With a generation of “gifted and talented” students now stepping into adulthood, the concept of “Gifted Child Syndrome” – seen in individuals raised with too many expectations and now dealing with burnout or disappointment – has popped into the common vernacular.
I get it. I was one of those kids, with the college reading level and all the world’s potential resting on my little 8-year-old shoulders. It was a lot of pressure to deal with at such a young age.
But here’s the thing about those gifted child programs; the way those kids were chosen didn’t necessarily have much to do with how “gifted” they were, and the ones who were most negatively affected were probably the ones passed over.
There is recent research that indicates that these programs disproportionately exclude students in minority groups, even in cases where the students should have been included. Black students alone were passed over at a rate of 63% to 74%.
In addition to racial biases playing into these decisions, class disparities may also have an impact. Research indicates that students from lower-income households face more struggles in the classroom. A student with no steady access to food or housing, or whose parents cannot provide additional enrichment, is operating under wildly different circumstances than their peers who come from higher-income families – a difference in classroom engagement is understandable.
Programs like these can have implications that reach far beyond elementary school; they set the tone for students’ whole educational careers.
My experience with advanced classes was that you really had to start early to get ahead throughout your whole education. I was chosen for “enrichment” classes in elementary school, which means I qualified to take middle school classes in elementary school, then high school classes in middle school, and so on until I graduated with a full semester of college credits out of my way.
This meant that I got to get a head start on higher-level courses, I had more enriching classes throughout my education, I got to really feel engaged by my school work. Beyond having more opportunities in the classroom, it made me feel like I was a capable, valued member of my school.
But what about the kids that weren’t chosen when they were in third or fourth grade? A system like that means that if you’re not chosen for that track early on, it’s harder to push your way into it because everyone on it is a step ahead of you. That exclusion and degradation of minority groups or low-income students are continually perpetuated throughout their time in school.
We need to really examine the ways that early education can set the tone for students’ lives. In situations where they should be getting support from their teachers and peers, disadvantaged students are being held back.
In my opinion, why separate students at all? If we have the resources to raise the standards of education and push students to succeed and achieve, why pick and choose which students get access? If we treat every child like they’re gifted, I think we might find that they are.