re: The US is Neglecting its Smartest Kids (NPR Article)

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Modesty suits you bro.

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it's not about me. i went to a public high school in an urban area of the 49th best state to go to school. we also were 55/45 white/black

our gifted class produced something insane like 12, 30+ ACT sccores. more than that scored 30+ in math

for a louisiana public school that isn't a magnet with a segregated population like that, it's pretty insane

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Until then, Magnet programs and private schools are the best options for those kids.

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i don't think private schools are really suited for these kids, either

you have to go to like an elite private school or a thing like LSMSA

I remember getting in trouble because I figured out that our math teacher was giving out different tests, not to prevent cheating, which is what she claimed, but because she was giving certain students easier tests

The principal basically told me to keep my mouth shut

The smartest kids need neglecting. It's how they learn to be an asset and not a leech. It's exactly how I'm raising my kids. The less involved I am the more they try to get my attention by succeeding.

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Just 8.8 percent of U.S. students are classified as "high achievers" in mathematics, according to the most recent international assessments. That's well below the average of 12.6 percent for affluent nations.

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That's a problematic number, but I do think it could be somewhat deceptively influenced by the denominator.

In other words, other nations may not educate, and therefore test, the extent of the distribution of the student population, like the US does. So of you don't include the lowest, and a nation does, then the difference is somewhat artifical.

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when you have a group of gifted kids who have been together for years it can get really bad. my class was psychological hell. one 2 years after me was torture. our teachers would readily admit that they weren't as smart as us and they often grew paranoid b/c we could almost talk in code or make comments that seemed legitimate for the discussion but were really serious insults towards the teacher or other students.

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I experienced this in my senior AP English class. My group had been together since middle school, and we also happened to have two excellent teachers for 9,10,11 (same teach 9th and 11th). Those teachers favored critical thought and discussion about the literature we read and reviewed. My AP English teacher was constantly intimidated by us and our discussions. She was obviously not used to being questioned in class and would routinely get upset with us.

Thinking back, she probably had no business teaching AP classes.

In EBR for sure, the higher performing the school is, the less funding it receives.

But...

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the majority of "gifted" students are getting plenty of help and support at home, while the lower students are more than likely not

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I agree with this as well, but in some instances there might be a household with a gifted student and a poor performing student, and the poor performing student may get more time/money investment from the parent.

I experienced this growing up, actually. In elementary school, I was perceived as a model student -- never a behavior problem, good grades, tested into gifted, etc. My parents didn't need to help me with homework or have special conferences with my teacher or otherwise get the nitty gritty on what my school life was like -- particularly the effort I made and my study habits. In reality, I was lazy and never studied, but school was just easy for me. I tested well. My brothers weren't so lucky. They were smart, too, but had behavior/rebellious issues that got in the way. More visits to the school and paid tutoring sessions. My parents enforced studying time at home for them while I rode bikes with my friends.

It wasn't until high school that my lack of proper study habits and laziness caught up with me. Couldn't coast anymore, started making C's, and my parents thought I'd made some bad influence friends and studying fell by the wayside. They didn't know how to fix it, and I didn't know what the problem was until much later.

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My AP English teacher was constantly intimidated by us and our discussions. She was obviously not used to being questioned in class and would routinely get upset with us.

Thinking back, she probably had no business teaching AP classes.

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we had a REALLY young teacher try to teach us world geography when we were freshmen. she was an english teacher who had just gotten certified in gifted and her only other teaching experience was at johnson bayou (extremely small). we were fricking hell on her

It all depends on where you are I guess. Grew up in St. Gabriel just south of BR. If my parents hadn't been able to afford to send me to St. Jude and Catholic I would have had to go to East Iberville. Nowadays they have the Iberville MSA-East but growing the only public options were go to EI or lie about my home address and go to Dutchtown.