Too often the child's enthusiasm and motivation are stifled by persons more interested in seeing that he conforms to accepted patterns. Currently an adviser for Parents magazine, she has written extensively about the importance of special classes for gifted students. Rangel says that when she taught high school she arranged writing classes for gifted students after school and would scrounge for material for her students who surpassed the regular curriculum. They were delighted just to be noticed. And Rangel says she has seen firsthand what a lack of stimulation can do to a gifted student.
Some students become depressed and disinterested when they reach the ceiling of their learning.
They get bored and can become troublemakers. These programs are important because they give gifted children a chance to meet and interact with each other, an experience they may not get during the regular school year. While some students may balk at going to school in the summertime, more than 90,000 students take placement tests through the CTY talent search to get a spot in one of the coveted summer programs. Most of the students who end up at the CTY test in the 97th percentile or higher in standardized tests given at their schools, such as the Iowa test of Basic Skills or the Connecticut Test of Basic Skills. It helps us determine if this a student at the top of their grade level or if it's someone who could handle college-level classes.