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[quote=Anonymous]Profoundly gifted is usually considered to be an IQ of 160+, but it's usually thought of as encompassing more than just what's measured as a high IQ. If you think of it in terms of standard deviations on the IQ test, PG kids are as far apart from average 100-IQ kids as intellectually-impaired kids with an IQ of 40.

You will not usually get grade-skipping in either public or private school for bright, high-achieving children capable of working two grades ahead during the elementary-school years. This is the cohort for which tends not to remain significantly ahead by the middle-school years, as a significant amount of this high achievement is often driven by an optimized/enriched environment in high-SES families.

There is solid evidence that acceleration -- preferably subject-matter acceleration, but where necessary, whole-grade acceleration -- is beneficial for children who are PG. Such children are often more at ease with their intellectual peers (older children) than they are with children their own age. They may exhibit a maturity and inner life that is more consistent with those older children than with their peers (though they may have some specific aspects in which they remain age-appropriate or even immature). The evidence says that whole-grade acceleration actually, contrary to popular opinion, does [i]not[/i] lead to worse social/emotional outcomes, [i]when acceleration is properly implemented[/i].

For whole-grade acceleration, the evidence-based recommendation is that the best approach is to allow the child to start K early -- i.e. with the next cohort up. In most cases, depending on the child's birthdate, they may not be hugely younger than the other kids in their class (especially if there's no rampant redshirting). The key difference is that subject acceleration is often limited to just math, or just math and reading; children do other subjects, such as social studies and science, with their age peers. This is useful for keeping a child with their cohort, but leads to frustration when other subjects are taught at below the child's intellectual ability. (Imagine telling a high schooler to stay engaged in a class with a third-grade science class. They're going to be bored and think it's a waste of their time, right?)

However, PG children may be reading at at 6th grade level or more by K -- they're not just a grade or two ahead. This doesn't mean they comprehend everything they read, as they might not have the general background to understand the context of what they're reading, nor the emotional maturity to understand the motivations of adults in a story. But, for instance, they might be capable of reading and understanding high school science textbooks.

Nysmith says they're able to accommodate math acceleration of up to four grades. Reading they say they can do as well, but when we spoke to them, acceleration in non-math subjects seemed to be much more nebulous, whereas in math it was clearly structured and routine. Nysmith does not do whole-grade acceleration. It seems more geared towards studious high-achievers than quirky highly and profoundly gifted kids.

Feynman is willing to accommodate fairly arbitrary levels of math and reading acceleration, and they are also willing to consider whole-grade acceleration for children that they believe would benefit from an older peer group, and a higher "baseline" level of work (for instance, the children do science with their age-peer group). They clearly "get it" when dealing with gifted, not just high-achieving bright, children, who may be highly quirky and asynchronous, with profound strengths as well as possibly profound weaknesses.[/quote]

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