spending money on assessment to prove that kids are gifted, and just let kids request what they think they might like. We could teach the character trait of flexibility and self knowledge, and being willing to try things that might now work.
It just seems so obvious to me. I must be insane. Oh well.
Grimity
