The Edutopia Poll
by Sara Ring
As the No Child Left Behind Act forces schools to focus resources on underachieving students, some teachers and parents say schools are leaving their gifted kids behind. Limited funding means enrichment programs for gifted students have been scaled back or eliminated altogether. Advocates for the gifted contend that the education system is neglecting the needs of these students, and that, in the face of this neglect, grade advancement is the best way to alleviate the problem. A report by the University of Iowa argues that skipping a grade has a positive effect on students who are feeling bored and unchallenged at their prescribed grade level. But opponents believe that sending young kids into higher grades may harm them socially, and that all students benefit from interacting with classmates of varying abilities and talents. They emphasize that mentoring, special assignments, and single-subject acceleration are preferable to wholesale advancement into higher grades. Is skipping grades the best solution for exceptional kids? Tell us what you think!
Skipping a grade
Submitted by Linda Mackenzie (not verified) on July 14, 2008 - 21:38.
Unfortunately there is no perfect solution for any exceptionally gifted child. He or she will most likely not be on the same level emotionally and socially as academically. Even if that were the case, others would not perceive it as such, making it difficult for all involved. What a child like that needs is support in finding their own way. Passions for academics will only take a person so far. Understanding that everyone struggles in some area is especially important for them to know. Supporting the child into adulthood is critical so that socially he or she can grow at whatever his/her natural rate turns out to be. Keeping an exceptionally gifted child with same age peers will not take care of social/emotional development as there will be some degree of disconnect from same age peers because of the difference in academic interests and understanding. The exceptionally gifted child will be different and that needs to be acknowledged explicitly so that he/she won't feel there is something wrong with that difference.
This is a complex situation that isn't easily addressed in an either/or poll.
Gifted childen skipping a grade
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on May 19, 2008 - 08:42.
This decision should be made on an individual, case by case basis. The questions to answer are: What is the emotional IQ of the child and what support systems is the student willing/able to use with-in and outside the class room?
Skipping a grade
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on May 16, 2008 - 07:45.
Skipping a grade may have negative effects, but staying with your grade does as well. My parents said no to double or triple promoting me, and kept me with my grade level. I worked independently for math and language arts, so that I would be challenged. Staying with my grade didn't improve my social life. I was still awkward, thinking about things the other students weren't thinking about.
The hardest thing for me, was that I needed to learn how to work at things to succeed. I thought things came easily, if they didn't, it meant you were bad at it. (So I often didn't do work that I thought was too hard.) When I got to college, I saw a lot of students in the same position. Brilliant, but unable to study. And yes, still socially awkward, despite being with their peers. Perhaps its just as accurate to say that more mature students are better able to work with a young classmate, than equally mature peers who don't "get" a gifted child and their quirkiness.
Does skipping a grade help gifted students, or harm them?
Submitted by Karen (not verified) on May 16, 2008 - 06:12.
As the parent of a gifted child and a public school teacher as well, I have experienced this issue from all sides. But I still see a paradox. For a long time it has been considered fair, moral and respectful to eliminate grouping by ability, interest, talent, ethnicity and gender. High schools have eliminated tracks for college-bound and noncollege-bound students. While at the same time there is lots of hoopla over the magnet and charter schools for arts or math & science or vo-tech. (hippocracy?)
Why is it then that educational experts see no issues with grouping by age or something as arbitrary as date of birth? Why is age-based grouping of students acceptable or sacred compared to ability-based grouping? Most school systems have kindergarten entry cutoffs by date so that a child born a single day later than another is in a lower grade. Does that make any more sense than ability or interest grouping?
I do not believe age-based grouping is inherently better than any other kind of grouping. While both emotional and cognitive development go through predictable stages, the timing is not cast in stone; As an educator, I have seen mixed grouping significantly lower the efficiency of teaching and many of the issues facing education today really are due to lack of efficient and effective teaching and learning -- and that inefficiency is a great source of frustration for gifted learners.
As a public school teacher,
Submitted by Leslie (not verified) on May 26, 2008 - 15:21.
