Gifts Special Needs and Issues - The Status Of Our Gifted Students

In 1972, U.S. Commissioner of Education, Sidney P. Marland Jr., made this statement in a report to Congress on the state of education for the gifted and talented: "Gifted and talented children are those identified by professionally qualified persons who by virtue of outstanding abilities are capable of high performance. These are children who require differentiated educational programs and/or services beyond those normally provided by the regular school program in order to realize their contribution to self and society."

Just how many students are gifted? The Marland Report went on to estimate that gifted students make up 3 to 5% of the student population, and these gifts and talents could appear in many forms: general intellectual ability (high IQ scores), skills in a particular academic field, leadership ability, excellence in the arts, and creative thought (putting ideas together in innovative ways to develop meanings with social merit). The U.S. Department of Education and the National Association of Gifted Children estimate that 5% of the general population are gifted. An additional 3% are academically talented.

We seem to recognize exceptional children when we seem them: the child who reads at an early age, can solve math problems or exhibits artistic talents above the level of his or her age group. Giftedness cannot be taught. Nor is intellect its only marker. In the early 1900s, Lewis Terman began a longitudinal study of 1,500 children with IQs above 140. He noted that giftedness was a complex combination of intellect, emotions, and perception. He wrote in 1905: "Heroic effort is made to boost every child just as near to the top of the intellectual ladder as possible. … Meanwhile the child's own instincts and emotions … are allowed to wither away." A century later, we're still arguing about improving education and holding children to high standards.

But what kind of education are gifted students getting? Often they get what all others do too. Topics aren't covered in sufficient depth. The material isn't challenging enough. In one study, nearly half of elementary schools had to eliminate their curriculum when it was discovered that most students already knew the material. Specialized programs are only available a few hours a week. More troubling is the fact that our brightest may lack support. Some people see programs for the gifted as elitist. In a recent Gallup Poll, 61% said schools should do more to provide educational opportunities for gifted youngsters. 35% said nothing should change. And 2% said schools should do less to support the gifted. 84% of respondents said they support special funding for gifted students. 16% frowned on such a plan.

What kind of funding do gifted programs get? The Bush administration is planning to repeal funding for the only program specifically aimed at educating the gifted. The Jacob J. Javits Gifted and Talented Education Program received only $11.2 million in grants for fiscal year 2002, a drop in the bucket in a $46.7 billion education budget. The funds would be rolled into block grants for states which may actually mean increased dollars for gifted students. But advocates for the gifted aren't so sure. They point out that a program aimed at the gifted has tremendous symbolic value.

Educating the gifted has always been left up to the states. But standards are inconsistent. Not every state collects data on its gifted students. According to the National Association for Gifted Students, only 32 states have mandates to identify gifted students and 29 provide gifted education programs. Funding varies as well. Texas spent $56 million on gifted education. Massachusetts spent $437,970. That works out to $179 per student in Texas, $6 in Massachusetts. Other than a trip to a museum, what kind of education will $6 bring the young people of Massachusetts?

What should be our answer to the gifted? Should we challenge them or let them rise by their own merits?

Source: Chart: figures come from National Center for Education Statistics and each state's Department of Education. Current data is for 2000, except for Texas (1998) and Illinois (1999); Goldberg Goff, Karen. "More Choices For Gifted." The Washington Times, October 14, 2001, p. 1. Lewis Terman quote from Delisle, James R. "Neither Freak Nor Geek: The Gifted Among Us." Education Week, October 27, 1999, p. 1. Lisa Fine. "Advocates Say Bill Leaves Gifted Students Behind." Education Week, June 13, 2001, p. 1. National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent, retrieved http://www.ed.gov; "Giftedness and the Gifted: What's It All About?" retrieved from http://www.kidsource.com.