Comments on: Getting rid of gifted programs: Trying to teach students at all levels together in one class https://hechingerreport.org/getting-rid-of-gifted-trying-to-teach-students-at-all-levels-together-in-one-class/ Covering Innovation & Inequality in Education Wed, 03 Mar 2021 20:32:15 +0000 hourly 1 By: Rob Czar https://hechingerreport.org/getting-rid-of-gifted-trying-to-teach-students-at-all-levels-together-in-one-class/comment-page-1/#comment-22648 Wed, 03 Mar 2021 20:32:15 +0000 https://hechingerreport.org/?p=61640#comment-22648 Gifted students are special education students. This means that the standard curriculum does not meet the educational needs for optimizing their learning.
Concern about disparity in programs is ideological, not based on evidence or what is best for individual students. Would anyone imply that special education in general be eliminated because it is disproportional in ethnicity? (It is.) Political ideology, or misconceptions about what can reasonably be expected about group proportions for any outcome, are not valid bases for educational practice. The goal is optimizing learning for individual students, not insuring that all groups are proportionally represented.
Would we be okay with insisting that high school sports team represent all ethnic groups proportionally? What about varsity teams? Aren’t they biased towards students with more sports talent? The Federal Government spends zero dollars on programs for the academically gifted. Why?

]]> By: Amy F https://hechingerreport.org/getting-rid-of-gifted-trying-to-teach-students-at-all-levels-together-in-one-class/comment-page-1/#comment-19482 Thu, 22 Oct 2020 03:52:05 +0000 https://hechingerreport.org/?p=61640#comment-19482 Solving the discrimination against BIPOC and economically disadvantaged students by getting rid of gifted education programs is like getting rid of racism by dissolving the five (say) states with the worst records.
As a gifted student some fifty years ago in a school with no tracking, I doodled, I read other books, I wrote letters, I got in trouble for setting a bad example for other students, and I was thoroughly bored. Basically I occupied a seat until I aged out of that school system into university.
Fast forward some four decades. As a math teacher in a district with a small-groups-are-everything curriculum, I put in lots of extra time with the slowest learners and those without adequate background. This effort is necessary and fulfilling. But one of the saddest complaints I ever heard came from a student who would have been identified as gifted, had she been in another school district. “Why do I always wind up doing the explaining? When do I ever get to work with other students who think like I do? Who would work at my speed and challenge me to work at theirs? When?” Good question. Federal laws require additional support for students who struggle; no laws ensure that gifted or talented students get an education appropriate for them.
Getting rid of the inequities within gifted programs means addressing and fixing the identification and admission processes, not getting rid of the academics.

]]> By: Sidney Hecker https://hechingerreport.org/getting-rid-of-gifted-trying-to-teach-students-at-all-levels-together-in-one-class/comment-page-1/#comment-19378 Wed, 14 Oct 2020 23:36:51 +0000 https://hechingerreport.org/?p=61640#comment-19378 The Southside example is encouraging and heartwarming. This is how most schools should operate – because it brings out the best possible educational results from all students and gives less advantaged students a way in to the “rights of passage” of those who had a stronger start.

I’m also proud of Mr. Hecker – he’s my son.

Sidney Hecker
Mamaroneck, NY

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