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- All children should receive an appropriate education, but that does not
mean that what is appropriate for one child is appropriate for all children.
Giving all children the same curriculum and instruction despite learning differences
is as ridiculous a doctor
treating all patients for the common cold, regardless of symptoms.
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- Giftedness is a special need characterized by very high ability in one or
more academic areas, such as mathematical, spatial, verbal, and creative abilities.
For gifted children in schools, there is often a mismatch between the education
provided and their abilities. While it is commonly understood that schools
should provide specialized curriculum and instruction for students with disabilities,
gifted students, whose abilities frequently differ more from the average than
children with disabilities (and may also include disabilities), are often
forced to participate in course work that they have long understood with teachers
and peers who do not understand them. Despite common myths that gifted students
will "make it on their own," failure to provide appropriate education
for gifted children can lead to depression, underachievement, and, ultimately,
unfulfilled potential. In fact, left out of federal protection in IDEA and
NCLB, gifted students receive few, if any, services in many states. Due to
this, advanced students tend to make the lowest achievement gains in regular
classrooms.
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- Gifted children's needs should be met by schools in order that their gifts
may be developed into talents. A plethora of curricula and instructional strategies
exist to help meet the needs of the gifted, including many options for acceleration,
differentiation, and enrichment, but these options are too rarely provided.
No one expects a highly athletic child to develop into a great NFL quarterback
without appropriate coaching and practice. Children with high intellectual
ability cannot be expected to develop their strengths without appropriate
education. Doesn't every child deserve to learn something new every day?
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Read about my work in the field on my vita and
my Maryville Programs in Gifted Education overview
page. You may also visit Maryville's gifted
education graduate programs page.
Follow me on Twitter @GiftedEdStLouis
or see my feed here.
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The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) has a list of common
myths regarding the gifted, which I highly recommend reading: http://www.nagc.org/commonmyths.aspx
