An excerpt

Adapted from a 13 page paper so forgive me the length.

It is really, really hard to be the “smart kid”. I realize this statement is unlikely to invoke sympathy in most readers, but I assure it is very true. From the day I entered school, I always felt different. More often than not, I was bored and extremely ill-at-ease. Contrary to popular belief, school is not a cake-walk for gifted students. The struggle to fit in socially is excruciating, and the typical methods of addressing the needs of gifted students merely exacerbate the problem My schooling addressed neither my social or academic needs. I was rarely challenged academically, and I was segregated socially.

Advanced learners are perhaps the least understood of students. When budgets and school plans are drawn up, services directed at advanced learners are often the first to be cut.

I have always been advanced in most academic categories, but I was an especially advanced reader. I was reading completely on my own at three years old. I have no conscious memory of learning to read. I do, however, have a clear memory of my first few days in kindergarten. The teacher began to show a short video about letter sounds, and I became really agitated internally. I was confused; I wondered why she would teach us about something we already knew, until I realized that I was the only one who already knew how to read.  I cannot begin to describe how isolated I felt at that moment. I have told friends that I felt like an alien. From that moment on, I intentionally hid that I was far ahead of my classmates. I discovered quiet ways to entertain myself while my teacher taught the class things I already knew. I successfully hid my intellect until second grade, when a perceptive teacher realized I was very far ahead of the class. My classmates were working on memorizing their times tables while I doodled. I am not sure of the exact set, but it was either multiples of 2 or 3.My teacher came over to me and asked why I wasn’t working on my times tables like the rest of the class. When I explained I already knew them, she told me to move on to the next set on the class chart. When I explained I knew them all, she began to quiz me quietly. That afternoon I was sent home with a letter advising that I should be tested for giftedness.

The gifted students were actually placed in their own wing of the school. I was more likely to interact with a gifted fifth grader than with a non-gifted peer of my own age. The feeling of being socially isolated because of my intellect was only heightened by this separation. On the bus, which was the only time I saw my “regular” schoolmates, I was often teased about being in the “special” wing of the school. My academic boredom was only slightly lessened in this classroom. I still wasn’t challenged, and I became increasingly bored with schoolwork. As hard as this was for me, the false curve created by this separation was probably worst for those who lagged behind the other students in the class. Despite the fact that these were clearly bright students, or they would not have been in the class, I watched these students develop a complex about being the “dumb ones” in our class. If they had had more interaction with their more typical peers, then they may have had a more honest self-image.

Not only my own personal experiences but scientific “research has proven that students need learning experiences appropriate for their abilities or else they will lose their motivation to learn” (Conklin 20). Conklin’s statement applies to the gifted and the disabled student alike. As with any group that differs from the norm, advanced learners have multiple roadblocks that impede their ability to reach their full potential.While all gifted students face challenges, there is a marked difference between boys and girls. Boys in elementary school, if they are not challenged, “tend to act up and be labeled as troublemakers” (Kutner 2). Schools will often address the problem behavior without really addressing the core issues behind the child’s behavior. However, this can also work in the male child’s favor. The extra attention may lead them to specialists who will identify the root cause of their behavior. Although I was identified as gifted, due to a perceptive teacher, most, “girls of that age …are likely to be highly cooperative” and are not recognized as gifted “even though [they need to put] very little effort into their work” (Kutner 2). This means that it is critical that schools make the effort to go beyond the surface and work extra hard to identify gifted students.  If the school district fails these students, then it fails society as a whole.

Perhaps the biggest misconception is that gifted learners do not need help academically. Because of their talents, many believe that these students will succeed no matter how much attention is directed at their education. This is a dangerous assumption that can lead school districts down a path that fails to address the needs of these students. No matter how bright a student is, that student will never learn without access to learning. Like any other student, gifted students need direction and assistance in order to learn. If one has never seen a book, then that person would never know how to read. This would not mean that person is not brilliant, just that that person has not been taught. Thus, all students need guidance in order to learn. Recently, the United States has faced a steady decline in math and science skills compared to other industrialized nations. If the needs of America’s brightest students are not addressed, then the US will continue to place lower and lower on the education scale.

Many gifted students lose all enthusiasm for the education process early on in their schooling. Often they are bored in class, and therefore desire to be removed from the drudgery of the classroom. This can become a real problem when students reach the high school or college level. Dr. Benbow states that “eventually, in college or graduate school, they’ll feel overwhelmed when they can’t just coast through courses anymore” (qtd. in Kutner 1). This can create an impulse to give up or quit among these students, potentially leading an extremely bright student to utterly fail to meet his or her potential.

I faced this very problem when I entered high school. Even though I had always been in accelerated courses, I was rarely challenged in elementary or middle school. I tested at a college reading level in the fifth grade. It is easy to see how I was able to succeed in my courses without really trying. When I was accepted into International Baccalaureate in high school, I completely fell apart. The program was college-level coursework, and I had no idea how to really apply myself to my education. I ended up dropping out of the program because I felt I could not handle the coursework. I realize now that I just had not developed the study skills necessary because my academic life prior to that had not challenged me enough. I missed out on a great academic opportunity because I didn't receive the necessary direction in elementary school.

My college education was long delayed. Many advanced learners delay or never attend college because their academic and social needs were not met in school. As a society, we cannot afford to lose our best and brightest minds because of a system that ignores or under serves gifted learners. The expense of creating separate classrooms is unnecessary and does not benefit gifted students. Gifted students should have their academic needs met in a program that addresses their social vulnerabilities and academic talents by either integrating their curriculum or advancing them to higher grade levels.

Cited in this excerpt: 

Kutner, Lawrence. “Parent and Child”. The New York Times, The New York Times, 2 July 1992, Web.2 April 2011.

Conklin, Wendy M.A. and Shelly Frei. Differentiating the Curriculum for Gifted Learners. Huntington Beach, CA: Shell Education, 2007. Print.