All of this is true, but I don't think getting rid if gifted programs is the answer. I think adding curriculum on to help shore up these weak spots is a better answer.
Where I went to school there were advanced math courses available in high school if you did well enough in elementary school to get into them. However, rather than teach these students in advanced classrooms, they were simply shuffled into the regular classroom for older students. This meant the material was taught at a phase the average student could handle, and explained accordingly. Upon reaching our senior year, and being in our own class for the first time since middle school, these students began to learn calculus 1. Firstly, no one was prepared for calculus 1, as precalcus at our school was not really taught to adequately prepare students for calculus 1, and secondly, many students weren't prepared for classwork being hard.
And I, with my personal history having prepared me for stress and struggle, watched...
... some of my peers buckle under it. Many of my classmates were straight A's students from affluent families. So, for many of these students, this was literally the first time they struggled to do something they believed mattered. One girl literally sat in class and cried over a failed test. It was a classroom full of very stressed 17 year olds that fall. Our school guidance counselor came in to speak with us one day about stress management.
Regardless of the value of actually knowing calculus (minimal in most classes) and the fact that, due to not having college credit and a history of student failure most colleges wouldn't actually let these students jump.to calcus 2 (a fact I think has more to do with calcus 2 than the shortfalls of the high school curriculum, having taken calculus 1 and 2 in college) I still believe this was one of the more valuable classes offered at my school. Because it gave something to struggle with in a safe environment to struggle.
Debatable. Look at many of the worlds politicians, actors, sports stars, business leaders, sports stars etc. Many show patterns of poor emotional adjustment, stress management, etc. many are literal sociopaths. Many are “happy” and certainly
Successful- even if their maladjustment tends to bring them avoidable personal issues. So in modern society- you are rewarded for your ability to produce above all. If you’re good enough at something you can literally get away with murder.
Where I went to school there were advanced math courses available in high school if you did well enough in elementary school to get into them. However, rather than teach these students in advanced classrooms, they were simply shuffled into the regular classroom for older students. This meant the material was taught at a phase the average student could handle, and explained accordingly. Upon reaching our senior year, and being in our own class for the first time since middle school, these students began to learn calculus 1. Firstly, no one was prepared for calculus 1, as precalcus at our school was not really taught to adequately prepare students for calculus 1, and secondly, many students weren't prepared for classwork being hard.
And I, with my personal history having prepared me for stress and struggle, watched...
Regardless of the value of actually knowing calculus (minimal in most classes) and the fact that, due to not having college credit and a history of student failure most colleges wouldn't actually let these students jump.to calcus 2 (a fact I think has more to do with calcus 2 than the shortfalls of the high school curriculum, having taken calculus 1 and 2 in college) I still believe this was one of the more valuable classes offered at my school. Because it gave something to struggle with in a safe environment to struggle.
Successful- even if their maladjustment tends to bring them avoidable personal issues. So in modern society- you are rewarded for your ability to produce above all. If you’re good enough at something you can literally get away with murder.