Labeling kids as gifted and talented can make some feel great; however, it can be degrading for others.
For years, we have labeled children who excel in school as “gifted and talented.” While this may sound like a good thing, it might not truly be the best title to give to young students. This can be especially demeaning for those around them who dont receive this tag.
Kentucky officially began designating gifted children as a category of exceptional students in 1990. This required districts to identify and serve them with formal identification processes, and K-12 services to evolve under the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). Subsequent regulations, including specific mandates, started in the 2001-2002 school year.
If students from Kindergarten to third grade show signs of academic acceleration, they will be enrolled in the primary talent pool. Here, their academics are closely monitored until they take a placement test in third grade. If they score well enough, they will then be categorized into either being gifted and talented (GT) in either general intellectual, specific academic, creative/divergent thinking, leadership, or visual/performing arts. In the upcoming years, they will be placed in specific classes and groups that meet their academic needs. The student will then remain in the GT program until they graduate from high school.
But, is this really the best way to recognize academic excellence? Studies show that an estimated three million U.S. public school students are enrolled in gifted programs. However, those who get in and those who get left out often come down to race, income, and disability status. Imagine there is a child who lives closer to the poverty line, and a child in the upper middle class who performs the same academically. The child of upper middle class is almost twice as likely to receive GT services. This has created complaints across the country.
This makes us question if GT is truly the best title if we are constantly leaving out those who truly deserve it. Being placed into gifted programs at such a young age can be confusing. It makes students ask questions like Raheem M from GBW High School. In a prompt from The New York Times, students were asked their opinions on the GT programs.
“It can make people feel bad for not being a part of them, it can cause unneeded stress in kids who shouldn’t really be worried about their academics yet, and beyond that, it can isolate people socially or cause inferiority complexes in them,” Raheem said.
Those who aren’t chosen for GT can feel less than those who are. Especially at such a young age. I was a part of the gifted and talented program at my elementary school, and it always made me feel out of place. In fourth grade, I remember about 5 other students and I, who were chosen to do math class on our laptops, away from the rest of the class, because we were “accelerating” at math. This personally made me feel like an outcast from my friends. Often leaving me wondering why I was chosen for this? I felt the need to constantly outperform to meet the standard they held for us.
Overall, gifted and talented programs across the nation leave students feeling confused, stressed, and left out. There is no reason to hold students this young to such a high standard. Schools really need to consider how this affects youth before placing them in special programs.
