Gifted and Talented

Gifted and talented. to many, this may not seem like a "special need", however it is. just because these children are not below the standard bar does not mean they don't need specialized educational studies. they shouldn't have to be put on the same level as children who fall within the "normal" range. children like these need to constantly stimulated and challenged so they do not lose interest.
When these children lose interest due to lack of stimulating challenging education they may go on to become "problem" children or serve as distractions to other students. this is because they have already finished their work and have nothing better to do for the rest of the day. things that seem challenging to many students in their classes are elementary to these children. they may also act out to gain the attention they desire which they are not receiving for positive reasons such as academic success.

why is it fair to give children who are below the bar an aid or take them out to an alternative class but not to alter the curriculum for an advanced child? don't they all deserve to be challenged and pushed to their limits? if their limits are low they should be accommodated so they can learn and progress at their own speed and not be left behind. if they accelerate at everything and things are not challenging enough they should be made more challenging and added work to keep education progressing for them.
these children have an opportunity to make something excellent out of themselves, as every student does and you are holding them back by not treating this as a special need.
even within this title there are groups who are left out. the tests to determine if a child is gifted and talented are very language based. this takes minorities out of the picture. while these children may be gifted and talented and maybe more so than their English speaking classmates, they are not recognized because they cant speak the language of the test. these tests need to be designed so every student has a fair shot at taking them. its important to recognize this kids so they are placed in alternative classrooms or settings where their talents can be embraced and they are able to accelerate.


check out:
http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/gifted_and_minority_lang.html
http://www.qagtc.org.au/charprob.htm
http://www.qca.org.uk/qca_5091.aspx
http://www.uniquelygifted.org/
http://school.familyeducation.com/gifted-education/34551.html?detoured=1