...
Maybe "evened out" is actually code for "given up" or "become compliant."
I have to wonder just what that third grade selection process is
actually selecting for-- because most HG+ kids simply can't
take being that compliant with things that far from their proximal zones for years on end. Not without figuring out some coping on their own-- and most of that coping is going to be about on par with what one might expect 4-8yo children to come up with. Defiance, refusal, daydreaming, clowning, etc. all offer some rewards in a pretty unrewarding environment, after all. Sure, as an adult I see how those things are counterproductive or even maladaptive in the long run-- but for a 6yo, they offer immediate rewards, not the least of which is an alternative to doing mind-numbing things like an automaton.
By Jove, I think you've got it.
Compounded by the fact that many, if not most, gifted children can master the K-2 curriculum very quickly (weeks? months?)... and many are through large parts of it by the time they reach first grade.
Kids don't even out. by third grade,they find their level (as it were, not meaning to sound snobbish).
The third grade thing is about parent management. Think about a class of K kids. Some proportion will be reading. Of those who are reading, some will have been pushed, some will have just learned on their own or with support because they're into it. We all know what the pace/trajectory of these things looks like with HG or PG kids. Now, imagine you allow those reading kids into a "special" program in K, while the kids who weren't reading also receive instruction. The ones who were pushed will go along at a developmentally appropriate pace while their fellow K kids will be learning too. Those two groups will converge until by 2/3 grade they're very similar. The kids with high IQs will remain 2+ years ahead, if they're in the special class, or go from grade level to 2+ years ahead if they started not reading.
Imagine being the administrator dealing with the hothousing parents and explaining to them that their 1/2/3 grader who was reading at 4 no longer needs advanced work while Susie who couldn't read in K needs it. It must be awful. Our old district reassessed inclusion in the 1st grade pullout every term, which is the right way to do it. Just because a child was taught early doesn't mean they don't deserve to be taught at school. But I wonder how many parents have threatened to sue.
I think the decline of recess and the number of teachers handing out M&Ms in class shows they don't care about behavior.
