Gifted Students

The article, Intervention for Gifted Students, caught my eye for a few reasons.  First of all, I was myself a "gifted student" when in K-12 school.  I have taught numerous gifted students in my ten years of professional life, and I am a counselor to a number of these kids.  I have often felt that so much of our counseling time is spent on the "low achievers"...with little time left for those at the other end of the spectrum, the "gifted students." 

In reading the article, I was surprised by what it was truly about.  It was about a subject perhaps even "closer" to me than what I originally thought; it was about whether or not we should pass kids who can pass all of the standardized and outcome exams...even if they never attend school and regularly get under their teachers' skin.  We have a new attendance policy at the school I work at next year:  if a student can maintain a 76% class average and pass the final exam, they will earn credit in the class, regardless of attendance.  Some of us like it; some of us hate it.  However, our school board seems to have adopted the policy, based at least in part on the same feelings as the author of this article:  perhaps attendance matters too much in public education.

The author does offer some suggestions that are more "middle of the road," suggestions that both teachers and school board members can probably live with!  Better lesson plans and thinking of ways to engage gifted students will often alleviate problems before they start.  It is difficult, however, to know what to do with kids like "Kevin" from this article.  What do teachers do with gifted students who are chronically absent, defiant, and challenge authority?  The author says not to back them in a corner, but when teachers have 35 other students to worry about at the same time, it is easy to instead send the Kevins of the world to the office!