A Response to the "All Children are Gifted" Comment

Especially read page 3!
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Differentiation is the critical fact; gifted children are at risk; they need us to provide them with an education that is appropriate in rigorous, accelerated content and advanced thinking processes if they are not to wither in the muting and stifling environment of the regular, textbook-driven, age-graded classroom.

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If young Mozart went to Rembrandt�s school as a second grader, having just completed writing his first concerto, would they let him take music? Or would they schedule him into some other "enrichment" class because all second graders "get" that class?

And if he did get put into a music class, would he have to fill out the big-print worksheets on the names of the notes because it wouldn�t be fair for anyone to be treated special? Would Mozart have to sit in a circle and call out the names of the notes with his group? Would that be fair to Mozart?

Fairness.

If a child had a physical problem and had lost his legs or the use of his legs, would we require him to meet the P.E. requirement for height jumped, in order to uphold our equal standards?

Or would we make an exception because we are human beings and the requirement is impossible for the child?

If a gifted child had a specific learning disability and despite his enormous I.Q. could spell few words correctly, would we deduct points from all of his assignments and tests, ruining his grade average and self-image in order to defend our equal standards?

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Fairness.

Welcome to the doctor�s office. Doctor Fairness is in and will see you now. And good news: Doctor Fairness treats all his patients alike. Appendectomies, that�s it. Everybody gets appendectomies. Got a broken leg? Appendectomy. Pneumonia? Appendectomy. Nearsighted? It�s an appendectomy for you. Got to treat everybody fairly, you know... Give everybody what they need, and you�d have to treat every individual individually! We don�t treat what you need; you get what we offer. When you wake up, you�ll be in the recovery room with the 27 other patients, and you can all receive your post-appendectomy treatments in unison. Won�t that he fun? Next...