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California's most neglected group of students: the gifted ones

(www.latimes.com)
412 points tafda | 1 comments | 26 Nov 24 16:53 UTC | HN request time: 0.2s | source
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hintymad ◴[26 Nov 24 18:19 UTC] No.42248325[source]▶
Did anyone check the course material of the gifted programs? My honest assessment is that even students in a gifted class are not necessarily challenged. For instance, the math problems of 6th-grade gifted class on negative integers are something like "calculate -1 - (-2)". In contrast, an easiest problem when I was in the same grade would be something like "N is a negative even number, and K is a non-negative odd number. What is the smallest value of K - N". My point is not to brag how challenging my school work can be, but that most kids need careful nurturing to maximize their potential. It really pains me to see that so many kids squander their time just because the schools do not do their jobs.
replies(1): >>42275942 #
1. tstrimple ◴[29 Nov 24 18:35 UTC] No.42275942[source]▶
In my experiences with them, prior to high school they just amount to a few additional worksheets on top of existing assigned work. In elementary school, my girls were pulled out for about an hour a day to go to another room for their "advanced" classes. There was no advanced instruction. Just more math worksheets. It's not really until high school where you have real AP classes that involve actual teaching and not just isolation from the rest of the kids. My experience was much the same, but I actively didn't have friends so enjoyed the isolation at the cost of a few worksheets. They did nothing to actually help us "advance" though.