advanced school programs should be kept and expanded

Please, the debate was about the highly capable programs, not about where the money or focus should go. You make a strong argument with the fact that highly capable should be able to deal with boredom or bullying, however the students in this circumstance are not learning new material because they could understand what the assignment is three or four hours worth of explanation that the teacher gives the class. That is then a wasted three to four hours that child could spend learning new topics. My information is solid, as I am a highly capable student and our school is thinking of getting rid of the program because the class is exclusive to children who get higher grades. However, the grades are not the only thing that qualifies a child. It is the mental capacity to quickly understand and to think outside the box. Yes, the disabled children do need more focus towards their needs, but we (as a society) need to look at everyone"s needs because the "whiz kids" are also needing to be pushed ahead and challenged to get farther in their lives. If these kids are not challenged, they will think poorly of themselves and loose self-confidence. Then they will not believe the good that they could accomplish and they would never TRY. The highly capable children need to be recognized as not just the smartest kid in class, and they need an environment where all the kids are equally smart and then they will be challenged properly. ****************************************************** (1) Highly Capable Children Need Education Suited To Their Needs As the parent of two highly capable children, I am tired of hearing people complain about fairness of gifted programs. These are people who would abolish gifted programs because they feel that gifted programs provide better education than do regular programs. These people are right in wanting to improve the education provided in regular programs. But this can be done without destroying gifted programs, which have been shown to be successful at meeting the special educational needs of a very small minority of children. A goal of education should be to challenge each student at his/her own level. Parents of highly capable children do not want their children to receive better education than other children receive. They only want education that is appropriate to their children's special learning needs. Highly capable children represent the top 1 to 3 percent of the normal bell-shaped curve of learning ability. They learn differently, and their needs cannot be met in the regular classroom. My children were bored, unhappy and disruptive in regular classrooms, in spite of the outstanding efforts of excellent, caring teachers. In special classrooms where learning is suited to their needs, they are thriving. If gifted programs are abolished, as it appears that many would like, I would have to send my children to private school, which I cannot afford. I pay my taxes. Why shouldn't my public schools meet the needs of my children as they meet the needs of everyone else's children? Nobody would dare criticize education that meets the special needs of children at the other end of the normal bell-shaped curve, the "special education" students with learning disabilities. Do people criticize gifted programs because the term "gifted" is value-laden and generates resentment? If so, then let's change the name, and retain these successful programs for highly capable students. Highly capable students have great potential to become citizens who make tremendous contributions to society. Without appropriate education, these children are "at risk" for serious problems. It would be very short-sighted for us to stifle their intellectual and emotional development by forcing upon them an education that does not let them develop to their full potential. ************************************* (2) Traditionally, schools have sought to identify and nurture giftedness in those core areas for which they assume responsibility, namely, in intellectual or academic areas of accomplishment, since it is for students gifted in those areas that the school provides a poor fit (as opposed to irrelevant fit, as would be the case for a musically gifted student in a school that offered little music instruction). Note that a key aspect of the definition has to do with such goodness-of-fit comparing the student's accomplishment with others "of their age, experience, or environment . . . They require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the schools." ************************************* (3) Q. My daughter is bright, but I'm not sure she's highly capable. She seems happy at her school and has plenty of friends, but I wonder if she is really being challenged. A. Educational research indicates that many gifted girls go "underground" with their talents at an early age. They are often very socially aware and seek to fit in with other children their age rather than letting their true abilities shine through. Because they often don't exhibit the behaviors typically associated with boys who are not being adequately challenged, such as acting out or underachieving, parents and teachers may believe they don't require additional challenges or are simply hard workers and high achievers. Unfortunately, for these reasons, many highly capable girls are not given the opportunity to recognize their own potential and work at the level they are capable of. Seabury provides academically talented girls a place where it is safe to be smart and where their gifts are celebrated and nurtured. ************************************* (4) Good social adjustment, emotional maturity, and healthy self-concepts characterize the experience of many intellectually gifted children. Numerous studies have confirmed Terman's early finding that moderately gifted individuals tend to do well in school and to achieve success in later life (Gallagher, 1958; 1975; Hollingworth, 1942; Terman, 1925). Such life success is not automatic for the gifted, however, and depends to a great extent on environmental support. Even moderately gifted children are vulnerable to a variety of adjustment difficulties. As the degree of intellectual advancement increases, so does the child's risk of social maladjustment and unhappiness (Hollingworth, 1942; Terman, 1925; Terman & Oden, 1947; Tannenbaum, 1983). Children with unusually advanced intellectual development are uniquely vulnerable. Moreover, studies throughout the country have begun to document the fact that extraordinarily gifted children exist, at least in some cities, in larger numbers than would be expected on the basis of the normal curve. Studies at the University of Washington (Roedell, Jackson, & Robinson, 1980; Robinson, 1980), at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (Stanley, Keating, & Fox, 1974; Keating, 1976), and at the University of Denver (Silverman, in preparation) have all identified significant sub populations of highly gifted children. ************************************* (5) Highly capable children are often quite energetic. Although they might be cognitively ready for academics designed for older children, their bodies aren"t ready for a sit-still program. In addition, their ideas often outstrip their fine motor skills, and they need help writing down their amazing stories and project ideas. Occasionally gifted children become so immersed in activities such as reading or building with Legos, that they need adult guidance to get the exercise their bodies need. ************************************* (1)http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com... (2)http://www.state.gov... (3)http://www.seabury.org... (4)http://www.davidsongifted.org... (5)http://www.bellevuediscovery.org... Thank you for this debate. Please comment! :) Please note that this was my first debate and that I am passionate about this topic!