"The schools could probably ameliorate the problem with a little creativity and by banning test prep for four-year-olds."
Huh? Whether I prepare my child for a test is my decision, NOT the government's. Even if you thought the government should intrude in this manner, how would you enforce such a law?
If there is a gifted program, I think should children should be added (or removed) each year based on some reasonable criteria. If the focus of a gifted program is advanced work in academic subjects, as I think it should be, admit students to those classes based on prior performance in those classes and/or test scores in those subjects.
Hmm. Well, as I understand it, the schools are trying to identify kids who are gifted because they need a different learning environment than kids who aren't. The problem with prepping children is that the test scores include what could be called
false positives of giftedness.
The tests have a relatively definable set of questions, which makes them, umm, preppable. Kids who are prepped will probably get higher scores than they would without being prepped. This is the point of test prep (obviously), but it's also what's wrong with it: prepping allows kids who aren't gifted to be classified as gifted. In this subgroup, the score can be a reflection of how well the kids know how to take the test, rather than a reflection of innate giftedness.
If kids who aren't gifted end up in gifted programs, the academic pace may move too quickly for them. This creates a risk that they end up getting frustrated or feeling inadequate. This isn't fair to them.
Gifted programs recognize that gifted kids need a different learning environment from most other kids, just as kids with disabilities need a different learning environment. Unfortunately, New York seems to be suffering from a perception that these programs confer status, and a competition to gain admittance (and an industry feeding on it) has developed. IMHO, this has undermined the point of the programs on many levels.
It's been widely documented that using performance in a previous grade or subject as an indicator of giftedness is a flawed approach. Many gifted kids shut down in a classroom that moves too slowly and refuse to do too-easy work on principle. Some (my eldest, for example), feel offended at being asked to take lessons on something they figured out themselves a while back. This can lead to a cycle of underachievement and feelings of inadequacy.
Just my 2c.
Val
