Can you tell the difference between a high-achieving, gifted or creative child?

• Published May 04, 2008

Something I came across while researching the Sunday Education story about local gifted/highly capable programs in the area was a list of attributes written by researcher and consultant Bertie Kingore, which outlines a chart of differences between high achieving kids, gifted learners and creative thinkers. Kingore writes that the categories are not mutually exclusive, and any individual kid can overlap two or three of the "categories."

What I heard from the people I interviewed for the story is that the highly capable programs provide a challenge for children who score highly on aptitude tests, but might get bored in the traditionally-paced classroom. However, the programs receive augmented funding from the districts' maintenance and operations levy. (In North Thurston, for example, the middle school Challenge Academy might completely disappear without the levy money. Even if the maintenance and operations levy passes, district transportation to the TAG program at Lacey Elementary could be cut.)

Supporters of gifted programs are protective of their programs, and it looks like for good reason: the federal No Child Left Behind law is nearly silent about providing for gifted learners, and districts nationwide trimmed in those areas so districts could spent money instead on helping students achieve at grade level, according to a 2004 article in the New York Times. The National Association for Gifted Children (their Web site appears to be down this weekend --- I'll update if it goes back up during the week) says that the NCLB language about gifted children is scattered throughout the act, often in reference to grants for programs and research, and in usually includes gifted children with other special needs students.

--- Venice Buhain, Olympian Education reporter