Children Labeled as "Gifted"

have been neglected in the past, but now there are efforts to rectify this situation.

One Reno couple is involved in trying to help this neglected segment of the student population:

For the Davidson Fellows who came to Washington in late September for a gathering that culminated in an evening reception at the Library of Congress, the visit to Capitol Hill was more than a photo op. It was an effort to help promote the vision of their patrons, the founders of the Reno-based Davidson Institute, Bob and Jan Davidson. Drawing on a fortune earned in the educational-software business, the Davidsons established themselves as a well-endowed new presence on the gifted-education scene in 1999. Their goal is not just to support extraordinary youthful achievements, though their contributions to the cause of enriching precocious childhoods have been wide-ranging. The institute's enterprises include, in addition to the fellowships, a free consulting service now assisting 750 "Young Scholars" between the ages of 4 and 18 who qualify with top test scores (99.9th percentile, I.Q.'s of at least 145) or, for those without a battery of assessments, portfolio submissions. The Davidsons have also begun the Think Summer Institute, offering college courses for 12- to 15-year-olds. Next fall the Davidson Academy, a public middle and high school for the profoundly gifted, will open on the Reno campus of the University of Nevada. How much pleasure the Davidsons, in their early 60's, take in celebrating the accomplishments of the fellows was obvious at the reception: Bob, strong-jawed and a jokester, and the elfin Jan glowed like godparents as they beckoned the multicultural array of prize-winners up to the dais to speak about their projects - "prodigious work," a term the Institute favors, ranging from the adorable 6-year-old Marc Yu's piano performance to the 17-year-old Kadir Annamalai's work on the "growth of germanium nanowires," useful in thermoelectric devices.

I would not be surprised if at least a couple of the kids I taught at a local private school end up in this program. A few of those kids were "off the charts" in terms of academic ability.

But there are questions about programs targeting "geniuses," for often people who are not particularly academically gifted in childhood and are rather mediocre end up accomplishing a great deal later in life. And there could be undue pressure on young "geniuses" to perform and thus create burnout.

Furthermore, there are very few prestigious jobs to be had in this culture, and we must make room in the colleges, universities, corporations, media, and other places for those sons and daughters of the filthy rich, regardless of their ability level.