Thus tracking often receives criticism for generalizing a student?s abilities, paying little attention to the development he or she undertakes. Also, tracking tends ?to sort students not just by estimated academic potential but by socioeconomic status and race as well.? (Ability Grouping?) Because of this, ability grouping has become somewhat of a taboo in our society, as it touches on controversial topics of socioeconomic class, race, ethnicity, and gender. (Ability grouping?) Dr. Mary Frasier, an experienced and knowledgeable educator, has heard a number of excuses and rationalizations for the racial and economic under-representation within gifted programs: claims that underprivileged parents don?t value education, that these parents spend little time taking their children to libraries and school functions, and so on. (Frasier) She, however, believes that there is no excuse for enrollment in these programs that does not represent the racial distribution found in society. She cites a most definite and unconsciously recognized, if unspoken, list of prerequisites for being gifted: a student must have two parents, both of which must be college educated. A student must be white. A student must live in the suburbs. Basically, ?Things like poor kids and gifted programs just don?t go together.? (Frasier) Gifted programs are also attacked because they often lack an ?empirical data-base? that demonstrates the effectiveness of such methods. Indeed, it is true that these programs are tailored to the individual learner, and this makes traditional assessment methods irrelevant and inconclusive. (Doina) There has also been little observation of the effects gifted education has on the social nature of students. (Rogers) What is needed, therefore, is a means of evaluating gifted programs that is created specifically to measure progress of gifted children, as well as their affect on the student body. Indeed, all of these concerns could be addressed with the right kind of gifted education: an effective teaching method, and the proper community mindset concerning these initiatives.

There are two distinct types of gifted education programs, enrichment-oriented and accelerated, both of which have been attacked from a wide variety of positions. Enrichment programs focus on independent learning and student interests. (Doina) Accelerated programs move students at a faster pace through curriculum, hoping to match the students? cognitive abilities. The most common method of acceleration is ?tracking,? combining students of similar cognitive abilities and moving them through curriculum at the same rate. Many high schools have some form of this: often, there are 3 ?tracks:? an average track, an accelerated track, and a remedial track. Students in the average track move through classes and curriculum at a supposedly standard rate. Generally, this type of track is formulated to prepare students for entrance to college. Students on the accelerated track move through curriculum faster, and learn more advanced material. While this track is intended as a means for preparing the student for college, a much more thorough emphasis is placed on the development of abilities. Students on the remedial track are usually prepared for vocational practices, and learn simpler material at a slower pace. Another type of accelerated learning is individual acceleration, in which a teacher, the parents, and the student decide to send the student through more advanced grades at an earlier age. The controversy over accelerated programs lies in differing views of the effects of such strategies. Many educators believe that a student?s biological age is more important than his or her intellectual age, and that students should develop among peers that exhibit similar social, emotional, and physical development. Conversely, there are teachers and other professionals who support the belief that the intellectual readiness of a student outweighs biological age. (Mackay) Many differ

Some topics in this essay:
Mary Frasier, Frasier Gifted, Benjamin Bloom, Doina Accelerated, Moultin Gifted, Education United, Roeper Review, Frasier Giftedness, Thornton Gifted, Governments K-12, gifted education, education programs, gifted education programs, gifted programs, gifted program, cognitive abilities, gifted children, student body, intellectual development, applied education, gifted talented, paying little attention, dr mary frasier, education programs implemented, moultin gifted education,