As a former director of gifted and talented programs in the Charleston County School District for five years from 1999 to 2004, I am concerned about the challenges facing our gifted education programs. Gifted education is vital to healthy communities and to our nation’s future. As elected officials fulfill their terms in the Legislature and develop their policy plans, they must keep the following in mind:

1.) Gifted education is not about catering to some students over others. Rather, it is about modifying the regular curriculum to match the unique learning needs of gifted students. Gifted students have special learning needs that must be addressed if they are to succeed.

2.) As our world becomes increasingly interconnected and competitive, we must do more to ensure our students will be able to face these challenges. When our gifted students are not challenged and are not educated to their full potential, we are jeopardizing our state and nation’s ability to compete in the global economy.

3.) Inadequate support for gifted education hurts all talented students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. These students’ abilities often go unrecognized or ignored in classrooms.

4.) Teachers must be prepared to educate gifted students. According to a 2008 national teacher survey conducted by the Thomas B. Fordham Institution in Washington, D.C., only 41 percent of classroom teachers have been trained to work specifically with academically advanced students; well-trained teachers will lead to better educated students.

Seventy-three percent of teachers agreed that “too often, the brightest students are bored and under-challenged in school; we are not giving them a sufficient chance to thrive.”

Read the full article on the Post and Courier website….

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