The COVID-19 pandemic and schools being closed have made many parents acknowledge that the mainstream educational system wasn鈥檛 serving their kids appropriately.听I keep hearing from parents that although their kids miss their friends, they are less stressed and don鈥檛 want to go back to school in the fall. Some kids are diving into learning and creative projects in a way that parents didn鈥檛 expect. Others are frustrated by trying to replicate traditional school at home. Many parents are asking what alternatives are there?
Some students, parents, and teachers are realizing alternative educational options are critical for students who do not fit into the mold of traditional schools.听More frequently than you may suspect, brilliant students fare poorly in conventional schools because schools reward conformity and convergent rather than divergent thinking.听Talented youth are often nonconformists and independent thinkers. The expectation for them to conform may actually lead to underachievement and/or 鈥渂ehavioral challenges鈥 (as defined by adults in the school system).听Within the educational system, there is also the myth that high ability youth will do well regardless of what is happening around them.听It is simply not true.
For example, youth who have been identified as talented and gifted (TAG) make up 25% of students who leave high school before graduation. TAG identified youth who experience poverty are even more likely to leave school. These students are frequently 鈥減ushed out鈥 of the system, they do not choose to 鈥渄rop out.鈥 When interviewed by researchers, young people said the main reasons they left school was because they were failing or that they didn鈥檛 like it.that schoolwork wasn鈥檛 challenging, they had poor relationships with their teachers, didn鈥檛 feel supported in the classroom, or weren鈥檛 interested in the classes available to them. Their reasons for leaving school often have little to do with their academic ability.
There is also the issue of under-identification for the rare talented and gifted programs that exist and over-identification for special education for African Americans, Latin@s, and Indigenous students.听听students are less likely to be in gifted programming in either low or high poverty school districts.听Other researchers have found that teachers are not aware of the many ways that youth may demonstrate being gifted and talented 鈥 bringing to light that this is also a social justice issue.
African American, Latino, and Indigenous students who are non-compliant or assertive in their questioning of authority (both traits of TAG youth) may be identified as having a 鈥渂ehavior disorder.鈥澨However, many of the behaviors which lead to a diagnosis of Emotional Behavior Disorder (EBD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) suggest that these youth may be highly creative or have high abilities.听Additionally, many kids identified with EBD and ADHD are individuals who demonstrate their giftedness in an alternative manner and are perceived as non-conformists. These youth may feel like they 鈥渄on鈥檛 fit in鈥 or actually do not fit into the traditional educational model. Youth who are forced into compliance may become depressed, defiant, oppositional, and hostile. Even the most brilliant kids who aren鈥檛 engaged at school may fail to perform well academically.
In contrast, provided the right conditions for students to identify their strengths and abilities 鈥 they thrive, and their quality of life improves. The current system marginalizes and harms too many students. Doesn鈥檛 it seem obvious that we cannot continue schooling this way? Options must be explored- homeschooling, home-school partnerships, remote learning, micro-schools, or community schools can offer students a more individual education and help them reach their potential.
When even the 鈥渂est and brightest鈥 are not being served within our educational system, we really need to take a hard look at it.
We must ask ourselves why the needs of students are not being met and the cost to our society (and the kids themselves) of this wasted potential.听Do not accept the standard answer that we cannot afford to give our children an individualized education. America is one of the wealthiest countries in the world! We pay for what is important to us. It is time for us to put educating our children above unchecked capitalism and tax breaks for the rich.
We MUST stop being complacent and compliant! We MUST demand that our government rearranges its priorities and serves the people!!
Additional References:
Gentry, M. & Fugate, C.M. (2012). Gifted Native American Students: Underperforming, under-identified, and overlooked.听Psychology in the Schools, 1鈥16.
McCluskey,K. , Baker,P. , McCluskey,A. , Baker,P. , & McCluskey,A. (2005). Creative Problem Solving with Marginalized Populations: Reclaiming Lost Prizes Through In-the-Trenches Interventions.听Gifted Child Quarterly,听49(4), 330鈥341.
鈥淢cCluskey, K., Treffinger, D., (1998). Nurturing talented but troubled children and youth.听Reclaiming Children and Youth, 6, 215鈥219.鈥
Reid, B. D., & McGuire, M. D. (1995). Square pegs in round holes-these kids don鈥檛 fit: High ability students with behavioral problems. Storrs, CT: National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. ED402701.
Ruf, D. (2005).听Losing our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind.听Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press, Inc.