I do believe the inequities need to be examined and addressed, but unfortunately by the time a student is old enough to take AP courses, the time may have passed. The inequities begin in the home before a child hits school and our system has danced around the problem of low SES and subsequent deficiencies for much too long, seemingly grasping for this bandaid then that bandaid, never really catching a true remedy.
Agreed. It is my understanding that by kindergarten, some child may have a word gap or vocabulary deficit of thousands of words. Reading to children from birth and talking with them about their day are said to be ways to help increase their word power. If I recall, this was in contrast to having conversation with children consist of directing or correcting their behavior.
Some see the same resigned underachievement among low SES as among the gifted, steeping perfectly good kids in a lack of opportunity when they may benefit tremendously from having new things to think about, and someone to talk these things over with. A visit to the library, a walk in a local park or nature center, free programs at local zoos, parks, museums, even reading the garment hang tags or food nutrition labels when shopping in the store, making lists of questions they'd like answers to... may be within reach. If legos are not available, read about origami and build with paper. There is never a time to give up.
We avoid the real problem because there's no easy solution and no money to be made from it.
Agreed.
We may also avoid the problem because the family is sacred: Families of all types may believe they are doing the best they can; They may resist what they may see as interference from outsiders. Families may believe that if they love their children that is enough, and may be hesitant or wary to trust information from other sources, warily questioning motives. When one child begins to rise, they may experience the same lack of support that a gifted child may face, and feel tricked or trapped possibly believing they were better off before someone opened the proverbial Pandora's Box. When a rising child makes an inevitable mistake, they may be ridiculed, same as a gifted child. They may attribute the lack of support to differences in SES or ethnicity, when it may be strictly IQ/achievement based. Meanwhile ALL achieving children may feel they are outside their culture, and are searching for a new culture of like-minded intellectual peers. This is one reason why it is so important to reach out and realize the
commonality of experience, rather than feel
isolated by one's experience.
Meanwhile, families may feel, "Don't meet trouble halfway." Many families want to be solidly in the center of a movement, the inherent altruism of being on the leading edge as an acknowledged high-IQ family may be exceedingly uncomfortable.
None of this is to say that gifted children and low SES are mutually exclusive; giftedness occurs in every demographic. Some may draw this as several overlapping circles: various SES, ethnicities, levels of IQ, levels of achievement, mindsets, opportunities, etc. Comparing drawings and beliefs of how much different areas overlap, based upon each person's unique experiences may be an interesting conversation starter for an in-person event. Ruby K Payne has researched and provided information about identifying giftedness in poverty. I believe she was a pioneer in this sensitive subject, there may now be others illuminating this important area of study.
