Yep, I was taken aback. But why?
Probably because the letter reinforces misconceptions that we are working hard to change. Hopefully the attached response can undo some of the damage. I'm open to further suggestions and editing. Keep in mind it was difficult to say all I wanted with the paper's 250 word limit. Thank you also for everyone's earlier feedback. It helped me go from this
to
While sharing many of Pentti Teraslinna�s concerns regarding the need for education reform, I vehemently disagree with his statements that reinforce misconceptions about gifted education.
One misconception is that early age IQ and other tests are not valid. Inderbir Kaur Sandhu at Cambridge recommends IQ testing for gifted children be done between age 5 and 12. This is because ceiling effects are in place which may begin as young as 8 for the gifted child.
Mr. Teraslinna stated that teaching should concentrate on the slow students and the so-called �gifted� could assist the teachers with the slower classmates. In essence, this is saying we should choose to educate some students and not others. Instead, we must find ways to support students that don't involve sacrificing another child's learning potential in the process. We need to value each child�s continued growth whether their learning capacity is �inconveniently� fast or slow for our schools.
For this, I applaud those at Dixie Elementary who are working to feed intellectual growth whether or not that child already meets state benchmarks. By taking a seventh grade virtual math class, an 11-year old gifted math student is learning something new instead of getting more practice with 5th grade concepts she mastered long ago. Dixie�s leadership is taking a stance by figuring out what's best for each learner and providing it. This is the type of leadership necessary to close the most important student achievement gap, the gap between their potential and what is asked of them.
This may be part of the reason I haven�t been able to find any programs or services for gifted children at UK. The nearest programs are an hour and a half north at University of Cincinnati. 
