A case in point: We live in one of two top ranked districts (in terms of state test scores) in our state. The two districts have almost identical demographics, including number of students in the high school (each district has a single high school). One district consistently has 10-15 National Merit semifinalists/finalists and the other has less than five. Last year there was one. The district with the 10-15 National Merit semifinalists/finalists just happens to have a gifted program that starts in elementary school. The other district not only doesn't have a gifted program, it actively stonewalls any attempt at acceleration.
Kai, this is very interesting showing some correlation between gifted education and NMSP results..Our District has a very good gifted program, identifying the top students starting in 2nd and offering self-contained GATE classes at 3 of the district elementary schools. The program and teachers have been excellent. Many of those kids feed into the IB middle school, and probably 1/2 of those kids feed into the IB HS.
