Segregating the smart from the not-as-smart helps nobody

Chris Rickert

I've never been accused of having any talent worth nurturing in an Advanced Placement class, although I'm sure there are some who would say I have a gift for irritating people. (Unfortunately, they don't give out Rhodes Scholarships for that.)

So feel free to take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt, or a healthy dose of sour grapes on my part, but I question the utility of the way we challenge the young brainiacs among us.

Diving deeply into physics or fine arts might make for good rocket scientists and concert pianists, but it would also seem inevitably to exclude a certain less intense, yet broader range of experiences and the people they include.

My new Facebook friends and perhaps the most courteous political insurgents ever, Madison West seniors Joaquin Selva and Jacob Fiksel, admitted to something along those lines when I ran into them Wednesday at the school district's Community Conversation on Education.

Lots of related links:

• "Stand Up Against the MMSD High School Reform"
• Madison school district to consider alternatives to traditional public schools
• Advanced Placement, Gifted Education & A Hometown Debate
• On the Gifted & Talented Complaint Against the Madison School District
• Madison School District 2010-2011 Enrollment Report, Including Outbound Open Enrollment (3.11%)
• Complaint Filed Against Madison Schools
• English 10
• District Small Learning Community Grant - Examining the Data From Earlier Grants, pt. 2
• Watch, listen or read an interview with UW-Madison Education Professor Adam Gamoran.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at November 10, 2010 7:39 PM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas