Motivating the Smart Kids

The September 27, 2004 issue of Time Magazine held a fascinating article, filled with nuggets that will make any educator sit back and ponder. In "Saving the Smart Kids," John Cloud asks what we are doing with our gifted students. No, not the gifted athletes, but the intellectually gifted kids.

Should schools permit students to skip grades to keep them intellectually stimulated and motivated to attend school?

Cloud points out that most educators seem to dislike the concept of skipping grades. Parents who see their kids as the next Einstein bear part of the blame.

In a recent paper "A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students," University of Iowa's Nicholas Colangelo points out "America's schools routinely avoid academic acceleration, the easiest and most effective way to help highly capable students. While the popular perception is that a child who skips a grade will be socially stunted, fifty years of research shows that moving bright students ahead often makes them happy."

The entire report, along with information about the authors is available at the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education at the University of Iowa web site.

The point to ponder is this:

In one study, 5% of the gifted students dropped out of school after eighth grade. Compare that to the 5.2% of the non-gifted students who drop out. Wow.

Jan Davidson, co-founder of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, a nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing the talents of the gifted student, has recently published "Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds." She notes that children who are bored often act up and can get labeled as having attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Additionally, she said an estimated one in five high school dropouts nationwide is gifted. That bears repeating: One in five high school dropouts is gifted!

Minority gifted children face an additional struggle, she said.

"Some African-Americans, if they're smart in school, they're accused by their peers of acting white," Davidson said. "That discourages me because that's one of the social pressures they experience."

Because some preteen children tend to "dumb down" to fit in with peers, it's important that teachers identify those students who are bored with the work.

But once identified, what do we do with them?

Nicholas Colangelo and many others suggest that accelerating students -- permitting them to skip grades -- can have measurable success. He suggests our fears about social and psychological problems facing the students who skip grades are often unfounded. The research seems to indicate that most students who skip grades turn out just fine. They particapte in extra-curricular activities, they adjust socially and they show more enthusiasm about their school and toward their school work.

Another point to ponder is this:

22,000 of the 87,000 seventh and eight graders who take the SAT score at a level comensurate with high school senior planning to attend college.

Can the typical middle school curriculum keep these 22,000 students interested and on-task?

Should we throw more money at the problem? States spend between zero and $100 million on gifted education annually while over $50 billion is spent nationwide on special education. But Colangelo notes that one of the advantages of permitting students to skip grades is that it is a very inexpensive way to get kids more interested in school.

Nicholas Colangelo's choice for the title of his report is certain to induce lively responses from educators. "A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students," is a challenge for educators to use their skills and creativity to keep our brightest students motivated to do their best.

Advantage Press

This newsletter is freely distributable.

Advantage Press: Resources for Better Schools