Where is the

Should we have a gifted program? YES, a gifted program is necessary to help students who need it

ETHAN WILLICK opinions editor

Agifted program at the high school is necessary for two reasons: it provides a format of education that some students need, and it is against the law to not have one.

There are students in need of a gifted program, and it is important to clarify that a gifted program is not a reward. In fact, many states consider it a special needs program rather than an advanced program. “I am very clear about referring to the classroom as an intervention class because that helps to separate it from, ‘Hey this is a fun elective,’ to, ‘There are pretty specific things that we are trying to do,’” Ladue Middle School gifted teacher Kathleen Mercury said. Gifted kids struggle to connect with other people, get motivated and focus. Because of this, Mercury believes a high school gifted class would need to emphasize choice, goal setting and individual pursuits of students’ interests. In addition, it is illegal for the high school to not have a gifted program. There is a law in Missouri stating that high school classes for gifted kids must meet the current Missouri definition for giftedness, including a “competent professional evaluation.” Advanced classes do not count toward this requirement. This is especially notable because, “In high school, honors and AP classes are thought by some to meet the needs of gifted kids,” Mercury said. “But, there’s no evidence to show that really is the case.”

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education does not actively regulate this law, so it is up to individual schools to self-enforce. There are several ways to make a gifted program work at the high school level. Local school districts like Parkway and University City have high school programs.

“Whether it’s a gifted resource office or actual gifted classes, there are a lot of different models that could work,” Mercury said.

The high school could incorporate gifted classes without needing to hire many new staff by implementing scheduled classes during seminar or simply providing a gifted resource office for students.

LADUEPUBLICATIONS.COM OPINIONS 17 B ritish philosopher and Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell once said, “It’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted,” and now is the time that we must hang a question mark on the concepts of the intelligence quotient and the concept of gifted programs.

The logic may be intuitive that placing gifted students in a separate class suited to their needs is beneficial; however, the very ideas of IQ and intelligence should be examined here. Any reasonable analysis of IQ tests will conclude that the tests oversimplify what intelligence actually is.

Steve Connor, science editor for The Independent, writes that, “IQ tests have been used for decades to assess intelligence, but they are fundamentally flawed because they do not take into account the complex nature of the human intellect.”

IQ tests attempt to objectively measure intelligence when such a thing is not actually possible. Out of the numerous qualities that make up intellect, it only measures a few of them. The idea that some students can be considered “gifted” and others not based off a single test is absurd.

“It has always seemed to be odd that we like to call the human brain the most complex known object in the universe, yet many of us are still prepared to accept that we can measure brain function by doing a few so-called IQ tests,” Roger Highfield, co-author of the study “Fractionating Human Intelligence,” said.

These flawed ideas of who is “intelligent” enough to get into a gifted program are destructive towards education. Misuse of labels such as the term gifted encourage fixed mindsets about learning, and those who don’t qualify are discouraged from thinking they can perform as well as their gifted peers when they certainly can. Because of these fundamental flaws with IQ tests and its effects, a gifted program would do more harm than good. ALLEN YOU staff writer NO, a gifted program is unnecessary at the high school level