Report Sees Cost in Some Academic Gains

A new study argues that the nation’s focus on helping students who are furthest behind may [be] yielding steady academic gains for low-achieving students in recent years at the expense of top students.

The report included results of a survey of a nationally representative sample of 900 teachers. Seven in 10 teachers said their schools were more likely to focus on struggling students than average or advanced students when tracking achievement data and trying to raise test scores. And about three-quarters of the teachers surveyed said they agreed with this statement: “Too often, the brightest students are bored and under-challenged in school — we’re not giving them a sufficient chance to thrive.”

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In tests of fourth-grade reading from 2000 to 2007, for instance, the scores of the lowest-achieving students increased by 16 points on a 280-point scale, compared with a gain of three points for top-achieving students, according to the study, by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a research organization in Washington.

This is like saying a 400 lb man can lose 10 pounds faster than an anorexic woman can lose 10 pounds. Going from a score of 0 to 1 is an infinite increase while going from 90 to 91 is only a 1.1% increase. It's always going to be harder to get improvement at the top of the distribution than the bottom. The real question is whether it's worth it or not.

I’m not surprised by the finding, but I’m surprised it’s being published in the NYT. Our sons were under-challenged throughout their elementary school years, and gradually picked up more appropriately demanding coursework in middle school. Our high-schooler now has honors courses and plenty of work to stay busy. Unfortunately, one great shortcoming I’ve seen with both of them is that they have not developed the study and project management skills I’d like to see. Their early work was so easy that they didn’t learn to work effectively with challenging material, and now are playing catch-up. The problems of gifted education are significant. Kids who are bored can lose a lot of the joy that comes with learning and become under-achievers despite their great gifts.

“The real question is whether it’s worth it or not.”

It’s definitely worth it. Helping those who score lower AND helping those who score higher shouldn’t, however, be mutually exclusive. Education is not ‘one size fits all’. Also, I think parental involvement is crucial. Promoting learning in the culture is also very important. I’m half joking, but if there were an ‘American Idol’ equivalent for academic achievement maybe learning would become more ‘cool’ in our culture.

I agree. Being “smart” seems to be less valued by the young than it was “back in my day”. Today, it seems that if you’re smart, you’re labeled a “geek”. This attitude eventually changes...perhaps late in high school and definitely by college...but that may be too late. I wish I had a complete answer, but I don’t.

It's always going to be harder to get improvement at the top of the distribution than the bottom.

Good point, and actually the same point some have made about the targets set by NCLB...as more students get proficient, it's going to be harder to keep improving by set amounts.

The real question is whether it's worth it or not.

I think the improvement at the bottom end is definitely worth it, but I'd like to see a bit more emphasis on the top as well.

Unfortunately, one great shortcoming I’ve seen with both of them is that they have not developed the study and project management skills I’d like to see. Their early work was so easy that they didn’t learn to work effectively with challenging material, and now are playing catch-up. The problems of gifted education are significant.

Yes, you see a lot of that, unfortunately. I've found that even some of the gifted classes don't challenge the students as they should...maybe because parents and teachers think that "gifted" students should always make A's...if they're working as hard as they should be, maybe there should be a bell curve in gifted classes too?

The problems of gifted education are significant. Kids who are bored can lose a lot of the joy that comes with learning and become under-achievers despite their great gifts

My husband was in various public and private schools for a number of years before his mother started homeschooling and that's exactly what he says. I was homeschooled all along, not allowed to know how gifted I was (so I couldn't complain about the work being too hard for me, or get too big an ego) and I was much more challenged and never lost a love of learning for more than a couple weeks at a time.

When we have kids they'll be homeschooled. If they're smart, we can help them excel, if they're stupid we can help them get up to speed. If they're totally normal - well, hey, at least they won't get beaten up for their lunch money, right?

I was interested in homeschooling our boys, but my husband was opposed to it. Ultimately, we decided to send them to public schools. Fortunately, we have an excellent district, so that despite shortcomings, they are learning a lot and are generally surrounded by good kids. Our district recently conducted a complete review of our gifted education program. My husband and I were both involved in the process. I’m hopeful that at least a few of the recommendations will be implemented. These concerns about study skills and boredom were widespread among parents.

You have a point about the grading. In middle school both boys routinely brought home A’s in gifted programs while having to work their rear ends off in hopes of an A in accelerated math which wasn’t labelled “gifted”. In high school, our son’s freshman year was brutal, with a full plate of honors courses plus speech & debate. He didn’t bring home all A’s, as I’d liked to have seen. They aren’t so quick to sprinkle them around in our honors classes. He barely came up for air all year with the work load. I’d still rather see him get a B in honors than an A in regular track however. I think he’s learning more, he’s surrounded by brighter students, and challenged more by the structure of the program.

The secret to successfully educating gifted kids is to correctly identify their abilities when they first start school. I was just thinking about that, earlier this morning. My brother and I never learned to study because school was just plain, too easy. All I had to do was read over a subject the night before, or even in homeroom, and go in a take the test. I mean read for the first time. I had a little more trouble with the essay portions, but the multiple choice and fill in the blank portions usually carried me through.

I remember when they first gave my brother an IQ test in fifth grade and found out that he had the highest IQ that the school district had ever seen. The superintendent and a contingent of others from the district came to our house to apologize to my parents for not recognizing his abilities and boring him to death. He was an underachiever his whole life. Everyone pushed him to go into math fields, engineering, but he didn’t enjoy math, he was just good at it. What he really should have been was a lawyer.

He barely came up for air all year with the work load. I’d still rather see him get a B in honors than an A in regular track however. I think he’s learning more, he’s surrounded by brighter students, and challenged more by the structure of the program.

I felt the same way when my children were in school - and I felt they were getting more preparation for studying at college than they would in the regular program.

You'd be amazed at the parents who keep their children in the regular classes just for the GPA, however.

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