The Downside of Being Labeled Gifted

[Anonymous]

Gifted students will be labeled whether or not parents or teachers label them. Other students label them. The other students know who the truly gifted are just as they know which atheletes are gifted.

[Anonymous]

Taking students very similar to each other and creating vastly different educational experiences, and outcomes creates a rift in society that is no short of evil.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Taking students very similar to each other and creating vastly different educational experiences, and outcomes creates a rift in society that is no short of evil.

I'm not sure which ES/ESs yuo're referring to, but our experience at our ES is not like that. Which one is representative?

[Anonymous]

I'm from abroad and we don't have gifted programs or AAP or different level. The curriculum is challenging to most. The few who can't keep up, can make it up in summer school or repeat that grade. The truly smart one can do 2 years of learning in 1 year. I remember only one student being moving up because it's not easy even for the smartest. There were several children who repeated a year or 2.
Seems like the regular curriculum here is quite easy for above average kids, and ofcourse parents want the kids put into that program. The rigorous program is called gifted and now all feel they are very special.
I truly believe your AAP equals the regular program many other countries have at all schools fora all students.
I work with young people from all over the world, and it still amazes me the things American kids don't know. Don't ask the anything about literature, chemistry, geography or history. They also can't calculate percentages or speak another language. The curriculum here sucks, and I declare my kid gifted and he better be put into AAP.

[Anonymous]

No kidding. I know a half dozen "gifted" kids with good college degrees, some with graduate degrees, who can't hold jobs and are struggling in their mid 30s. They are so convinced of their superiority that they can't or won't get along with others or take entry level jobs.

[Anonymous]

There was recently a posting by a woman with a 10-week infant who said the child was developmentally ahead of the curve. It made me laugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taking students very similar to each other and creating vastly different educational experiences, and outcomes creates a rift in society that is no short of evil.

I'm not sure which ES/ESs yuo're referring to, but our experience at our ES is not like that. Which one is representative?

NP, but the PP probably is referring to the process wherein one group of kids with test scores in the 90-98th percentile with school support is deemed gifted and is given access to AAP, whereas a group of kids who have the same or even better stats on paper are deemed "not potentially gifted", based on a subjective 5 minute assessment of that child's file. I agree with the PP that the whole process of identifying children for AAP is subjective and pretty inconsistent.

That being said, I'll give an unpopular viewpoint here that for the majority of kids in AAP, it honestly wouldn't have mattered whether they did AAP or whether they did Level III pullouts + highest reading group + advanced math at the base school. Advanced math is the same as AAP math, Level III pull outs can be small group and every bit as involved as AAP projects, and kids at the base school have many more opportunities for leadership and academic teams. So the whole bit about "vastly different educational experiences and outcomes" is a huge exaggeration.

[Anonymous]

My child is in AAP and we don’t consider him gifted. He is often challenged and AAP Level IV has been humbling to him.

DH and I both have advanced degrees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No kidding. I know a half dozen "gifted" kids with good college degrees, some with graduate degrees, who can't hold jobs and are struggling in their mid 30s. They are so convinced of their superiority that they can't or won't get along with others or take entry level jobs.

I was always told that I was smart and gifted. Went to a magnet high school and Ivy League schools. Always felt quite average amongst fellow smart people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No kidding. I know a half dozen "gifted" kids with good college degrees, some with graduate degrees, who can't hold jobs and are struggling in their mid 30s. They are so convinced of their superiority that they can't or won't get along with others or take entry level jobs.

But you don't believe that being gifted is a disability or can come with issues. Indeed, you're using their example as a way of saying that GT programs are unnecessary.