Gifted Education
Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented. Youths are usually identified as gifted by placing highly on certain standardized tests.
Advocates of gifted education argue that gifted and/or talented youth are so perceptually and intellectually above the mean, it is appropriate to pace their lessons more aggressively, track them into honors, Advanced Placement, or International Baccalaureate courses, or otherwise provide educational enrichment.
They also claim that the needs of many gifted students are still neglected, as schools tend to place more emphasis on improving education for the youths on the other side of the spectrum. This may be an unintended consequence of the development of disability rights litigation, which some pundits argue has led to the disabled receiving more resources than the more-than-abled. See Special education. .
Controversies
There are several controversies concerning gifted education:
Definition of giftedness
Many different educational authorities define giftedness differently - even if two authorities use the same IQ test to define giftedness, they may disagree on what gifted means - one may take top 2 percent of the population, another would take top 5 percent of the population. The theory of Multiple intelligence would produce a different definition to the traditional IQ definition.
What form of education is appropriate
This is the most hotly debated aspect of gifted education. They usually fall into the following categories:
Separate classes - Gifted students are educated in either a separate class or a separate school.
Acceleration - Pupils are advanced to a higher-level class which is covering material that is more suited to the pupils' abilities. Some colleges offer early entrance programs that give gifted younger students the opportunity to attend college early.
Pull-out - Students spend a portion of their time in a gifted class, with the rest of their time with their peers.
Enrichment - Students spend all class time with their peers, but receive extra material to challenge them.
Homeschooling - An umbrella term encompassing myriad educational options for gifted children: part-time schooling; school at home; classes, groups, mentors and tutors; and unschooling. In many states, the population of gifted students who are being homeschooled is rising quite rapidly, as school districts responding to budgetary issues and standards-based policies are cutting what limited gifted education program remain extant, and families seek educational opportunities that are tailored to each child's unique needs.
Impact on school
Mara Sapon-Shevin has argued that gifted programmes result in educational triage, with the gifted programme taking a disproportionate amount of school resources, leaving other pupils with much reduced resources.
Her critics have countered that her research was into a school that was untypical of gifted education programmes in general.
Whether IQ is meaningful
Some authors question the existence of the g factor and thus hold that the result of an IQ test is meaningless, thus rendering the notion of giftedness meaningless. The most famous example is The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould.
Arbitraryness of selection criteria
Even if the notion of IQ is flawless, the question of the cutoff point for giftedness is still important. As noted above, different authorities often define giftedness differently.
Gifted and talented programs
Canada
Alberta
G.A.T.E.
Ontario
Academy for Gifted Children
Turner Fenton Secondary School
The Woodlands School
Woburn Collegiate Institute
Don Mills Collegiate Institute
United States
As of 2002, only 37 US states have laws requiring that some services be made available for the gifted. Of these, approximately 28 require that the services must be adequate to meet to the educational needs of every gifted student. There is one federal law with respect to gifted education. The Jacob K. Javits Gifted & Talented Student Education Act of 1988 was renewed as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1994 and as part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
California
Education Program for Gifted Youth, Stanford University
North Hollywood High School Highly Gifted Magnet, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Early Entrance Program, Los Angeles, California
Colorado
Rocky Mountain Talent Search, University of Denver
Connecticut
The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, a joint project of the University of Connecticut, University of Virginia, and Yale University
Indiana
Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities
Illinois
Center for Talent Development, Northwestern University
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Louisiana
Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts
Maryland
Center for Talented Youth, Johns Hopkins University
Massachusetts
Simon's Rock College of Bard
Nevada
Davidson Institute for Talent Development
North Carolina
Talent Identification Program, Duke University
Texas
Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, University of North Texas
Virginia
Center for Gifted Education, College of William & Mary
Program for the Exceptionally Gifted, Mary Baldwin College
Washington
Halbert and Nancy Robinson Center for Young Scholars, University of Washington[[6]]
Gifted Homeschooling (U.S.)
Gifted Homeschoolers Forum
Australia
South Australia
Ignite programme, Department of Education and Children's Services
Singapore
Gifted Education Programme (Singapore)
England & Wales
National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth
Critics
Mara Sapon-Shevin
External links
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Gifted Education page
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