[Citizen Tom Paine]

It is a sad fact that our most gifted students, are not served by our public school system.

[massgopguy]

When I was in Elementary School in the 1960’s there was a program called Master Workshop. It was for kids that were too smart to be wallowing in regular public schools. We speak of that program, only in the past tense.

[CPT Clay]

I know, I ‘ve got one.

[mysterio]

It is a sad fact that our most gifted students, are not served by our public school system.

Not true. I went to public schools, and I was pulled out of general study courses in first grade along with others in my class who were deemed "gifted." Our group continued to be placed in more challenging courses every year until graduation. I suspect most schools do this.

[mathluv]

They weren’t even before No Child. No Child just requires teachers to actually teach.

[subterfuge]

It is a sad fact that our most gifted students, are not served by our public school system.

I've got news for you. The 'ungifted' aren't being served either. And besides, nowadays they classify any student above a C average as 'gifted.' My 18 yo just graduated HS this year and through her whole career the public and private schools she attended catered almost exclusively to the "gifted" students.

[cinives]

They used to be. It was called “tracking”. The PC government schools won’t allow that now.

In fact, slower students are well-served by tracking.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

My schools (in South Georgia) during the 60s had a practice of grouping kids according to abilities in most of their classes, this was especially true starting in Junior High through High School. Even in the elementary school, we had classes with the bluebirds, redbirds and blackbirds. I was bluebird (the best). In Junior High, I was put into a high English, Algebra, and Science class, but for some reason, for History (my favorite subject) I was in a class with no grouping. My History teacher recognized a few of us needed more, so we got extra reading assignments, etc. Still, class was a real bore. High School generally went like this, grouping was common, and particularly when you elected Chemistry, Physics, Geometry, Trig, Advanced Government, you were in classes with college bound students (Back then only about 25% went to college). I did have a sociology class that was not grouped, and it was another downer.
Do the public schools group? I realize that the grouping is natural with courses like Physics, Chemistry, Trig, etc.

[spacewarp]

You’ve got that right. My son, the brightest in his class by far, is bored stiff in class. They want him to write 4 sentances no more than 5 words long. He’s bored. He tried writing one of his papers one day and was told he couldn’t do that and wasn’t allowed. His paper (as a 6 year old first grader) was about one of his favorite made up stories. It started out with “Jasper the bunny and his friends Luke and Sylvester were travelling by the beautiful stream looking for their friend Oreo, who was lost.” The teacher told him he couldn’t use that, and threw his work out. After that, he refused to do his work. Now, my ex-wife has him on 3 different medications including Ritalin and an Anti-depressant and Anti-anxiety med. The kid is just bored. He’s NOT a mess, but she’s bound and determined to make him into a basket case.

Paul