Re: No Genius Left Behind

In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Cyrakis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
>> No Child Left Behind - You give all the kiddees a standardized test
>>                        and single out all the LOOZerz for special
>>                        funding and treatment....
>>                                       (flushing money down the toilet)

>> I think we need a NGLB program:
>> No Genius Left Behind - You give all the kidees a standardized test
>>                         and single out all the *Winners* for for
>>                         specialized funding and treatment.
>>                                      (get serious return for the money)

>> Bob says the Constitution requires equal treatment under the law.
>> If the NCLB qualifies as "equal treatment" then so does the NGLB.
>> WTF is the difference?

>Clearly none of the people responding on this thread are geniuses who
>attended public school in America, or they would be aware of the
>gifted and talented programs (GATE) that does pretty much exactly what
>you describe. I was in the GATE program in public school, and our
>class got all kinds of perks like specialized instruction and more
>field trips to museums and so forth.

I definitely qualify as a genius, and I, and my children,
have attended public school in the US.  I do not believe
the GATE program was in existence at the time, but the idea
that all children of a given age should be in the same
classroom was.

It is that which is abominable.  GATE does nothing useful,
except POSSIBLY in literature and like humanities; it just
puts in a batch of what is essentially trivia.  Enrichment
at the same class level is possibly worse than doing
nothing; giving the gifted a preview of what they will get
later is TOTALLY unnecessary, as there is no need of
repetition for them.

We need as a goal that not only the gifted, but the bright,
get the equivalent of an honors BA in their areas of talent
by their late teens, if not earlier.  I am not sure that
even the average student, intelligently taught by teachers
who teach conceptually instead of memorization and rote
manipulation, could not come close to that, possibly not
honors; honors should depend on ability, not hard work.
-- 
This address is for information only.  I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University
[EMAIL PROTECTED]         Phone: (765)494-6054   FAX: (765)494-0558