Resource: Some Parents Say Gifted Are ‘Left Behind’ in No Child Push

            This newspaper article from the Washington Post discusses the possible leaving of gifted children behind under No Child Left Behind.  The article focuses on a letter from a group of parents of gifted children to the Montgomery County (Maryland) School Board.  Their main complaint is that, despite policies, teachers have no incentive to actually include extension activities for gifted students in their curriculum, especially in low-income schools where meeting Annual Yearly Progress is more difficult.  Since AYP is all about passing tests, it can lead to a shift of focus towards low-achieving students.  The county cites a rise in AP and IB passing scores as evidence of an improving gifted program.  The model in use for gifted students in Montgomery is “flexible grouping,” in which students are grouped based on constant assessment into ability-level groups of about eight students.  The grouping can be differentiated for each subject area.  While there is some research supporting homogeneous groupings, especially for gifted students, I do not believe it is necessarily the best idea to separate the students from each other or to set different levels of expectations for each group of students.  I will make sure to give gifted students (and all students) a place in my classroom so that none feel left out.

Work Cited:

de Vise, Daniel.  “Some Parents Say Gifted Are ‘Left Behind’ in No Child Push.”

            Washington Post.  17 May 2007: GZ10.