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Essay on Problems Faced by Gifted Students in Public Schools
The gifted are usually defined as those scoring above 120 or 140 on standardized IQ tests. However, there are many gifted students, such as those who have a special aptitude for music or mechanical work, who may not show up well on standardized tests. Recognizing this, we may define the gifted as those who possess an outstanding aptitude for some area of human endeavor.
Gifted students have special needs and special problems over and above the ordinary demands of childhood. Because they tend to become bored with classes that move too slowly for them, many gifted students develop behavioral problems in school. An unbelievable 30 percent of school dropouts are gifted children. It is estimated that 80 percent of the intellectually gifted in America have no chance to receive special training in those areas in which they excel (Feldhusen, Stven, 1984).
Gifted and talented girls have faced even greater problems than their male counterparts. The American educational system has traditionally assumed that society does not lose as much if a girl, rather than a boy, does not achieve.
This paper will explore problems faced by gifted students in our public schools.
Body
Firstly, the gifted have problems in establishing sound concepts of appropriate social roles, especially if they fall into minority race or gender groups. Gifted minority students are often more sensitive to derogatory epithets such as "nigger," "dago" or "broad" than non-gifted minority students are. Because of this heightened sensitivity, gifted minority students can begin to resent their membership in a minority group, making social adjustments in general far more difficult.
Also, gifted members of racial minorities may feel themselves forced to compromise the values of their subculture to advance themselves in a white, middle-class world. This can make them hostile to everything not of their own subculture..........
