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I don't know that it is. I think we all accept on some level that some people are more advanced and some aren't. What I think people take issue with is when get

I don't know that it is. I think we all accept on some level that some people are more advanced and some aren't. What I think people take issue with is when getting access to programs like this - that can drastically change the future of your child - has gatekeeping and politics around it, and no "path" that every family can uniformly follow to get accepted into such a program. This is where most of the tension is.

psi75 4y ago
The issue is that while (a) society absolutely needs these programs, (b) they, by definition, can't be made available to everyone. Some people are going to get in, and some are not. No matter what we do, there are going to be results we don't like, both at an individual and aggregate level. For example, it has become fashionable in liberal circles to argue for abolishing the SAT because, while it is not intrinsically racist, its results reflect our racist society: people with less access to education and tutoring perform poorly, and this results in measurable racial disparities. Problem is, the world becomes even worse without it. Under our current regime, very few people from underprivileged backgrounds can get into college and advance, but without the SAT, almost no one would be doing so.
throwfh80h82 4y ago
Yeah I think the identification of "gifted" children is pretty imprecise and error prone. Also it's unclear the kids doing well (better than everyone else, I imagine) are the ones who'd most benefit from special treatment, versus the struggling kids.
- scarmig 4y ago
  I agree that a binary gifted/nongifted is not really descriptive of reality or useful. No kid should get special treatment; every kid should get treatment appropriate to their level. It's not even strictly speaking a matter of resources: you don't need fancy equipment to teach a more advanced class. It does mean you need more teachers and a larger school, so that people can be placed into classes of roughly equal levels of ability.
  - candiodari 4y ago
    Then there's only 1 solution: 1 teacher per child. Half that would make the education budget exceed the total tax income of the state ... Or put differently: for this suggestion we can't pay. And we choose not to pay for even mild improvements to the current situation.

psi75 4y ago

The issue is that while (a) society absolutely needs these programs, (b) they, by definition, can't be made available to everyone. Some people are going to get in, and some are not. No matter what we do, there are going to be results we don't like, both at an individual and aggregate level. For example, it has become fashionable in liberal circles to argue for abolishing the SAT because, while it is not intrinsically racist, its results reflect our racist society: people with less access to education and tutoring perform poorly, and this results in measurable racial disparities. Problem is, the world becomes even worse without it. Under our current regime, very few people from underprivileged backgrounds can get into college and advance, but without the SAT, almost no one would be doing so.

throwfh80h82 4y ago

Yeah I think the identification of "gifted" children is pretty imprecise and error prone. Also it's unclear the kids doing well (better than everyone else, I imagine) are the ones who'd most benefit from special treatment, versus the struggling kids.

scarmig 4y ago
I agree that a binary gifted/nongifted is not really descriptive of reality or useful. No kid should get special treatment; every kid should get treatment appropriate to their level. It's not even strictly speaking a matter of resources: you don't need fancy equipment to teach a more advanced class. It does mean you need more teachers and a larger school, so that people can be placed into classes of roughly equal levels of ability.
- candiodari 4y ago
  Then there's only 1 solution: 1 teacher per child. Half that would make the education budget exceed the total tax income of the state ... Or put differently: for this suggestion we can't pay. And we choose not to pay for even mild improvements to the current situation.