As a public school teacher, I have seen positive and negative effects of students skipping grades. I am a 2/3 teacher. As the beginning of the school year, I had a first grader coming to my class for reading and language arts. By January, he was in my 2/3 classroom the entire day. He was not being challenged in the K/1 classroom. He was reading on a 4th greade level and on a 3rd grade math level. By moving him to the 2/3 classroom. I was able to meet his needs and challenge him. If he would have stayed in the K/1 classroom, he could have become bored and not received the material needed to meet his individual needs.
I have also found that split classes can be very beneficial for students. All of our primary classes are split. There are K/1, 2/3, and even a 3/4 split.
Giftedness
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on May 15, 2008 - 11:18.
As it stands, the public school education offered in the US falls far below the international standards. There is a stigma attached to 'giftedness' as it implies snobbery or a better-than attitude. While this may be true for some, as a parent of a gifted child I know my concern is for his overall wellbeing and find it challenging to advocate for his needs without being perceived as someone who places academic intelligence as an indicator of someone's value.
The truth is though, that our children spend most of their days in school throughout the year. It is their 'job.' If you were unchallenged by your work environment year after year, would you be happy? Would that encourage you to pursue what you were working on or turn you off?
I have a nine year old child who has tested out of high school in all the national achievement tests. He is currently in third grade and his school feels it is appropriate that he go to sixth grade next year. They don't have a gifted program and as a single parent I don't have the money for a private school or even to pay the rent in a school district that has a gifted pull-out program. I have resisted skipping him until now because I don't want to take away the innocence of his childhood. I've also thought that it would be pushing him when really, as a nine year old, he just needs to grow up:) But I do think I've made a mistake. I don't think it is entirely fair of me to put my fears ahead of his needs.
I'm aware that if he's tested out of high school, sixth grade isn't going to make a huge difference over fourth. But, he's socially and emotionally mature, physically confident and tall and now feels isolated from his peers. I guess, if I had a child who was ten years behind where he was supposed to be I would have no trouble keeping him back if he needed extra help. The school would have no trouble helping him! There is nothing out there for gifted kids in public school.
I'm also pretty sure that if children at who learned at grade level were made to stay in a were all taught curriculum that they had already mastered, year after year, they and their parents would also be frustrated.
Single parent considering garde skipping for gifted student
Submitted by colleen (not verified) on May 16, 2008 - 08:46.
Consider looking for a scholarship to an appropriate school. Look at the Davidson Foundation and the Bradley Foundation. Check out private schools for gifted students who may be glad to provide a site scholarship for you child. Good luck!
Skipping a grade
Submitted by Media Specialist and Mom (not verified) on May 15, 2008 - 08:58.
I work with people of all ages. I have friends of all ages. Why should it be different in school?
All three of my children skipped two grades each. They skipped different grades at different times in different situations and places. It was one way to customize their educations. Other modifications were done as well. I think that it worked for them. It was something they wanted to do.
Grade skipping
Submitted by Tanya (not verified) on May 14, 2008 - 20:38.
Truthfully, in a perfect world students would be challanged in their grade. My son is exceptionally brilliant (and it is quite frightening!) His current school's offering of 90 minutes of "gifted" instruction certainly was not going to be near enough. As a teacher I also know all the arguements on both sides. Fortunately for us I have signed on to teach at a brand new school who has an emphasis on gifted students. It is possible to focus on those students without shortchanging other students.
Several "professionals" have told me my son would be in college by 14. I'd rather not do that -- I'd rather him be challanged all the way through school and not have it easy. This new school will allow us to do just that!
But which grade?
Submitted by Sue Willis (not verified) on May 14, 2008 - 16:22.
Unfortunately, many gifted students are not equally gifted in all areas, making advancement without enrichment problematic. I had my son tested when he was in the first grade; he was doing math at a second-grade level but reading at a seventh-grade level! I really didn't know what to ask for (and the school wouldn't have accommodated him anyway).
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