Today, on his blog over at Scienceblogs, Prof. Chad Orzel began a discussion about whether or not gifted children should be grouped with non-gifted “special needs” students in order to get funding for gifted programs. He argues that…
This is, in many ways, an absolutely terrible idea. “Gifted” and “Special Needs” are two extremely different categories, and the casual suggestion of diverting resources from the latter to educate the former is an insult to the very real needs of many “Special Needs” students.
I can understand his point. A gifted child certainly doesn’t have the same special needs that a physically impaired child has. However, the needs of gifted children are definitely special. Many states differ in their definition of what a “special needs” child is, but in Kansas, a “special needs” child is defined as one for which the regular classroom setting is inadequate. I think we can all agree that the regular classroom is indeed inadequate for gifted children.
In fact, many states treat gifted students and “special needs” students the same by not funding programs separately. In Kansas, gifted funding comes out of the general special education funding used for “special needs” students. Because of the education system today is focused on NCLB, I’d argue that instead of ‘diverting resources from the latter to educate the former’ as Prof. Orzel states, just the opposite is happening- schools are diverting funds away from gifted programs to better educate “special needs” students.
Prof. Orzel proposes that we begin to separately fund “gifted” and “special needs” programs separately, which I whole-heartedly support. Unfortunately, that will never happen unless states begin to change funding guidelines. Florida is one state considering a change- let’s hope other states follow.
Sure. Put some effort into educating, inspiring, and nurturing the gifted,especially gifted minority, who fight an uphill battle against negative peer attitudes. That will repay itself handsomely with what they can contribute to our society, as well as no apologies for it also just being good for them.
Note: I am a member of and Chief Proctor (test administrator) for Tidewater Mensa in USA. Mensa is a world-wide fraternal organization for those scoring in the top two percentile or above on standardized IQ tests.
@ Neil B:
I agree that Gifted children do have special needs and should be treated as such. I think our education system can and should do more to recognize Gifted and Talented students and provide the same (if not more) resources as they do for those that aren’t performing as well as their peers. Funding should be separate from special needs funding, plain and simple.