Gifted programs must be removed from school districts. Being gifted is such a heavy label to think about. When labeling someone as gifted, they are instantly seen as perfect beings with no capacity to make mistakes. If an education system’s main goal is to support students, then the term gifted should not be used to label and single out individuals.
Gifted students are found through standardized tests done in early years of education. In my case, I took the COGAT (The Cognitive Abilities Test, a standardized test for K-12 used to estimate students learning capabilities) in kindergarten, and when the scores came back it felt like I had a new status in my class. I started learning about conjunctions while my classmates were still cutting paper and I felt great about it. It felt like I was special, and I adored that feeling. However, as a kid, I had several behavioral issues, and I was often found in the principal’s office being reprimanded for my constant disobedience. This all led to one singular event where I had finally reached my principal’s breaking point. She looked me in the eyes and asked me, “You have so much potential. Wfhy don’t you act like it?” Even now, in high school, her words still stuck with me. I am a gifted kid, and anything I do that is not ‘gifted’, is a waste of my potential. I become a ‘regular’ kid every time I show a side of me that does not display brilliance.
The National Association for Gifted Students defines giftedness as, “Students with gifts and talents perform—or have the capability to perform—at higher levels compared to others of the same age, experience, and environment in one or more domains.” In theory, making gifted programs is an amazing idea. It provides a way for children to be challenged and gain more from their educational experience. However, this often backfires due to the perceptual set of gifted kids that most educators have.
Firstly, gifted kid selection is biased amongst certain races. The Hechinger Report states, “Nearly 60 percent of students in gifted education are white,” according to the most recent federal data, compared to 50 percent of public-school enrollment overall. Black students, in contrast, made up 9 percent of students in gifted education, although they were 15 percent of the overall student population.” This organization and division of students into gifted programs clearly indicates a bias towards labeling white students as gifted rather than black students. Black gifted students will not be given an equal educational experience to their white counterparts if this bias continues. Because this selection process is biased, the intentions of gifted programs become useless as they do not service the whole student body.
Another reason why gifted programs are unhelpful is because they place unnecessary labels on students. Being labeled as gifted is seen as a compliment and while it is special to have this label, it is also incredibly constraining. The term gifted should be discussed with nuance as it holds an incorrect definition in the public, that gifted people are geniuses. This box puts gifted students on a pedestal and any mistake they make feels amplified.
Supporters of gifted programs often state that they challenge students and allow them to delve deeper into subjects. This is incorrect because often, students are too challenged which limits their progression and advancement of subjects. Education Corner states, “Expectations play a huge role in how parents treat their children. Parents sometimes push children too hard if they think they are gifted. Additionally, if parents expect a student to be able to easily complete their work, they may be unsympathetic if they struggle in a specific area.”
Gifted programs are meant to challenge students, however, pushing a child too much creates anxiety and other mental health concerns. In fact, The National Library of Medicine states, “By contrast, empirical studies comparing the prevalence of psychological problems between gifted and non-gifted youth generally do not seem to confirm such negative stereotypes. Overall, these studies did not find indications that high cognitive ability would increase risks for psychological maladjustment; if any, differences were usually in favor of the intellectually gifted.”
At the end of the day, gifted programs need to be extremely modified or removed all together. Varying abilities and biases of all kinds limit gifted students heavily. Being burdened with mental health issues because a school thinks they are equally serving your population is not okay. Schools should be setting students up for success and for gifted students, gifted programs do not do that.
