What are the components of a great "gifted program"?

Question

Should it be limited to the truly brilliant, or every one above average (top 50%) or the top twenty percent?

Should it focus on accelerating learning, or enriching basic curriculum?

Should the gifted students be in a complete program, or just one class with everything else on level?

Any other comments?

Answer 1

As a parent of a profoundly gifted child, I would say limit it to the top 20%, or even less.

A combination of accelerated learning, compacting and telescoping, and enrichment would be ideal.

In a perfect world, each child would be allowed to work at the grade levels of their ability, even if it's asynchronous.  They should also be allowed individual pacing.  Mixed-age classrooms would be the best.

In two school districts, in two states, we have not found any gifted program in a brick and mortar school that fits our son, so as we've done the past five years, we will continue homeschooling him, as the school district recommended when he was 4 (in their preschool) and 7 (when they tested him for IQ & academic achievment).

Until B&M schools can "get it together", we will continue HS'ing, as do families of other gifted children.

Answer 2

I am in the gifted program at my school, and have been since grade 1.  In the Region of Peel (Ontario, Canada), you have to be in the 98th percentile to be admitted, and I think that is a good number.  We do accelerated learning sometimes, but mostly focus on enriching the curriculum, and looking at things more in depth, and from a different level.  We always have really interesting projects going on.  I will always remember the year where my teacher rewarded us for good deeds or excellent answers with monopoly money, then a few times a year we would make products to sell in a little shop to the rest of the school.  We used our monopoly money to buy other students' things.  After the sale my teacher would bring in a bunch of things like tickets to the movies, notebooks, and other prizes and we would use our money to buy raffle tickets.  We all went home feeling accomplished and with a small prize.

I also really enjoy the fact that you have a smaller class, and stay with the people in your class for many years.  It is much more productive, and better for the students to be in an isolated classroom.  That way there can be many more enrichments than if they were in a once a week type of program.  

I am in a high-school enhanced program now and am enjoying it so much. Whenever I have an open class with enhanced and academic students it is extremely frustrating.  My school has a very large population of gifted students so there isn't any discrimination towards us (we make up a third of the school).

I hope this helps you!