Rationale for Gifted Education

In accordance with the Francis Howell School District Vision Statement, all students have the right to an education that is commensurate with their abilities. Reis, Burns, and Renzulli (leaders in the field of gifted education) state that the majority of gifted learners may spend as much as 50% of their time working with curriculum they have already mastered. This may cause gifted students to spend half of their academic career working well below their abilities.

Gifted children have specific behavioral characteristics in the cognitive and affective realms that present special learning needs that must be addressed by curriculum differentiation (Van Tassel-Baska). Gifted education provides a means of addressing these particular characteristics and promoting the continual growth of students in an environment that is respectful of individual differences. The gifted program does not substitute or replace the classroom instruction already provided by the Francis Howell District.