Middle School Education

Middle School and Gifted Education Programs

Is It Possible to Coexist Effectively

Abstract

This study examines the possibility of effective coexistence of gifted education programs within the context of middle school education . It analyzes gifted education models and middle school models to identify specific areas of commonality . Through the use of content analysis common and compatible areas between gifted education and middle school education are identified . The results of this study offer very positive implications for appropriately meeting the needs of all students including gifted children , within the middle school

context

Middle School and Gifted Education Programs

Is It Possible to Coexist Effectively

Within a few last decades the question whether gifted education programs can effectively co-exist with the middle school movement has become an issue of contention among educators and researchers in both fields (Coleman Gallagher , 1995 . According to the National Middle School Association "the challenge of middle school education [ .] [is] to develop an educational program that is based on the needs and characteristics of a most diverse and varied population (National Middle School Association , 1982 /1992 ,

. 3 ) of young adolescents Proponents of the middle school philosophy advocate an educational environment which equally addresses students ' social-emotional needs as well as their physical and cognitive needs , while gifted education adherents contend that teaching principles typical for middle school education are not capable to take into account specific learning models for gifted children . Yet middle school has been identified by school reform legislation as a crucial turning point for any adolescent it is a time when many youngsters are alienated from school and is seen as a critical period for retaining students in school . Dialogue and debate between gifted education advocates and proponents of the middle school philosophy assumes there are constructs and ideas inherent to both fields , thus , gifted education models and middle school models should have specific areas of commonality which could be used effectively for implementation in the middle school classrooms . The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze such commonalities and prove that positive implications for appropriately meeting the needs of all students , including gifted children , within the middle school education are actual ones

The middle school philosophy , or at least middle school instructional and organizational practice , has been long viewed as antithetical to the educational needs of gifted students by some gifted educators . Feldhusen (1990 ) stated the evident controversy concisely "The middle school reform movement demands an end to all special classes for the gifted (p . 47 . This scholar and others based such viewpoint partly on the famous report "A Nation at Risk " issued in 1983 by the National Commission on Excellence in Education . This report provided a serious indictment of American education and cited high rates of adult illiteracy , declining SAT scores , and low scores on international comparisons of knowledge by American students as examples of the decline of literacy and standards . The Commission stated that "the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide...