No Child Gets Ahead: The Irony of the no Child Left Behind Act
| Author | Dawn M. Viggiano |
| Position | J.D. Candidate, 2006 |
| Pages | 486-516 |
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Given the emphasis that the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)1 places on proficiency, funding used for non-mandated programs-particularly gifted programs-will be eliminated and used toward proficiency efforts.2 This will result in neglecting the special needs of gifted children, thereby leaving them behind in the end.3
NCLB requires all public school students to be proficient in both reading and math by the year 2014.4 Schools that do not make sufficient progress toward these goals, both overall and within various subgroups, face penalties such as being required to pay for tutoring or allowing students to transfer to another school.5 There is no penalty, however, if high-scoring students do not improve, as long as they continue to be proficient.6 NCLB focuses on the bottom students, so to abide by the law and avoid the harsh consequences, schools are reallocating resources from gifted students' programs to programs focused on the bottom students.7
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Gifted programs are now on the "academic endangered list" due to the fatal combination of limited funds and not requiring the programs to exist.8 Gifted programs are often "perceived as a luxury rather than a necessity."9 Because there is no mandate to offer gifted programs, school districts are free to determine the priority, or lack of priority, that gifted programs should receive.10 As a result, gifted programs are typically not given priority, and funds are being shifted toward programs for lower-achieving students.11
Due to the focus on test scores, NCLB has produced a devastating result for gifted education.12 On one hand, many gifted programs are being eliminated because districts want to focus financial resources on making sure the lower-achieving students become proficient.13 On the other hand, NCLB "also gives schools a powerful incentive to keep gifted students- rather than let them transfer to programs tailored to their skills-because these children generally score well on tests."14 Schools want to keep their gifted students for their test scores, but do not want to spend any money for the programs that they need.15
In a test-driven educational system, many schools are trying to retain their top students instead of sending them to gifted programs in other schools because test scores have far-reaching consequences for the entire community-students, teachers, administrators, schools, and entire districts.16 Most commonly, rural and suburban districts keep gifted students in neighborhood schools in order to keep their test scores, pulling the students out of their regular classrooms to receive anywhere from anPage 487 hour to a half-day of gifted instruction per week.17 Simply stated, this is not enough.
We cannot take gifted students for granted any longer. Research has shown that gifted students have special needs and that they do not excel when left on their own.18 Neglecting their intellectual needs can cause severe emotional, social, and educational consequences far beyond boredom.19 Although these children are already proficient, "they have a right to soar farther ahead."20
Part I of this Comment begins by providing a background on the characteristics and special needs of gifted children. Part II highlights both the requirements and intent behind NCLB. This is followed by an analysis of how the legislation's conflicting message indirectly forces school districts to divert funding from gifted programs to programs that focus on teaching basic skills. Finally, Part III discusses the consequences for neglecting gifted students' needs-both to the students themselves and to the future of this country.
In a speech given at the Hollingworth Conference for the Highly Gifted, Stephanie S. Tolan presented a vivid comparison between gifted students stuck in regular education classes and cheetahs confined in a zoo.21 Her cheetah metaphor initially describes a cheetah in the wild, its natural environment.22 She explains that cheetahs can only run at full speed when they have live food to chase and open spaces in which to run.23 Zoos confine cheetahs to cages, providing them no opportunity to chase food.24 When cheetahs are confined to cages they are unable to run 70 miles per hour (mph).25 Similarly, a cheetah will not run 70 mph if it doesPage 488 not have challenging prey to hunt.26 More distressing, a cheetah will not run at all if it is only fed "Zoo Chow."27
In Tolan's opinion, "schools are to [gifted] children what zoos are to cheetahs"-they create barriers that prevent gifted minds from operating at full speed.28 She compares gifted students trapped in a regular classroom to cheetahs confined in a cage, both sitting "dull-eyed and silent."29 Tolan warns that "[c]hildren in cages or enclosures, no matter how bright, are unlikely to appear highly gifted; kept from exercising their minds for too long, these children may never be able to reach the level of mental functioning for which they were designed."30
Schools fail to sufficiently challenge gifted minds.31
Without special programming, schools provide the academic equivalent of Zoo Chow, food that requires no effort whatsoever. Some children refuse to [accept] such uninteresting, dead nourishment at all.
To develop not just the physical ability, but also the strategy to catch antelope in the wild, a cheetah must have antelopes to chase, room to chase them and a cheetah role model to show them how to do it. Without instruction and practice, they are unlikely to be able to learn essential survival skills.32
Similarly, for gifted students to soar, they must have a challenging curriculum, encouragement from teachers, and higher standards to chase.
Giftedness is classically defined as having an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 130 or above.33 NCLB defines gifted students as those "who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school inPage 489 order to fully develop those capabilities."34 Nationwide, about 6% of all schoolchildren are regarded as academically gifted according to the National Association for Gifted Students.35 There are approximately 2.4 million gifted students in public schools, grades kindergarten through twelve.36 Schools typically Id.entify gifted students through test scores, grades, and teacher referrals.37
General characteristics of giftedness include early development and accelerated use of language, motor skills, artistic ability, interpersonal skills, and academic achievement.38 Very young gifted children frequently display accelerated development through milestones such as smiling, talking, and walking.39 "Highly gifted young children often demonstrate early and prolific use of language, unusual alertness in infancy, early manipulations of symbol systems, early abstract reasoning ability, and early reading-often before the age of four."40 Developmental research suggests that early development is one of the strongest indicators of giftedness.41 Gifted children tend to demonstrate more complex play patterns than other children their age.42 Exactness is also a characteristic of gifted children.43 For example, they usually respond to questions with an answer of '"that depends.'"44 In Julia Osborn's article about the unique needs of gifted students, she notes that gifted elementary students often have mastered nearly half of the curriculum before they even begin the school year.45
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Most people do not realize that a wide range of educational levels exist, even within the gifted category itself.46 Generally, "gifted" refers to students that score in the 98th percentile on intelligence tests.47 Those students that score in the 99th percentile are labeled "highly gifted," and those that score in the 99.99th percentile are "exceptionally gifted."48 Research shows that "[t]he differences among levels of giftedness are rarely recognized, although . . . gifted children are as much different from each other as mildly, moderately, severely, and profoundly retarded children are from each other."49
Research by George Betts and Maureen Neihart Id.entifies six "types" of gifted students.50 The most common type of gifted student (approximately 90%) is "the successful" type.51 These students seek approval from parents and teachers and rarely have behavioral problems because they have learned through careful observation how to conform to adults' expectations.52 These students are easiest for educators to Id.entify because they learn easily and score well on tests.53 Despite the misconception that these students will get by on their own, they become bored with traditional methods of instruction but still conform to the traditional expectations of classroom procedure, seeking approval and recognition from teachers and parents.54 Unfortunately, if not challenged,Page 491 these students never realize and develop their full potential, often lacking creativity and autonomy.55 Eventually, they may end up underachieving in college because they...
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