The Problem With “Gifted” Programs: A Conversation with Scott Barry Kaufman
Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman teaches psychology at NYU and is author of Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined. He recently spoke to a Learning Unlimited volunteer.
“Students who play football have tryouts every year for positions. Students in orchestra have auditions every year to determine seat order. In both of these pursuits, there's an unspoken assumption that athletic and musical ability is subject to some amount of change.
“However, there are no programs for gifted students that require students in the program to be retested. As long as intelligence is thought of as a fixed trait, it will impact students’ self concepts and guide how highly we allow them to soar. There are too many cases of students overcoming disadvantages that it leads me to believe we’re not going about measuring and defining intelligence the right way.
“Why do we have intelligence researchers measuring an individual's adaptation to their environment, when the testing environment itself is decontextualized? These tests cannot measure an individual’s developmental trajectory, their level of engagement with material, or how they are completing personal goals, nor can they measure other aspects of intelligence, like spontaneous thought processes or self-control.
“The ideal school setting equips students with self-regulation skills, opportunities for deliberate practice, hope, and inspiration along with the learning process. To shift the focus away from outcomes and towards an emphasis on process, revision, and feedback models the working world and provides a culture that can inspire all. Kids really do rise to the expectation when they rise to the challenge. Unfortunately many of the programs that provide opportunities like these are considered alternative schools- it doesn't have to be that way.”
Help Learning Unlimited expand!
Word of mouth is the way we grow. If you know college students who would be interesting in starting a Splash program or teens who may be interested in attending one, direct them to our website and encourage them to sign up for future newsletters.
What We’re Reading
Sometimes parents may need to let their children fail.
A judge ruled that sibling preference into New York City’s gifted and talented programs was fair.
The Ashoka Foundation is on a mission to teach empathy in schools.
High school seniors can apply for the National College Match
Upcoming Programs
Saturday, September 28- Saturday, November 9- Harvard HSSP
Saturday, October 5- Splash Chicago
Saturday, October 5 - Saturday, October 19- Sprout at Yale
Saturday, November 2 - Duke Splash
Saturday-Sunday, November 2-3- Stanford Splash
Saturday, November 9 - Yale Splash
Saturday, November 9 (tentative) - Bard Splash
Saturday, November 16 - Columbia Splash
Saturday, November 16- Clark University Splash
Saturday-Sunday, November 23-24- MIT Splash *Starting this year, MIT Splash will be grades 9-12 and the spring Spark program will be grades 7-8 only. For more information see the MIT ESP website.
“Is it possible to program a fingerprint recognition system? Like the ones you see in movies?”
-- Asked in “Hands-On Circuit Design” taught at MIT HSSP
See the answer and make a gift to Learning Unlimited so that we can continue to inspire students to ask great questions.
