I'm thinking in terms of getting federal funds under IDEA for the gifted students where there is often no money allocated to gifted programs for the last several years. Also that "pull out" programs, acceleration, and skipping grades are not good answers. Differentiated classrooms would be an ideal alternative but often class sizes do not accommodate for this. Special ed students get assistance right in the regular classroom. Gifted students need these services as well. They need curriculum's that challenge and encourage advance thinking and reasoning skills in the same classrooms as all the other children. Not special schools or camps, AP or even IB classes. That's why I think the IEP will provide for both funding and assurance that these needs will be met. Also in regards to the testing into a gifted program now a certain number of students need to qualify and it is almost always done through test scores, academic progress thus far and perfect behavior records. Many gifted children are not good test takers or "A" students with no behavioral problems. They are just like any other children except they have exceptional processing, many times memory and advanced thinking skills. Socially they can feel like outcasts, they struggle with depression, self-esteem issues,and can easily be behind their peers in emotional or physical development. Pulling them out of class to give them some "extra challenge" or putting them in classes a few grades ahead are not the answers. That's why I propose the IEP solution. What do you think?
